Chapter 11 Flashcards
Psychological disorders
clinically significant thoughts, emotions, or behavior patterns that cause serious suffering or interfere with a person’s ability to cope with everyday life
biopsychosocial model
assumed that three sets of influences (biological, psychological, and sociocultural) interact to produce specific psychological problems
Diathesis-Stress Model (theory)
a psychological disorder expresses itself when environmental stressors provide the circumstances to activate a biological predisposition; AKA Stress-vulnerability model
-epigenetics
Epigenetics
shows how our DNA and environment interact (a gene may lie dormant in one environment, but active in another)
Separate twins… one eats veggies and one eats junk… will one of them get diabetes?
Factors to consider in psychological disorder diagnosis
Level of dysfunction?
Alcohol use vs abuse
Perception of distress?
What bothers you may not bother others
Deviation from the social norm?
Diagnosis
The identification and characterization of an illness
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
most widely used diagnostic system
i. The most recent version is the DMS-5-TR
ii. Currently lists more than 200 mental disorders grouped into 20 broad categories on the basis of observable signs and symptoms
iii. The classification and codes in the DSM closely resemble those in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Disorders (ICD)
pos/neg of classifying psycho disorders depending on…
i. The nature of the disorder
ii. The individual being diagnosed
iii. Cultural norms
iv. Stigmas
Neurodevelopment disorders
(ND) - a group of disorders with onset occurring during the developmental periods (infancy, childhood, or adolescence); may be genetic, physiological, or environmental in nature
○ Symptoms focus on whether a person is exhibiting behaviors appropriate for their age or maturity range
i. To be diagnosed with an ND, impairments must impact social ability and limit functioning within society
Anxiety disorder
psychological disorder characterized by persistent or extreme anxiety
i. Subjective features - fear of the worst happening, fear of losing control, nervousness, and inability to relax
ii. Physical features - trembling, sweating, racing heart, elevated blood pressure, and faintness
Types of anxiety disorders
Social anxiety disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Specific Phobia
Agoraphobia
Social anxiety disorder
marked by intense fear of being judged or watched by others; formerly called social phobia
i. People with social anxiety disorder become very anxious in social settings (class, parties, eating in public, peeing at trough-style urinals) where others might judge them
Generalized anxiety disorder
(GAD) - a prolonged experience of nonspecific anxiety or fear
i. Continually tense, agitated, and/or sleep deprived
Panic Disorder
An abrupt and recurring attack of fear/anxiety that is not triggered by a specific object or situation
i. Attacks typically last a few minutes
Specific Phobia
persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or situation, marked by avoidance
i. To be diagnosed with a phobic disorder, the fear must lead to avoidance behavior that interferes with normal life
Agoraphobia
fear of places or social situations
i. Crowded areas, standing in line, being outside of home, enclosed spaces, wide open spaces
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
(OCD) - Persistent, unwanted thoughts or ideas (obsessions) and the need to perform repetitive acts (compulsions) to reduce anxiety their obsessions produce
i. May be manifested as:
i. Hoarding - plagued by fear of throwing away something they may need
ii. Checking - re-check actions a number of times before anxiety will lessen; number of checks tends to increase
iii. Counting - preoccupied with counting (steps, words, tiles) that it disrupts daily life
Post-traumatic stress disorder -
disorder follows a traumatic event; characterized by intense, persistent anxiety, and avoidance of stimuli associated with the event
○ Sufferers may experience flashbacks, have sleep problems or nightmares, experience social withdrawal, and irritable outbursts
Stimulus generalization
occurs when a person experiences a fearful event and later develops a fear of similar events, hypervigilance
Major depressive disorder
a severe depression, including depressed mood or loss of interest, lasting two or more weeks; AKA clinical depression
Persistent depressive disorder
a moderate depression lasting a majority of days for two years or more; sometimes referred to as dysthymic disorder
○ Studies suggest that a combination of medical therapy (drugs) and cognitive-behavior therapy is the best treatment regimen for mood disorders… better than each alone
Bipolar Disorder
- a disorder characterized by extreme emotional changes; periods of mania alternate with periods of depression
i. Often develops between puberty ~25 -> but tends to be lifelong disorder
ii. Treatment often involves taking an anti-depressant and lithium (mood stabilizer for mania)
iii. Bipolar I: at least 1 severe manic episode, which likely causes hospitalization (due to psychosis)
iv. Bipolar II: at least 1 hypomanic episode (elevated mood, lack of sleep, lots of energy)
Mood Disorders
○ The biological perspective:
i. Depression is a whole-body disorder - it involves genetic predispositions and abnormalities in brain structure and function (including neurotransmitter systems)
ii. SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor - antidepressant meds, allows serotonin to stay in system
mood disorders ○ Social cognitive perspective:
i. Views depression as an ongoing cycle of stressful experiences (interpreted by negative beliefs and intensified by rumination) leading to negative moods and actions, thus fueling more stressful experiences
