Abnormal Psychology Flashcards
ADD/ADHD
Atypical inattention and/or impulsivity-hyperactivity; may have short attention span & difficulty staying on task/organizing tasks
Unable to follow instructions or stick to activities for extended period of time
Group situations are difficult
Fidgeting/restlessness (hyperactivity)
Inability to delay gratification, frequently interrupt (impulsivity)
Occurs by age 3, however, often not diagnosed until school-age
More prevalent in males; symptoms usually attenuate during adolescence
ASD
lack of responsiveness to others (low social functioning); low communication skills, repetitive behaviors
Often inflexibly routined; may display aversion to eye contact and physical contact
Language skills may be impaired; oversensitivity to sensory stimuli
Tourette’s disorder
characterized by motor and verbal tics; tics are sudden, recurrent, and stereotyped
Periods of remission may occur
Schizophrenia history
term coined by Bleuler in 1911; was previously called dementia praecox
Schizophrenia
“split mind”; meaning mind is split from reality
Symptoms include:
delusions, hallucination, disorganized thought, inappropriate affect, catatonic behavior
Positive symptoms (Schizophrenia)
behaviors, thoughts, or affects in addition to normal behavior Psychotic dimension (delusions/hallucinations) and disorganized dimension (disorganized speech and behavior)
Negative symptoms (Schizophrenia)
absence of normal behavior (ex. flat affect)
Delusions
Beliefs discordant with reality
Delusions of reference: others talking about him/her; elements of environment are directed at him/her
Persecution: person is being directly, deliberately interfered with, discriminated against, plotted against, or threatened
Grandeur: belief that he/she is a remarkable person
Thought broadcasting and thought inserting
Hallucination
Perceptions not due to sensation of real stimuli
Usually auditory
Disorganized thought
Loosened associations; may result in word salad or neologisms (invented words)
Disturbance of affect
Blunted affect (expression is reduced) Flat affect (no apparent expression) Inappropriate affect (discordant with their speech/ideation) Antipsychotics typically affect affect making it difficult to assess this symptom of patients under treatment
Catatonic motor behavior
Rigidity OR bizarre useless movements
Prodromal phase
Clear evidence of deterioration, social withdrawal, impaired role functioning, peculiar behavior, and inappropriate affect preceding diagnosis of schizophrenia
Followed by “active phase” of symptomatic behavior
Process v. Reactive Schizophrenia
Process: slow development of schizophrenia, poor recovery
Reactive: intense, sudden onset of symptoms, better prognosis for recovery
Schizophrenia subtypes (DSM-IV)
Catatonic, paranoid, disorganized (disorganized thought and flat or inappropriate affect), undifferentiated (no primary symptom), residual (positive symptoms have faded, neg symptoms may remain)
No longer divided into subtypes
Multiaxial assessment
DSM-IV system Axis 1: clinical disorders Axis 2: PDs and ID Axis 3: medical conditions Axis 4: environmental stressors Axis 5: GAF (global assessment of functioning, out of 100
DSM & “neurosis”
Not listed as category of mental disorders since neurosis is a theoretical term derived only from psychoanalytic theory
Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
Suggests that pos symptoms arise due to excess DA activity
Supported by effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs (which reduce DA activity)
Double-blind hypothesis of schizophrenia
Child is given conflicting messages by pcg
Child becomes disorganized and perceptions are unreliable
Not widely supported but research does suggest that strength of family communication is related to some forms of schizophrenia
Bipolar disorder
Manic episodes: elevated mood, insomnia, impaired judgement, risky behavior; alternates with depressive periods in Bipolar I
In bipolar II, manic periods replaced with hypomania (no psychotic features, but still elevated mood)
Dysthymic disorder (DSM-IV)
Longer period of time than depression and fewer symptoms necessary to diagnose. No longer a diagnosis
Cyclothymic disorder
Less extreme poles and longer lasting for diagnosis (as compared to bipolar)
Monoamine theory of depression
Or catacholamine theory of depression
Under-activity of MAs (NE & serotonin)
Not really that simple
Somatoform disorders
Presence of physical symptoms that are not explained by a medical condition; not faking
Conversion disorder
Somatoform disorder; unexplained symptoms affecting voluntary motor or sensory functions (ex. Blindness with no damage to visual system)
used to be called “hysteria”
Hypochondriasis
Somatoform disorder; person fears they have a serious disease
Dissociative amnesia
Inability to recall past experience; amnesia not due to neurological disorder but to dissociation to avoid stressors
Dissociative fugue
Sudden, unexpected move away from home/life
May even assume new identity
Dissociative identity disorder
Two or more alters directing behavior; therapy focuses on integrating alters into one personality
Depersonalization disorder
Person feels detached from their cognitions and/or behaviors; person is an outside observer but has intact sense of reality
Anorexia nervousa
Distorted body image; usually accompanied by amenorrhea
Bulimia nervosa
Binge eating and purging (or excessive exercise/fasting)
Not necessarily underweight
PDs
Impaired functioning of at least two: cognition, emotion, interpersonal functioning, impulse control
Causing distress
Schizoid PD
pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and blunted affect
narcissistic PD
Grandiose self-importance, preoccupation with fantasies of success, need for constant admiration/attention, entitlement; fragile self-esteem,
May result in rage, inferiority, shame, humiliation, emptiness when individual is not viewed favorably by another
BPD
instability in mood, behavior, self-image; interpersonal relationships are intense/unstable, uncertainty of self-image, sexual identity, long-term goals, or value; fear of abandonment
Can result in suicide and self-mutilation
ASPD
disregard for/violation of rights of others; illegal acts, deceitfulness, aggression, lack of remorse
Serial killers and other career criminals may have this disorder
diathesis-stress model
framework used to examine cause of mental diagnoses
(diathesis: predisposition for a specific disorder)
Stressors may then lead to the development of the disorder
primary prevention
efforts to identify and then eradicate conditions that foster mental illness
Rosenhan (1973)
psychiatric hospital study, pseudopatients (“empty,” “hollow,” “thud”)
Thomas Szasz
critic of labeling people “mentally ill”
Most disorders treated by clinicians are not illnesses but traits or behaviors that differ form cultural norm
Famous book: The Myth of Mental Illness
