chapter 14

Question 1

what are the 4 D’s of abnormal behavior in abnormal psychology?

Answer 1

deviance - unusual behavior, socially unacceptable behavior, break from reality
distress
dysfunction - maladaptive, self-defeating behavior
dangerous behavior

Question 2

what is a psychological disorder?

Answer 2

the presence of a constellation of symptoms that create significant distress or impair work, school, family, relationships, or daily living

Question 3

why is classification necessary?

Answer 3

1. prediction of disorder’s course
2. treatment suggestion
3. research into causes and possible treatments

Question 4

why are labels dangerous?

Answer 4

expectation effects, self-fulfilling prophecy, rosenhan study (he and a group of healthy individuals pretended to have mental illness symptoms to gain admission to psychiatric hospitals, demonstrating that psychiatrists often misdiagnosed sanity as insanity, highlighting issues with the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses)

Question 5

how do you categorize disorders?

Answer 5

Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual (DSM-5); Used for diagnosing disorders; Varying degrees of accuracy; Often use BioPsychSocial
approach today (Biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact to
produce specific psychological
disorders)

Question 6

what are the 3 anxiety disorders?

Answer 6

1. generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
2. panic disorder
3. phobias

Question 7

what is generalized anxiety disorder?

Answer 7

a person for no obvious reason, is continually tense &
uneasy; lifetime prevalence 6%

Question 8

what is panic disorder?

Answer 8

a disorder in which a person experiences panic attacks; begins to fear panic attacks; can lead to agoraphobia; lifetime prevalence 5%

Question 9

what are phobias?

Answer 9

social anxiety disorder: a disorder in which a person fear public humiliation and/or
embarrassment; lifetime prevalence 12%
specific phobia: a disorder in which a person has an intense fear and
avoidance of a specific object, or situation; animals, blood-injection-injury, natural environment, situation, miscellaneous; lifetime prevalence 12%

Question 10

what is OCD?

Answer 10

characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts & behaviors; obsession: thought; compulsion: action (checking, washing, ordering); lifetime prevalence 2-3%

Question 11

what is PTSD?

Answer 11

traumatic event; fear and helplessness; symptoms (re-experience event, avoidance and emotional numbing, social withdrawal, insomnia, heightened arousal); lifetime prevalence 7-9% (among americans)

Question 12

what are possible causes for anxiety, OCD, PTSD?

Answer 12

conditioning: little albert; anxiety cues - stimulus generalization & reinforcement
cognition: hypervigilant - attend more to threatening stimuli; interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening; higher chance of recalling threatening event
biology: genes - family studies, twin studies, chemical levels (serotonin), epigenetics; runs in families; the brain - amygdala (hypersensitive); anterior cingulate cortex (hyperactive in monitoring & checking for errors

Question 13

what are the 2 mood disorders?

Answer 13

major depressive disorder (unipolar depression) and bipolar disorder

Question 14

what is major depressive disorder (unipolar)?

Answer 14

a disorder that over 2 consecutive weeks people experience at least 5 of the following: depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, changes in appetite, sleep, physical activity level, energy, feelings of worthless or guilt, problems with concentration, suicidal thoughts or ideation; lifetime prevalence 20% for women 12% for men; suicide is attempted by 30% of depressed people

Question 15

what is bipolar disorder?

Answer 15

mania - often cycles with depression; diagnosis correlated with working in creative profession and americans; high suicide risk; gender ratio is equal; lifetime prevalence is 1%; two affected parents 50-65%, one affected parent child or sibling 5-20%, one affected second-degree relative 5%

Question 16

what are potential causes of unipolar depression?

Answer 16

the brain: decreased activity (especially left hemi), low neurotransmitters, hereditary factors
substance intake: nutritional effects (plant-based diet lowers inflammation -> inflammation linked with diagnosis of depression); alcohol is highly correlated with depression diagnosis
the person: attributional style - internal vs external, global vs specific, stable vs unstable; negative thoughts and moods - rumination and learned helplessness; culture

Question 17

what are potential causes of bipolar disorder?

Answer 17

Na+ ion instability; Biochemistry (low serotonin, norepinephrine low or high depression or mania; genetics

Question 18

how do you diagnose schizophrenia?

Answer 18

1. for one month an individual displays 2 or more of the following symptoms much of the time (delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, abnormal motor activity including catatonia, and negative symptoms)
2. one of the symptoms must be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech
3. individual functions worse in different spheres of life
4. individuals continue to display impaired functioning for 5 more months

Question 19

acute schizophrenia characteristics

Answer 19

can appear at any age
as a result of trauma or major stressors
greater likelihood of recovery

Question 19

characteristics of chronic schizophrenia

Answer 19

appears late adolescent/ early adulthood
progressive

Question 19

what are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 19

diminished speech
blunted and flat affect
loss of motivation
impaired theory of mind
catatonia

Question 19

what are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 19

delusions
disorganized thinking and speech
hallucinations
inappropriate affect

Question 20

how do we explain schizophrenia?

Answer 20

the brain:
- larger ventricles
- elevated dopamine levels
- smaller amounts of cortical gray matter
- fewer synaptic connections

• various environmental factors including abuse, cannabis use, parental loss
• winter births
• flu or other viral exposure in utero
• high antibodies in maternal blood

Question 21

what is a personality disorder?

Answer 21

inflexible and enduring patterns of behavior that impair one’s social functioning

Question 22

what is a cluster A personality disorder?

Answer 22

odd-centric
- paranoid
- schizoid
- schizotypical

Question 23

what is a cluster B personality disorder?

Answer 23

dramatic-emotional
- antisocial
- borderline
- histrionic
- narcissistic

Question 24

what are symptoms and etiology of antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 24

1. failure to conform to social norms (lawful behaviors) that are grounds for arrest
2. deceitfulness (repeated lying, aliases, conning others for personal reasons)
3. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
4. irritability and aggressiveness (repeated physical fight or assaults)

• genetic predisposition to fearless and uninhibited life (comorbidity for substance use disorders)
• higher in individuals who experienced (abuse, family instability, poverty) in childhood
• brain activity differs compared to non-mental ill brain (amygdala smaller, hyperactive DA reward response system, reduced frontal lobe activity

Question 25

what is narcissistic personality disorder?

Question 26

what are cluster C personality disorders?

Answer 26

anxious-fearful
- avoidant
- dependent
- obsessive-compulsive

Question 27

what are factors/ prevalence of eating disorders?

Answer 27

genetic predisposition, gender, cultural factors
lifetime prevalence 0.5%-4% (anorexia, bulimia)

Question 28

differences in anorexia and bulimia

Answer 28

anorexia
- extreme diet; below minimally normal weight
- denial of anorexia; proud of diet
- comforted by rigid self control
- amenorrhea

bulimia
- binge eating/ compensatory behavior; normal weight
- aware of problem; secretive/ ashamed of bulimia
- distressed by lack of self control
- teeth/ gum problems
- brittle bones

Question 29

what are dissociative disorders and symptoms?

Answer 29

identity confusion, identity alteration, derealization, depersonalization, amnesia

dissociative amnesia: unable to recall important personal information, usually related to a traumatic or stressful event, causing significant gaps in their memory that go beyond normal forgetfulness

dissociative fugue: a rare mental health condition characterized by a sudden and unexpected loss of memory and identity, accompanied by travel or wandering

dissociative identity disorder: a severe mental health condition characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states or identities that alternate in controlling a person’s behavior and thoughts