Chapter 15 - Psychological Disorders Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a psychological disorder?

A

Patterns of thoughts, feelings, or actions that are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional.

For there to be distress and dysfunction, symptoms must be sufficiently severe to interfere with one’s daily life and well being.

Deviant means to differ from the norm.

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2
Q

Is ADHD a disorder?

A

Is it deviant?
Do some people have a level of inattentiveness, impulsiveness, or restlessness that goes beyond laziness or immaturity?

Is it distressful?
Does the person enjoy being energetic or are they frustrated that they can’t sustain focus?

Is it dysfunctional?
Are the symptoms harmless fun or do they negatively impact work and relationships?

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3
Q

Why are disorders diagnosed?

A

To make decisions about treating the problem.

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4
Q

What was Pinel’s new approach?

A

Philippe Pinel proposed that madness is not a demonic possession but a sickness of the mind. He emphasized moral treatment.

Humane environmental interventions often improved lives but not the mental illness itself.

The discovery that syphilis causes mental symptoms (by infecting the brain) suggested a medical model for mental illness.

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5
Q

What is the biopsychosocial approach to treating mental disorders?

A

Mental disorders can arise in the interaction between nature and nurture caused by biology, thoughts, and the sociocultural environment.

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6
Q

How many classifications of mental disorders are there and what is used to diagnose them?

A

There are 16 categories of disorders and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is used to diagnose patients.

It is easier to count cases if we have a clear definition of a disorder. The DSM is also used to justify payment for treatment of these disorders. It is consistent with diagnoses used by medical doctors worldwide.

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7
Q

What are some symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

A

Emotional cognitive symptoms - persistent and uncontrollable anxiety and worry.

Physical symptoms - autonomic arousal (trembling, sweating, fidgeting, agitation, and sleep disruption)

Functional impairment.

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8
Q

What is panic disorder?

A

Recurrent unexpected panic attacks.
Minutes long episode of intense fear which many include feelings of terror, chest pains, trembling, feeling faint, and other frightening sensations.

A feeling of a need to escape.
Also involves a fear of the next attack and a change in behavior to avoid panic attacks.

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9
Q

What is specific phobia?

A

Persistent and unreasonable fear of an object or situation and an intense desire to avoid it.

Causes functional impairment.

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10
Q

What is agoraphobia?

A

Fear or avoidance of situations in which escape might be difficult when panic strikes.

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11
Q

What is social phobia?

A

An intense fear of being watched and judged by others.

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12
Q

What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

A

Persistence of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urges to engage in senseless rituals (compulsions) that cause distress.

Compulsions are done to lower obsessions.

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13
Q

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

A

About 10 - 35% of people who experience trauma have four weeks to a lifetime of:

Intrusive distressing recollections of the event.
Nightmares.
Social withdrawal.
Jumpy anxiety or hyper vigilance - easily startled and super aware.
Sleep problems.

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14
Q

Talk about classical conditioning and anxiety.

A

Learned associations - a certain object / place and feeling of fear. Sometimes such a conditioned response becomes over generalized.

Ex. Little Albert’s fear of white rats turned into a generalized fear of all white animals.

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15
Q

Talk about operant conditioning and anxiety.

A

Avoidance reduces anxiety and reinforces it. If you always avoid something, you’re always afraid of it.

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16
Q

Talk about observational learning and anxiety.

A

Humans and monkeys learn fears by observing others.

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17
Q

Talk about cognition and anxiety.

A

Worried thoughts as well as interpretations, appraisals, beliefs, predictions, hyper vigilance, and ruminations.

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18
Q

What are some things that can worsen anxiety?

A

Cognitive errors - believing that we can predict that bad events will happen.

Irrational beliefs - “bad things happen to bad people and I was hurt so I must be bad.”

Mistaken appraisals - seeing aches as diseases, noises as dangers, and strangers as threats.

Misinterpretations - of facial expressions and actions of others, like thinking people are talking about you.

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19
Q

Talk about biology and anxiety.

A

Human are naturally phobic of snakes, heights, closed spaces, and darkness - being weary of these objects kept our ancestors alive to reproduce. There are also dangerous objects that we are not phobic of, but are likely to become cautious of, like guns, cars, and electricity.

