Clinical Psychology Flashcards
Medical Model
psychological disorders have biological and environmental causes, symptoms, and possible treatments
What is considered in a DSM diagnosis?
-PERSISTANT disturbance or dysfunction in behavior, thoughts, or emotions that cause significant distress or impairment
-# of symptoms required for diagnosis
Benefits of the DSM
-helps to communicate between practitioners
-allows for greater standardization of diagnosis
-can guide practitioners in selecting the most effective treatment option
Drawbacks of DSM
-diagnosis/labeling can lead to stigma or lower self-esteem
-can be problematic if just below the cutoff of required symptoms
-systematic diagnosis of mental illnesses can be difficult because the way people describe emotions may vary
How do diagnoses change over time?
-with attitude
-with advances in research
Research Domain Criteria Project (RDoC)
views psychological disorders as the result of differences in normal psychological processes
*focuses on studying basic processes/underlying causes of disorders
*can help explain comorbidity
Ex: study response to rewards more generally rather than just cocaine addiction
Biopsychosocial model
potential biological, psychological, and environmental contributors
Diathasis Stress Model
predisposition, then encounter a life events that leads to a psychological disorder
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 (GAD)
excessive worry about everyday things that is out of proportion to specific causes of worry
*the source of worry shifts
*worry can be reinforced (positive reinforcement)
GAD Diagnosis (time and symptoms)
-at least 6 months of excessive anxiety
-may be accompanied by difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, fatigue, sleep problems
Panic Disorder
sudden wave of intense fear or worry
Panic Disorder Diagnosis
-recurrent
-symptoms include sweating, heart palpitations, rapid heart rate
-often described as if it’s a heart attack
-intense anxiety and avoidance related to the attack for at least one month
Agoraphobia
fear of having a panic attack in a public place after experiencing one
Specific Phobias
irrational fear of a specific object or situation that substantially interferes with the person’s ability to function
*5 major subtypes
*can run in families (as is common with the blood/injury/injection phobia)
*for diagnosis, must alter how a person behaves in their daily life
Preparedness Theory
people are predisposed toward certain fears
Are phobias learned?
Not necessarily. People with phobias often don’t have a negative event they can recall
Social Anxiety Disorder
fear of social situations which leads to worry and diminished day-to-day functioning
2 types of social anxiety disorder
- Performance based
- One-on-one interactions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
chronic psychological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma, and avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind
*symptoms must persist for more than one month
*doesn’t have to be first hand exposure
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
obsessive thoughts and/or compulsions that seem irrational or nonsensical
OCD Diagnosis
-takes up at least 1 hour per day
-causes significant distress or impairment in function
Obsessions
unwanted and persistent thoughts that cause anxiety
Compulsions
repetitive, often ritualistic, behaviors to experience relief temporarily
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
one or more major depressive episodes but no history of manic or hypersonic episodes
MDD Diagnosis
-symptoms occur for at least 2 weeks and cause significant distress or impairment
-can’t be caused by drug usage
-5 or more of the 9 symptoms:
- depressed mood*
- anhedonia (loss of interest in things you used to enjoy)*
- weight loss or increase in appetite
- insomnia/hypersomnia
- agitation/psychomotor retardation
- fatigue/loss of energy
- worthlessness/excessive or inappropriate guilt
- diminished ability to concentrate/indecisiveness
- recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal attempt or ideation
How does biology contribute to depression?
Genetics
-twin studies show that if one identical twin is diagnosed with depression, the other has a high chance as well
Neurotransmitters: serotonin
Psychological contribution to MDD
attribution style: pessimistic attribution style (interpreting neutral events as negative and as being your fault)
Social contribution to MDD
-stressful life events
-interpersonal factors (e.g. marital dissatisfaction)
-social economic status (SES)
*How might gene x environment interactions contribute to MDD
person may possess a gene and then experience a life event that triggers it
*rates of depression were higher for individuals with 2 short alleles when experiencing maltreatment in childhood
Bipolar Disorder
characterized by cycles of abnormal, persistent high mood (mania) and low mood (depression)
Bipolar Diagnosis
must have the following symptoms for at least 1 week:
-decreased need for sleep
-talkativeness
-racing thoughts
-reckless behavior
Biological contributions to bipolar disorder
Genetics
-twin studies
Psychosocial contributions to bipolar disorder
-life stressors
-positive life events (more manic episodes after life events in which goal is attained)
Schizophrenia Diagnosis
At least 2 of the following present for at least 1 month:
-delusions*
-hallucinations*
-disorganized speech*
-disorganized or catonic behavior
-negative symptoms
*must have one of the first 3
Delusions
false beliefs that everyone would say is not true
3 Types of Delusions
- Persecutory: someone is out to get you
- Grandiose: thinks their a grandiose figure (e.g. a king)
- Referential: everything refers to you
Hallucinations
perceptual experiences that occur even when there is no stimulus in outside world generating those experiences
-can be auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, or somatic
Disorganized Speech
speech that is difficult to follow because answers do not clearly follow questions or one sentence does not logically flow from another
Schizophrenia Negative Symptoms
-flat affect
-alogia
-anhedonia/amotivation
-social withdrawal
Flat Affect
tone of voice and facial expressions are largely absent
Alogia
poverty of speech, reduction in the amount of speech a person produces
Cognitive symptoms that can be present before schizophrenia develops
-difficulty in sustaining attention
-poor problem solving
-deficits in learning & memory
-poor abstract thinking
Other cognitive symptoms that may accompany schizophrenia
-larger ventricles (unclear if this is caused by medication or the other way around)
-reduced overall brain volume
Biological factors for developing schizophrenia
Genetics
-higher chances when a 1st degree relative has schizophrenia
-neurotransmitter:dopamine abnormality
Environmental factors for developing schizophrenia
-issues during pregnancy (stress, infection, malnutrition, hypoxia)
