Chapter 14 Flashcards
Psychological disorder
A significant dysfunction in a person’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviors
Medical model
The concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital
DSM-IV-TR
The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth edition, with an updated text revision; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders
Are psychological disorders universal, or are they culture specific? Explain with examples
Some psychological disorders are cultural specific. For example, anorexia nervosa occurs mostly in Western cultures, and taijin-kyofusho appears largely in Japan. Other disorders, such as schizophrenia, occur in all cultures.
What is the biopsychosocial perspective, & why is it important in our understanding of psychological disorders?
Biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences combine to produce psychological disorders. This broad perspective helps us understand that our well-being is affected by our genes, brain functioning, inner thoughts and feelings, and the influences of our social & cultural environment
What is the value, and what are the dangers, of labeling individuals with disorders?
Therapists & others use disorder labels to communicate with one another in a common language, & to share concepts during research. Insurance companies require a diagnosis (a label) before they will pay for therapy. The danger of labeling people is that they will begin to act as they have been labeled, and also that labels can create expectations that will change our behavior toward the people we label.
Anxiety disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
Generalized anxiety disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal
Panic disorder
An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations
Phobia
An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions), actions (compulsions), or both
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
An anxiety disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares and social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience
Unfocused tension, apprehension, and arousal is called _____ _____ disorder. If a person is focusing anxiety on specific feared objects or situations, that person may have an _______. Those who express anxiety through unwanted repetitive thoughts or actions may have a _____-______ disorder. Anxiety accompanied by recurring memories and nightmares, social withdrawal, & insomnia for weeks after a traumatic event may be diagnosed with _____-_____ _____ disorder. Those who experience unpredictable periods of terror and intense dread, accompanied by frightening physical sensations, may be diagnosed with an _______ disorder.
Generalized anxiety; phobia; obsessive-compulsive; post-traumatic stress; panic
Researchers believe that anxiety disorders are influenced by conditioning, observational learning, and cognition. What biological factors contribute to these disorder?
Biological factors include inherited temperament differences; trauma-altered fear pathways in the brain, and outdated, inherited responses that had survival value for our distant ancestors
Mood disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes
Major depressive disorder
A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more weeks of significantly depressed moods or diminished interest or pleasure in most activities, along with at least four other symptoms
Bipolar disorder
A mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (Formerly called manic-depressive disorder)
Mania
A hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is common
What does it mean to say that “depression is a whole body disorder?”
Many factors contribute to depression, including the biological influences of genetics & brain function. Social cognitive factors also matter, including the interaction of explanatory style, mood, our responses to stressful experiences, & changes in our patterns of thinking and behaving. The whole body is involved
Schizophrenia
A group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, & inappropriate emotions and behaviors
Psychosis
A psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted peceptions
Delusions
False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders
A person with schizophrenia who has ______ symptoms may have an expressionless face and toneless voice. These symptoms are most common with ______ schizophrenia and are not likely to respond to drug therapy. Those with ______ symptoms are likely to experience delusions and to be diagnosed with ______ schizophrenia, which is much more likely to respond to drug therapy.
Negative; chronic; positive; acute
What factors contribute to the onset an development of schizophrenia?
Biological factors include abnormalities in brain structure & function, prenatal exposure to a maternal virus, & genetic factors. However, schizophrenia is more likely to develop given a high-risk environment
Dissociative disorders
Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings
Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder
The psychodynamic and learning perspectives agree that dissociative identity disorder symptoms are ways of dealing with anxiety. How do their expectations differ?
The psychodynamic explanation of DID symptoms is that they are defenses against anxiety generated by unacceptable urges. The learning perspective attempts to explain these symptoms about behaviors that have been reinforced by relieving anxiety in the past.
People with _______ continue to want to lose weight even when they are underweight. Those with _______ tend to have a weight that fluctuates within or above normal ranges
Anorexia nervosa; bulimia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa
An eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight
Bulimia nervosa
An eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use) or fasting
Binge-eating disorder
Significant binge eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, of guilt, but without the compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa
Personality disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning
Antisocial personality disorder
A personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist
How do biological and psychological factors contribute to antisocial personality disorder?