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20
Q

Talk about fear and the brain.

A

Traumatic experiences can burn fear circuits into the amygdala; these circuits can later be triggers / activated more easily.

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21
Q

What are two examples of mood disorders?

A

Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.

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22
Q

What is the criteria that must be met in order to be diagnosed with depression?

A

One or both of the first two and at least three of the others.

Depressed mood for most of the day.
Markedly diminished interest and pleasure in activities.

Significant increase / decrease in appetite / weight.
Change in sleep - too much or too little.
Lethargy or physical agitation.
Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
Worthlessness or excessive / inappropriate guilt.
Daily problems in thinking / concentrating / making decisions.
Recurring thoughts of death or suicide.

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23
Q

What percentage of people worldwide suffer from depression?

A

Depression is the number one reason people seek mental health services and appears worldwide in 6% of males and 9% of females every year.

A woman’s risk of depression is nearly double that of men.

Depression is more common in individualistic cultures.

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24
Q

What are bipolar disorder’s two opposing moods?

A

Depression and manic.

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25
Q

What are the symptoms of the depressed mood?

A

Permanent down feeling with same symptoms as Major Depressive Disorder.

26
Q

What are the symptoms of the manic mood?

A
Euphoric, giddy, easily irritated with:
Little desire for sleep.
Exaggerated optimism.
Hyper sociability and sexuality.
Impulsivity and overactivity.
Racing thoughts.
Delight in everything.
27
Q

How many people commit suicide worldwide every year?

A

About 1 million.

28
Q

People desire death when what two fundamental needs cannot be met?

A

The need to belong with or connect to others.

The need to feel effective with or to influence others.

29
Q

What are other physical symptoms of depression?

A

Self-harm, which has functions such as sending a message, distracting from pain, or self-punishment.

30
Q

What is depression’s heritability rate in identical twins? Bipolar disorder’s?

A

Depression - 35% which suggests nurture does play a role.

Bipolar - 85%.

31
Q

What does the brain do when in a depressive state?

A

Diminished brain activity with less activity in the left frontal lobe and reduced feel-good neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and serotonin.

In a manic state, there are excessive amounts of norepinephrine.

32
Q

What is the social cognitive perspective on depression?

A

Depression is correlated with:
Low self-esteem - discounting positive information and assuming the worst about self, situation, and the future.
Learned helplessness - self-defeating beliefs - I can’t cope / improve / be happy.
Rumination - stuck focusing on the bad.
Depressive explanatory style - how we analyze bad news. Depression is caused by stable (I’ll never get over this) global (can’t do anything right) internal thinking.

33
Q

What is the vicious cycle of depression?

A

The depressed mood changes a person’s style of thinking and interacting in a way that makes stressful experiences more likely.

Depressed people are at a higher risk for divorce, job loss, and stressful life events.

Being depressed causes other bad things to happen.

34
Q

What is schizophrenia?

A

A mental split from reality and rationality.

35
Q

What are some symptoms of schizophrenia?

A
Disorganized / disturbed thinking (false beliefs).
Disturbed perceptions (hallucinations).
Inappropriate emotions and actions.
36
Q

What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

A
The presence of problematic behaviors.
Hallucinations.
Delusions.
Disorganized thoughts / nonsensical speech.
Problems with selective attention.
Bizarre behaviors.
Inappropriate emotions.
37
Q

What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

A
Absence of healthy behaviors.
Flat affect.
Reduced social interaction.
Anhedonia - no feeling of enjoyment.
Avolition - less motivation / initiative / focus.
Mute.
Catatonia - no movement.
38
Q

What kind of symptoms are easier to treat?

A

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

39
Q

When is the onset period of schizophrenia?

A

Late adolescence to early adulthood.

40
Q

What is the prevalence of schizophrenia?

A

Nearly 1 in 100 people, slightly more men than women.

41
Q

What are the two courses of schizophrenia?

A

Active / reactive - positive symptoms appear after a major stressor. Recovery is likely.

Chronic / process - schizophrenia develops slowly with more negative symptoms. It is much more difficult to treat and can lead to poverty and social problems.

