Chapter 16 - Psychological Disorders Flashcards
What are the factors of a disorder?
It must be:
1. Distressing - Of concern to yourself or others.
2. Deviant - Rare to the rest of the common population.
3. Dysfunctional - It should interfere and occupy with your average day-to-day activities.
How should a disorder fit into the DSM-5?
The DSM-5 commonly explains that an example of a mental illness would be:
1. A depressed mood for most of the day
2. Remarkable little interest in many activities through the day
3. Weight loss
And so on. These are early precursors to more major symptoms of underlying mental disorder.
What is a categorical approach compared to a dimensional approach of diagnosis?
Categorical Approach:
To view disorders as a yes or no diagnosis. You either meet the threshold to have the disorder, or you do not have it.
Dimensional Approach:
To view disorders as a spectrum, the ability to be high or low in certain symptoms and to exist on a range.
What was the David Rosenhan study?
A study suggesting that patient treatment in psychiatric hospitals were unsatisfactory. Claiming to have schizophrenia before they got in, and quickly dropping their reported symptoms, the researchers were instead labeled as having “schizophrenia in remission” rather than being fully “cured”.
What is competency and insanity?
Competency relates to whether or not you are able to stand trial in a court setting. You will still be held until you are deemed competent enough.
Insanity is a legal defence term determining whether or not you can be held legally responsible for an illegal act committed by an individual. For this defence to apply, having any disorder is not a passable reason for insanity. The disorder must impair your ability to understand what you are doing in any way.
What is incidence and prevalence?
Incidence is # of new cases within a given time period. For example, the incidence of a disorder being 2% might indicate an increase of 200 new cases within a year. Of course, this can vary depending on base rate.
Prevalence is the number of total cases within a given time, including people who have developed the disorder prior to that time.
What are some anxiety disorders?
- Phobias, an irrational fear of something, or fears that cannot be easily understood by those who do not experience it.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD, constant underlying anxiety that may impair one’s ability to function in day to day life.
- Panic Disorder, a susceptibility to panic attacks which are extreme bouts of anxiety.
- OCD, obsessions that are repetitive unwanted thoughts, like intrusive thoughts. These drive to compulsions, something you feel the need to do.
What is catastrophizing?
In beliefs and irrational thinking processes, one important one is catastrophizing. Something bad happens, and your mind immediately moves to the worst possible scenario. A type of thinking based off of irrational inference.
What is classical conditioning?
With the best example being Pavlov’s dog, it is an associative conditioning. Reaction driven by association and exposure.
What is operant conditioning?
Reward and punishment. When a voluntary behaviour is followed by something pleasant or unpleasant, that will cause that specific behaviour to increase or decrease in frequency.
What are some socio-cultural disorders?
Disorders that only last in specific cultures. Anorexia nervosa is more prevalent in western societies, with bulimia nervosa a related disorder symptomized with excessive overeating.
What are mood disorders?
Often exemplified with depression being the most commonly diagnosed disorder, mood disorders include bouts of depression and mania depending on the diagnosis. Bipolar disorder is split into two, where I involves mania and bipolar II involves hypomania.
What is the likelihood of relapse of mood disorders measured by the DSM-5?
It is said that the more factors you have from the DSM-5 list, the more likely you are to relapse of the illness.
What are some dissociative disorders?
- D. Amnesia
An unpleasant memory that you don’t feel connected nor have conscious access to, memory disassociation. - D. Fugue
Having reported to lose all memories of your prior life after a major life change. - DID
People with multiple personalities. Names, memories, voices, ages and origin.
What is the trauma-disassociation theory?
Trauma-dissociation theory explains how this may emerge from a sort of coping resource. The personality might diverge into two where one will hold the traumatic memories while another is allowed to go on peacefully.
