Depression, anxiety and schiziophrenia

Question 1

Medical Model:

Answer 1

Analogy by which psychological disorders are treated as if they were a disease with an organic cause that can be treated medically.

Question 2

Diagnostic Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM):

Answer 2

Catalogue published by the American Psychiatric Association and used by mental health professionals and insurance companies to recognize and diagnose mental disorders.

Question 3

schizophrenia:

Answer 3

A heterogeneous collection of psychotic disorders involving severe deficits to cognition (delusions), perception (hallucinations), behaviour, and emotion.

Question 4

How can schizophrenia be treated today

Answer 4

By the use of medical model (drugs)

Question 5

Psychopathology

Answer 5

The study of psychological disorders

Question 6

Diagnosis:

Answer 6

The medical term describing the classification of a psychological disorder

Question 7

Etiology

Answer 7

Medical term describing the factors related to (or causes responsibl for) the development of a psychological disorder

Question 8

Epidemiology

Answer 8

Medical discipline studying the distribution of psychological disorders in the population

Question 9

Prevalence:

Answer 9

Medical term describing the proportion of the population likely to manifest a psychological disorder during a given unit of time. One-year and lifetime prevalences are common time intervals used.

Question 10

Prognosis:

Answer 10

Medical term forecasting the likely outcomes of a psychological disorder; whether or not various forms of treatment are likely to lead to improvement.

Question 11

Superstitious Model

Answer 11

If you lived as early as 200 years ago, like others of the time, you would have probably believed in the Superstitious Model and would have invoked demonic possession, witchcraft, or an affliction (punishment by the gods) to explain your friend’s bizarre behaviour.

Question 12

negatives of medical model

Answer 12

One criticism is that some disorders, like schizophrenia, fit the model much better than others.

Another criticism of the medical model is that it has led to the over-prescription of drugs and an overmedicated population.

Question 13

he DSM is not without its critics. what are they

Answer 13

One problem is that it pathologizes to some extent normal behaviour.

A related criticism is over-diagnosis.

One final criticism of the DSM has to do with the effects of Diagnostic Labelling. Once an individual receives a particular diagnosis, their subsequent behaviour is interpreted through the lens of that label. This is problematic because misdiagnosis is common

Question 14

Anxiety

Answer 14

Anxiety reflects an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity. Subjectively, this rise in autonomic arousal is accompanied by an aversive emotional experience, ranging from apprehension at relatively low levels of activation, to panic at relatively high levels of activation.

Question 15

anxiwty good or bad

Answer 15

Although unpleasant, anxiety is not in and of itself a bad thing. In fact, it’s essential for mobilizing energy usage necessary for addressing threats to our personal well-being. These are called Stress Responses.

Question 16

Fight-or-Flight-Response, where it originate and how it work

Answer 16

One stress response is adapted to respond to imminent danger

hypothalamus, sends neuronal signals to the adrenal gland by way of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. Stimulation of the Adrenal Medulla (inner part of the adrenal gland) leads to the release of adrenalin and noradrenalin. These hormones in turn dramatically increase immediate energy reserves.

Question 17

HPA stress response

Answer 17

A second stress response also originates in the hypothalamus. But in this case, the signals travel to the Adrenal Cortex (outside part of the adrenal gland) by way of the Pituitary Gland and endocrine system. Collectively, this pathway (Hypothalamus – Pituitary Gland – Adrenal Gland)

Stimulation of this pathway leads to the secretion of a stress hormone called Cortisol, which again increases the metabolic rate to boost energy reserves.

The function of the HPA pathway is to cope with long-term psychological stress, like studying for final exams, dealing with relationship conflict, or developing a major project at work.

Question 18

Together, these two stress pathways are responsible for regulating adaptive responses that help us overcome different types of stress. what the two pathways

Answer 18

HPA stress response, anxiety

Question 19

Generalized Anxiety Disorder, why called general

Answer 19

is characterized by chronic, high-level anxiety tied to no specific threat. Onset is insidious, meaning that the condition develops slowly, gradual building over several weeks. Eventually, the anxiety plateaus and remains at an elevated level.

The condition is described as “general” because the anxiety has no easily discernable cause. That is, there is no single stimulus one can identify as being responsible for provoking the anxiety response. It’s more likely that the individual is experiencing multiple sources of low-grade stress.

Question 20

Panic Disorder

Answer 20

involves discreet, recurrent, sudden and unexpected attacks of overwhelming anxiety. Discreet means that attacks are acute, with recognizable onset and offset. Attacks are sudden in the sense that onset is rapid (building quickly in a matter of seconds). Attacks are unexpected because, like GAD, there is no single stimulus responsible for provoking the response.

Question 21

Agoraphobia

Answer 21

Because attacks are unpredictable, some individuals may become reluctant to venture outside their homes, concerned that they might experience a panic attack in public or while driving a vehicle. This potential complication of panic disorder is called

Question 22

Phobic Disorder

Answer 22

involves persistent and irrational fear of an object or situation. Irrational in this sense means that the fear response is disproportionate to the threat posed.

Question 23

where do most common phobias coe from

Answer 23

Although it is possible to develop a phobia to just about any stimulus, the most common phobias reflect real dangers encountered in the ancestral environment.

Question 24

extinction in phobias

Answer 24

happen very rarely so classically condishoned phobias persist, maintained by operant conditioning,

Question 25

Social Anxiety Disorder

Answer 25

involves a persistent fear of one or more social performance situations, such as public speaking, a musical performance, or perhaps even meeting new people at a party.