Twin and adoption studies show that biological relatives of people with this disorder are at increased risk for antisocial behavior. Negative environmental factors, such as poverty or childhood abuse, may channel genetic traits such as fearlessness in more dangerous directions- toward aggression and away from social responsibility
What is the relationship between poverty & psychological disorders?
Poverty-related stresses can help trigger disorders, but disabling disorders can also contribute to poverty. Thus, poverty and disorder are often a chicken-and-egg situation, and its hard to know which came first
Anna is embarrassed that it takes her several minutes to parallel park her car. She usually gets out of the car once or twice to inspect her distance both from the curb and from the nearby cars. Should she worry about having a psychological disorder?
No. Anna’s behavior is unusual, causes her distress, and may make her a few minutes late on occasion, but it does not appear to significantly disrupt her ability to function. like most of us, Anna demonstrates some unusual behaviors that are not disabling or dysfunctional, and thus, do not suggest a psychological disorder
Anna is embarrassed that it takes her several minutes to parallel park her car. She usually gets out of the car once or twice to inspect her distance both from the curb and from the nearby cars. Should she worry about having a psychological disorder?
No. Annas behavior is unusual, causes her distress, and may make her a few minutes late on occasion, but it does not appear to significantly disrupt her ability to function. like most of us, Anna demonstrates some unusual behaviors that are not disabling or dysfunctional, and thus, do not suggest a psychological disorder
Although some psychological disorders are culture bound, others are universal. For example, in every known culture some people have
Schizophrenia
A therapist says that psychological disorders are sicknesses and people with these disorders should be treated as patients in a hospital. This therapist believes in the ______ model
Medical
Many psychologists reject the “disorders-as-illness” view & instead contend that other factors may also be involved-for example, the person’s bad habits & poor social skills. This view represents the _______ approach
Biopsychosocial
One study found that psychologists using DSM-IV-TR agreed on a diagnosis for more than 80% of patients. The DSM-IV-TR’s reliability stems in part from its reliance on?
Structured interviewed procedures
Anxiety that takes the form of an irrational and maladaptive fear of a specific object, activity or situation is called a ________
Phobia
An episode of intense dread, accompanied by trembling, dizziness, chest pains, or choking sensations and by feelings of terror, is called?
A panic attack
Marina became consumed with the need to clean the entire house and refused to participate in any other activities. Her family consulted a therapist, who diagnosed her as having?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
The learning perspective proposes that phobias are?
Conditioned fears
Two disorders are found worldwide. One is schizophrenia, and the other is?
Depression
Although bipolar disorder is a maladaptive as depression, it is much less common and it affects?
Women and men equally
The rate of depression is ______ among young people
Increasing
Depression can also be alleviated by drugs that increase the supplies of the neurotransmitters ______ and _______
Norepinephrine; serotonin
Psychologists who emphasize the importance of negative perceptions, beliefs, and thoughts in depression are working within the _____-_______ perspective
Social-cognitive
A person with positive symptoms of schizophrenia is most likely to experience
Delusions
People with schizophrenia may hear voices urging self-destruction, an example of a(n)
Hallucination
Victor exclaimed, “The weather has been so schizophrenic lately: It’s hot one day and freezing the next!” Is this an accurate comparison? Why or why not?
No. Schizophrenia involves the altered perceptions, emotions, and behaviors of a mind split from reality. It does not involve rapid changes in mood or identity, as suggested by this comparison
Chances for recovery from schizophrenia are best when?
Onset is sudden, in response to stress
Dissociative identity disorder is controversial because
It is almost never reported outside North America
Which of the following statements is true of bulimia nervosa
Bulimia is marked by weight fluctuations within or above normal ranges
PET scans of murderers’ brains have revealed
Lower than normal activation in the frontal lobes
PET
.
One predictor of psychiatric disorders that crosses ethnic and gender lines is ________
Poverty
The symptoms of _______ appear around age 10; _______ tends to appear later, around age 25.
Phobias; major depression
