ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
DAY 1 BLEPP REVIEW
It is a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected.
Abnormal Behavior
is a breakdown in cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning.
Psychological Dysfunction
reason why the person came to the clinic.
Presenting Problem
unique combination of behavior, thoughts and feelings that make up a specific disorder.
Clinical Description
how many in the population as a whole have the disorder
Prevalence
how many new cases during a given period such as a year
Incidence
pattern of the illness over time
Course
which means they tend to last a long time, even a lifetime.
Chronic course
which means the individual is likely to recover within a few months only to suffer a recurrence of the disorder at a later time.
Episodic course
which means that the disorder will improve without treatment in a relatively short period.
Time Limited Course
how a disorder starts or begins
Onset
which means they begin suddenly
Acute onset
which means they develop gradually over an extended period
Insidious onset
the anticipated course of a disorder
Prognosis
means the individual will probably recover
Prognosis is “good”
means the probable outcome doesn’t look good
Prognosis is “guarded”
individuals inherit tendencies to express certain traits and behaviours, which may then be activated under conditions of stress.
Diasthesis-Stress Model:
An approach to describing and explaining how biological, psychological, and social factors combine and interact to influence physical and mental health.
Bio Psycho Social Framework
*Major psychological disorders have existed across time and cultures
*Causes and treatment of abnormal behavior varied widely, depending on context
Historical Conceptions of
Abnormal Behavior
*Deviance = Battle of “Good” vs. “Evil”
*Etiology—devil, witchcraft, sorcery
* Salem witch trials in U.S.
*Demons and witches
*Treatments—exorcism, torture, and crude surgeries
*People were treated for “possession”
The Supernatural Tradition
*Hippocrates (460-377 BC)
*Father of modern Western medicine
*Etiology = physical disease
*Precursor to somatoform disorders
*Hysteria
The Biological Tradition
- Galen (129-198 AD)
- Hippocratic foundation
- Galenic-Hippocratic Tradition
- Humoral theory of mental illness
- Black, blue, yellow and phlegm biles
- Etiology = brain chemical imbalances
- Treatments = environmental regulation
- Heat, dryness, moisture, cold
- Bloodletting, induced vomiting
The Biological Tradition
- Mental Illness = Physical Illness
- The 1930s
* Insulin shock therapy
* Brain surgery - ECT
* Benjamin Franklin (1750s)
* Treatment for depression?The 1950s- Psychotropic medications
* Increasingly available
* Systematically developed - Neuroleptics
* Reserpine and psychosis
- Psychotropic medications
- Tranquilizers
* Benzodiazepines and anxiety
The Development of Biological
Treatments
- John Grey (1850s)
* American proponent of the
biological tradition- Etiology = always physical
- Treatments = as is physically ill
* Rest
* Diet
* Room temperature - Improved hospital conditions
19th Century
Plato, Aristotle, and Greece
*Etiology
* Social and environmental
factors
*Treatment
* Reeducation via discussion
* Therapeutic environments
The Psychological Tradition
- Moral Therapy
- “Moral” = emotional or psychological
- Treating patients normally
- Encouraging social interaction
- Focus on relationships
- Individual attention
- Education
Moral Therapy
is an immediate alarm reaction to danger
Fear
is a future-oriented mood state characterized by apprehension because we cannot predict or control upcoming events.
Anxiety
brief experience of intense fear or acute discomfort, accompanied by physical symptoms that usually include heart palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath, and possibly dizziness.
Panic Attack
if you know that you are afraid of high places, but not anywhere else
Expected (or cued) e.g
if you have no idea when the next attack will come.
Unexpected (or uncued):
- At least 6 months of excessive anxiety and worry, must be ongoing more days than not,
and is difficult to turn off or control. - People with this condition mostly worry about minor, everyday life events, a characteristic that distinguishes it from other anxiety disorders
- For children only one symptom is required for a diagnosis
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
individuals experience severe, unexpected panic attacks; they may think they’re dying or losing control.
Panic Disorder
fear and avoidance of situations in which a person feels unsafe or unable to escape to get home or to a hospital in the event of developing panic symptoms, Most, but not all panic disorder, is accompanied by this condition.
Agoraphobia
In Latin America, this is a disorder characterized by sweating, increased heart rate, and insomnia but not by reports of anxiety and fear even though fright is the cause.
Susto
Among Hispanic-Americans, particularly those from the Carribean, this disorder
presents with symptoms that are similar to panic attack but associated more often with crying uncontrollably and bursting into tears.
Ataque de Nervios
- We inherit a tendency to be tense, uptight and anxious
- Depleted levels of Gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) is associated with increased anxiety
- Area associated with anxiety is the limbic system (deals
with emotions, memories, arousal)
(Biological) Causes of Anxiety Disorders
→ Parents who are overprotective and intrusive
→ A general “sense of uncontrollability” may
develop due to upbringing and other disruptive or traumatic environmental factors.
(Psychological) Causes of Anxiety Disorders
→ Stressful life events trigger our biological and psychological vulnerabilities to anxiety
(Social) Causes of Anxiety Disorders
are most prescribed for GAD, as well as some antidepressants
Benzodiazepines (Treatment Anxiety)
Patients evoke worry process during therapy sessions and confront anxiety provoking images and thoughts head on.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Treatment Anxiety)
Help patients become more tolerant of distressing thoughts and feelings
Meditational approaches (Treatment Anxiety)