Question 26

two elements of OCD

Answer 26

Obsessions are persistent, uncontrollable intrusions of unwanted thoughts that produce anxiety. These are unpleasant, anxiety-provoking thoughts that impose themselves on the individual. That is, they would rather not think about them, but they happen anyway.

Compulsions, which are ritualistic behaviours (a rigid set of repetitive physical actions or mental performances) that relieve anxiety. Often, the compulsion is related to the obsessive thought. For example, hand washing reduces anxiety related to thoughts about contamination; checking door locks reduces anxiety related to thoughts about security and safety.

Question 27

why PTSD delayed onset

Answer 27

Avoidance of cues related to the event: avoid thinking about or participating in activities associated with the event, and sometimes struggle to recall important aspects of the event.

Numbing of general responsiveness: diminished interest in activities involving family, work or school unrelated to the traumatic event; experience reduced intensity of emotions and become estranged from their social networks (asociality).

Increased autonomic Arousal: Insomnia, irritability, difficulty
concentrating, hyper-vigilance, and an exaggerated startle response.

Question 28

what do OCD and PTSD share

Answer 28

Something that both OCD and PTSD share in common is the presence of intrusive, anxiety-provoking thoughts.

Question 29

Emotional Pain we experience with low mood

Answer 29

helps us to avoid further social injury. Interestingly, both types of pain are located in the same region of the brain, and opioid painkillers reduce both physical and emotional suffering

Question 30

Depression is not merely low mood, but is

Answer 30

but is a Unipolar Mood Disorder characterized by persistent and dramatically reduced mood. The term unipolar describes the fact that abnormal deviations in mood occur in one direction, towards the low end of the spectrum.

Question 31

But depression involves more than just a reduction in mood. Individuals diagnosed with a Major Depressive Episode also experience

Answer 31

cognitive retardation (slowed mental processes) as well as psychomotor retardation (slowed motor activity). Note that the word retardation literally means “slow”.

Question 32

Suicidal ideation involves four stages.

Answer 32

The first stage involves thoughts about death but with no intention to take one’s own life. The second stage is to contemplate suicide but have no plan on how to do so. Stage three is to develop a plan and stage four is to attempt suicide. A mental health professional would make a point of determining how far along this process a client had progressed in order to evaluate the risk of suicide. Someone with a plan (stage 3) would be at far greater risk than someone fantasizing about what it would be like to die (stage 1).

Question 33

Drugs that are successful Antidepressants tend to increase the activity of these transmitters.

Answer 33

depressed mood is associated with decreased activity of both serotonin and norepinephrine.

Question 34

There are actually three different classes of Antidepressant medications.

Answer 34

Mono-amine Oxydase (MAO) Inhibitors, like Nardil, are the dirtiest of the three drugs, affecting all the mono-amines (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin). MAO is an enzyme that tracks down rogue neurotransmitter molecules and renders them inert. When MAO is inhibited, more neurotransmitter molecules are permitted to circulate throughout the brain. Hence, more mono-amine activity in the brain.

Tricyclics, like Elavil, inhibit reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine. When reuptake is delayed, then these neurotransmitter molecules hang around in the synaptic cleft longer, activating additional receptor sites. More receptor site activation means more neurotransmitter system activity.

The newest class of Antidepressants is the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI). These drugs are also the cleanest because they only affect serotonin levels (they are selective). Their mechanism is the same as that for the Tricyclics; they delay reuptake of serotonin from the synaptic cleft, which leads to greater activation of receptor sites.

Question 35

Bipolar Disorder

Answer 35

Sometimes referred to as manic-depression, the proper term for describing abnormal deviations to mood in both directions (too high and too low) is bipolar disorder.

Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder shift between episodes of mania, episodes of depression, and episodes of normal mood. The symptoms associated with a manic episode tend to be the opposite of those observed in a depressed episode:

Question 36

While in the manic episode,

Answer 36

individuals tend to talk fast, think fast (flight of ideas) and are easily distractible, jumping from topic to topic. can lead to regretable causes

hyper-functioning mood

Question 37

depression represents

Answer 37

hypo-functioning mood.

Question 38

Schizophrenia

Answer 38

is a heterogeneous collection of psychotic disorders characterized by severe disruptions to normal thought processes, perception, behaviour and emotion. It is by far one of the most debilitating forms of mental illness, affecting just under 1% of the population worldwide.

Question 39

The ratio of positive to negative symptoms is important because

Answer 39

as it turns out, the more positive symptoms (and fewer negative symptoms) that a patient exhibits, the better their prognosis; that is, the more likely it will be that the patient responds to treatment and is able to return to a normal life.

Question 40

Indications of a good prognosis include

Answer 40

more positive and fewer negative symptoms,
later onset (early adulthood) rather than earlier onset (adolescence),
rapid descent into the first psychotic episode rather than a slow, gradual descent, and
good adjustment prior to the first psychotic episode in terms of their ability to socialize and be successful at work/school.

Question 41

How does one “get” schizophrenia?

Answer 41

There is both a genetic component and an environmental component that lead to the disorder, and both must be satisfied in order for the condition to manifest. You must carry the genetic predisposition and must also experience environmental stress.
This combination of genetic and environmental stressors is called the Diathesis-Stress Model of schizophrenia.

Question 42

the positive symptoms observed in schizophrenia are associated with

Answer 42

increased dopamine production in the midbrain.