42
Q

What are some biological risk factors of schizophrenia?

A
Low birth weight.
Maternal diabetes.
Older parental age.
Famine.
Oxygen deprivation during birth.
Maternal virus during mid-pregnancy impairing brain development.
43
Q

Schizophrenia is more likely to develop in babies born:

A

During / after flu epidemics.
Densely populated areas.
A few months after flu season.
When mothers had the flu during the second trimester.

44
Q

What are some genetic risk factors of schizophrenia?

A

If an identical twin has schizophrenia, the co-twin’s chance of having it is 6 in 10 if they shared a placenta and 1 in 10 if they had separate placentas.

Adoptive studies confirm this link.

45
Q

Notes about schizophrenia.

A

Schizophrenia is largely genetic and biological.
Most suffering have abnormal brain structure with too many dopamine / D4 receptors, poor coordination of neural firing in frontal lobes, the thalamus fires during hallucinations as if real - THEY ACTUALLY FEEL THE SENSATIONS AND DO SEE AND HEAR THINGS - and the general shrinking of many brain areas.

Research shows many genes are linked to schizophrenia, but it may take environmental factors to activate these genes.

Social / psychological factors (like parenting) alone do not cause schizophrenia, but factors such as stress may influence the onset.

46
Q

What is a dissociative disorder?

A

A separation of conscious awareness from thoughts, memory, bodily sensations, feelings, or identity.

It can serve as a psychological escape from overwhelming stress.

A dissociative disorder refers to dysfunction and distress caused by chronic and severe dissociation.

47
Q

What is Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)?

A

The development of multiple distinct personalities. There are arguments about whether it exists and it is not diagnosed in other countries.

48
Q

Is DID real?

A

Different personalities have different wave patterns and even handedness.
It could function as a way to cope with abuse.

49
Q

Is DID not real?

A

It can be faked - an extreme form of playing a role.
It is a recent cultural construction.
It could be created or worsened by therapists encouraging people to think of different parts of themselves.

50
Q

What do eating disorders involve?

A

Unrealistic body image and extreme body ideals.

A desire to control food and the body when one’s situation cannot be controlled.

51
Q

What are some symptoms and the prevalence of anorexia nervosa?

A

A compulsion to lose weight coupled with certainty about being fat despite being 15% or more underweight.

0.6% of the population meets this requirement at some point during their lifetime.

52
Q

What are some symptoms and the prevalence of bulimia nervosa?

A

A compulsion to binge eat - eating large amounts of food quickly - then purge by losing the food through vomiting, laxatives, and extreme exercise.

1% of the population meets this requirement at some point during their lifetime.

53
Q

What are some symptoms and the prevalence of binge eating disorder?

A

A compulsion to binge followed by guilt and depression.

2.8% of the population meets this requirement at some point during their lifetime.

54
Q

What are some family factors associated with eating disorders?

A

Having a mother focused on her weight and on her child’s appearance and weight.
Negative self-evaluation in the family.
For bulimia, a family history of childhood obesity.
For anorexia, if families are competitive, high achieving, and protective.

55
Q

What are some cultural factors associated with eating disorders?

A

Unrealistic ideals of body image.

Eating disorders do not exist in cultures where thinness is not prized or the ideal.

56
Q

What is a personality disorder?

A

Enduring patterns of social and other behaviors that impair social functioning.

57
Q

What are the three categories of personality disorders?

A

Anxious - fear of social rejection.
Eccentric / odd - no social attachment.
Dramatic - attention seeking / self-centered.

58
Q

What is Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)?

A

Individuals with APD exhibit a lack of conscious for wrong doing, even towards family and friends.

59
Q

What are some risk factors associated with APD?

A

Biological relatives with APD.
Decreased physiological arousal - always calm.
Lower levels of stress hormones.
Beginning in childhood, impulsive, inhibited risk takers unconcerned with social rewards.
Abused / neglected in childhood.

60
Q

Notes about APD.

A

Serial killers usually have APD - people who commit murders seems to have less tissue and activity in the part of the brain that suppresses impulses - frontal lobes.