Clinical psychology Flashcards
DSM
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
Psychological disorder
persistent dysfunction in behavior, thoughts, or emotions that cause significant distress or impairment
Benefits of DSM
Helps to communicate between practitioners
Allows for greater standardization of diagnoses
Can guide practitioner in selecting the “most effective” treatment options
Drawback of DSM
Labeling/ diagnosis can lead to stigma, lower self esteem, feeling of helplessness
Can be problematic if just “below” cut off
Systematic diagnosis of mental illnesses can be difficult
Anxiety
Negative mood state accompanied by bodily symptoms such as increased heart rate, muscle tension, a sense of unease, and apprehension about the future
Generalized anxiety disorder
Excessive worry about everyday things that is out of proportion to the specific cause of worry
At least 6 months of excessive anxiety
Worry can be reinforced
What can generalized anxiety disorder be accompanied by
Difficulty concentrating
Muscle tension, fatigue
Sleep problems
Panic disorder
Recurrent unexpected panic attacks
Intense anxiety and avoidance related to the attack for at least a month
Causes significant distress or interferences with life
agoraphobia
a fear of public places
Specific phobia
Irrational fear of a specific object or situation that substantially interfered with the person’s ability to function
5 major subtypes of specific phobia
Blood injury injection
Situational type (planes, elevator)
Natural environment (storms, heights, water)
Animal type
Other (choking, vomiting)
Preparedness theory
people are predisposed toward certain fears
PTSD
recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma and avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind
Social anxiety disorder
Fear of social situations which leads to worry and diminished day to day functioning
Obsessive
Unwanted, inappropriate and persistent thoughts
