clinical psychology Flashcards
defining abnormal behavior
requires “clinically significant” disturbance and significant distress or disability in social situations, occupations, etc.
medical model
treatment of disorders (biological orgin)
biopsychological model
biological, psychological, and social causes/treatments
diagnosing
DSM: manual listing and classification of all disorders
generalized anxiety disorders
generally anxious for no reason
panic disorder
prone to frequent panic attacks
usually comes with agoraphobia
agoraphobia
fear of being in places you can’t escape
phobias
irrational fear that disrupts life
causes of anxiety disorders
psychodynamic: repressed thoughts manifest in anxiety
behaviorist: fear conditioning leads to anxiety
biological: natural selection favored those with certain phobias (heights)
anxiety disorders
most common in USA, persistent worry and fear
somatoform disorders
psych disorders with no physical cause
conversion disorder
loss of feeling or usage in body part, no physiological cause
illness anxiety disorder
interpret normal symptoms as major diseases
dissociative disorders
involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity
dissociative identity disorder (DID)
person fractures into several distinct personalities who have no awareness of each other
usually caused by childhood abuse
dissociative amnesia
following a traumatic event, a person leaves, taking on a whole new personality with no memory of the previous one
schizophrenia
interpret reality abnormally
positive symptoms of schizophrenia
hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking
negative symptoms of schizophrenia
flat effect (inability to show emotions) and impaired decision making
causes of schizophrenia
brain abnormalities, genetics, excessive dopamine, diathesis: person predisposed to disease, has to be triggered by environmental triggers
major depressive disorder
extreme sadness and despair
bipolar disorder
bouts of severe depression and manic episodes
mania
heightened mood, characterized by risky behaviors, fast talking, etc.
causes of depression and bipolar disorder
biology (low levels of seratonin and norepinephrine) and cognitive
personality disorders
disruptive, inflexible, enduring behavior patters, very hard to treat
antisocial personality disorder
disregard to other people
borderline personality disorder
unstable interpersonal relationships and self image
histrionic
excessive emotionality and attention seeking
narcissistic
need for admiration and lack of empathy
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
overwhelmed with obsessions and compulsions
post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
develops following a traumatic events, leads to flashbacks and problems with concentration
autism spectrum disorder
impairment in social relationships, communication, and activities
psychodynamic approach to treatment
looking at unconscious processes as they are manifested in client’s behavior
client therapy
humanistic approach
active listening, accepting environment, patient growth
rational-emotional therapy
cognitive approach
analyzing self defeating behaviors to change thought patterns, then change behaviors associated with thoughts
best for anxiety
cognitive therapy
cognitive approach
challenge illogical thoughts
best for depression
classical conditioning
behavioral approach
counterconditioning: break habits
aversive conditioning: assosciate bad experience with unwanted behavior to break habits (throwing up with alcohol)
exposure therapy: slowly expose people to whatever makes them anxious
best for anxiety and phobias
systematic desensitization
associate a pleasant state with an anxiety triggering stimuli to gradually desensitize it
intensive exposure therapy
force someone to experience fear
operant conditioning
use of rewards for behavior modification
biological/biomedical therapies
use of drugs/medical procedures to fix issues
anti-psychotics
decrease dopamine to treat schizophrenia
side effects: hand tremors, worsening of negative symptoms
mood stabalizers
treat bipolar disorder with lithium
anti-anxiety drugs
depress central nervous system
anti-depressents
increase seratonin through reuptake inhibition
side effects: anxiety, drowsiness, suicide in teens
electroconvulsive therapy
send electricity to induce minor seizures-rarely used to treat depression
pyschosurgery (lobotomy)
frontal lobe is surgically destroyed, used to treat depression for violent people