Schizophrenia
a disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and/or inappropriate emotional expression
i. Positive symptoms: Additions to a person’s mental life (hallucinations, delusions, erratic emotions)
ii. Negative symptoms: A lack of typical behavior (flat affect, social withdrawal, catatonia)
○ Typically first appears around puberty/early adulthood, buy may occur at any age
i. Develops gradually - known as chronic
ii. Develops rapidly, at any age, usually after a traumatic event
Hallucinations
False sensory experiences (in the absence of an external stimulus)
i. Studies show that when experiencing auditory hallucinations, the temporal lobe is active; visual hallucinations - occipital lobe
Delusions
false, persistent, unshakable beliefs
Word Salad
speech in which words are made up or mixed together incoherently
Paranoid
characterized by delusions and vivid hallucinations (usually auditory) of persecution or suspicion
i. Most common
schizo
Disorganized schizo
characterized by incoherence in thought and speech, and disorganized behavior
Inappropriate affect - may be emotionless or display silliness/giggling at wrong times
Catatonic schizo
Characterized by impaired/unusual motor skills and refusal to talk
schizo causes
○ It is known that hallucinations are linked to an excess of the neurotransmitter dopamine
○ New drugs limit dopamine absorption in the brain, which still causes some patients to develop Parkinson’s like symptoms, such as muscle tremors (Tardive Dyskinesia)
○ Some scientists pint to mishaps during prenatal development or delivery as causing brain abnormalities
i. Contributing factors: maternal diabetes, older paternal age (45), and oxygen deprecation at birth
Somatic Symptom Disorders
the expression of psychological distress through physical symptoms; formerly called somatoform or psychosomatic disorders
Conversion Disorder
characterized by a change in, or loss of, physical functioning although there is no medical explanation; due to trauma or excessive anxiety
○ These behaviors are not intentionally produced or fakes to avoid work or responsibilities… people honestly feel an ailment -> one possible contributor: stress
○ Conversion disorders probably account for many so-called miracle cures attributed to faith healers
Illness Anxiety Disorder
persistent belief that normal/minor physical ailments are symptomatic of a larger medical issue; formerly known as hypochondriasis
Dissociative Disorders
characterized by sudden, temporary changed in consciousness or self-identity to remove oneself from a source of stress
Dissociative Amnesia
a sudden inability to recall important personal information (name, friends, a period of time, etc.) usually following a particularly stressful event
i. Typically minutes to hours, but can persist longer
Dissociative Amnesia with Fugue
characterized by forgetting of personal information and suddenly relocating from home to escape extreme conflict or threat
i. Hours to years
ii. Sufferers may take on a new name, residence, and occupation
○ Unlike amnesia, these cannot be explained biologically, such as infection/head injury… psychological in origin
Dissociative Identity Disorder
(DID) - involved the existence of two or more alternating personalities, each with distinct traits and memories, with or without awareness of the others; formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder
i. The various personalities may be different sexes, ages, and may even have different eyeglass prescriptions
ii. Sufferers were usually severely abused in childhood (physical, sexual, psychological)
○ Cluster A: Odd/eccentric
i. Paranoid PD - a disorder characterized by severe distrust and persistent suspiciousness
i. Quick to blame others and hold long grudges
ii. Schizoid PD - characterized by avoidance of relationships with others and a lack of emotion
i. These peoples are ‘loners’ who don’t develop close relationships with others
iii. Schizotypal PD - characterized by eccentric thought and behavior; similar to schizophrenia, but milder -> no hallucinations
i. Sufferers sometimes believe they have extra sensory abilities or are extremely superstitious
○ Cluster B: Dramatic/Emotional/Erratic
i. Antisocial PD - characterized by frequent conflict with society’s rules; undeterred by punishment; seem to lack a conscious (they show no guilt or remorse)
i. In childhood/early adolescence, these people may run away from home, hurt animals, lie, steal, and even kill -> aggressive and/or fearless behaviors
ii. Borderline PD - characterized by unstable emotions and relationships, and self-destructive behavior
i. Sufferers are dependent on others, but try to ‘test’ or sabotage the relationship by driving the other person away
iii. Histrionic PD - characterized by constant attention-seeking behavior and overly dramatic behavior
iv. Narcissistic PD - characterized by a feeling of self-importance, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy
○ Cluster C: Anxious/Fearful
i. Avoidant PD - characterized by severe shyness, feeling of inadequacy, fear of embarrassment, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation
ii. Dependent PD - characterized by an extreme lack of self-confidence and a need to be looked after/cared for by other people
i. To avoid conflict they will not stand up for themselves and are easily manipulated; tend to be ‘clingy’; need constant reassurance about their choices
iii. Obsessive-Compulsive PD - characterized by a preoccupation with rules, orderliness, and perfectionism; they are not debilitate to the same extent as someone with OCD - don’t see own behavior as a problem
i. They tend to be great list makers and adhere to schedules, even at the cost of social relationships
Anorexia
an eating disorder in which a person maintains a near-starvation diet
