Chapter 15 Flashcards
Abnormal Psychology
Psychological study of mental illness
Does a person have maladaptive thoughts, feelings or behaviours?
Maladaptive
Causing distress to oneself or others
Impairing day-to-day functioning
Increasing the risk of injury or harm to oneself or others
Medical Model of Psychiatry(1800s)
Considers psychological issues as being similar to physical conditions(a set of symptoms, causes and outcomes)
Treatments aimed at changing physiological processes in order to alleviate symptoms
(Psychological issues like depression, anxiety or autism approaches like diabetes or cancer)
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)
Standardized manual to diagnose psychological disorders
Created by American Psychiatric Association in WW2
Current version: DSM-5-TR (2022)
Divides mental illnesses into 19 categories
Current version defines disorders on a continuum/scale
Challenges with Classifying Behaviour
How can we determine who has a mental disorder?
Is a disorder something someone has?
Normal behaviour vs symptom?
Diagnoses still largely influenced by clinician
Personality Disorders
Unusual patterns of behaviour that are
-maladaptive
-distressing to oneself or others
-resistant to change
Relative to individual’s cultural context
Present for long time (since adolescence/childhood)
Distinct from other psychological disorders, mental conditions or substances
Cluster A Personality Disorders
-Odd and Eccentric Behaviours
-Individuals perceive and interpret world in inaccurate way
-Thoughts expressed in manner that makes close relationships difficult
Paranoid Personality Disorder (PDP)
-Preoccupied by belief that other people are trying to harm/deceive them
-Often react with anger to imagined threats and are suspicious and guarded around others
-Demonstrate faster neural response to auditory stimuli, larger level of stress hormones (vigilance for threats)
Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD)
-Socially detaches, do not desire close relationships, do not find most activities enjoyable
-may appear indifferent, cold, emotionless
-results in intentional self-isolation
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
-Uncomfortable with close relationships, develop unusual or eccentric thoughts and behaviours
-tend to be suspicious and superstitious, determine imaginary connections between thoughts and events, express thoughts using strange abstract phrasing
Schizotypal Causes
-smaller left Superior Temporal Gyrus (auditory cortex and language processes)
-particular form of ‘COMT’ gene:related to dopamine/epinephrine neurotransmitters
-problems during prenatal development (males)
-psychological trauma and chronic stress
Cluster B Personality Disorders
-Dramatic and Erratic Behaviours
-Emotional intensity and emotional outbursts that impair social functioning
-Dramatic, erratic behaviour
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Switch between extreme positive and negative emotions
Unstable sense of self, impulsivity, difficulty maintaining social relationships
Relationships may involve strong feelings of attachment, fear of abandonment and manipulation
BPD causes
-Medial frontal lobes (regulation of attention and emotional responses) smaller in BPD individuals than healthy controls
-May be related to deep feelings of insecurity and severe emotional experiences early in life
-Dangerous self destructive behaviour(substance abuse, indiscriminate sex, self injury, suicide)may reflect individual’s difficulty coping with extreme negative emotions
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
-Inflated sense of self importance and excessive need for attention and admiration AND intense self doubt and fear of abandonment
-May be related to disruption of frontal lobe circuit involved with feelings of empathy
Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD)
-Excessive attention seeking and dramatic behaviour
-Makes individuals seem excessively comfortable in social situations
-Engagement in risky and indulgent behaviours, sensitive to criticism, manipulative in relationships
-more flamboyant and exhibitionistic than other disorders
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)
-Lack of empathy and emotional connection with others
-Disregard for others’ rights or feelings, tendency to impose own desires onto others regardless of consequences
-No remorse so rarely motivated to change/accept treatment
-Difficulty learning tasks that require decision making and following complex rules
APD causes
-Troubled upbringing, trauma, abuse
-self-defence against extreme negative emotions may affect ability to feel empathy, leading to cruel behaviour towards others
-Conduct Disorders: Precursor to APD, demonstrate reduced activity in frontal lobes