Developmental Psychology & Psychopathology Part 2 Flashcards
Acute stress disorder
Display of multiple symptoms from any combination of categories following exposure to a traumatic event; is diagnosed when symptoms arise within 1 month of exposure to the stressor and last no longer than 4 weeks
- dissociative symptoms are common
Specific phobia
Unreasonable or irrational fear of specific object or situation
- persistent: > 6 months
Types of phobias
- animal-type: focus on specific animals
- natural environment type: focus in events or situations in the natural environment
- situational type: usually involve a fear of public transportation, tunnels, bridges, elevators, flying, or diving
- blood-injection-injury type: diagnosed in people who fear seeing blood or an injury
Agoraphobia
Fear of places where one might have trouble escaping or getting help if one becomes anxious
Social Anxiety Disorder
People become anxious in social situations and are so afraid of being rejected, judged, or humiliated in public that they are preoccupied with worries to the point that their lives may become focused on avoiding social situations
Panic attacks
Short but intense periods during which one experiences many symptoms of anxiety: heart palpitations, trembling, a feeling of choking, dizziness, intense dread, etc.
Panic disorder
When the panic attacks are more problematic/become common for the person; often caused due to worrying over a potential panic attack
Interoceptive awareness
Heightened awareness of bodily cues
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Uncontrollable worry; anxious all the Tim, in almost all situations, worry about small issues (e.g. being late), as well as larger issues (e.g. career)
Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
Non age-appropriate and excessive anxiety (or anticipation) of going away from home or leaving attachment figures
- one of the most common childhood anxiety disorders
- normative > up to the age of around 3
- excessive worry that caregivers might be harmed
- frequent nightmares about separation
- recurrent physical complaints when not in close proximity to the attachment figures
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Diagnosed when either obsessions, compulsions, or both, are present (to a significant degree)
Disorders related to OCD
- hoarding: compulsive behaviour; people are unable to throw away their possessions, even if it has no value (e.g. take-out containers)
- hair-pulling disorder: recurrent pulling out hair, resulting in hair loss (trichotillomania)
- skin-picking disorder: recurrently pick at their skin, creating lesions that might become infected and produce scars
- body dysmorphic disorder: people believe a part of their body is defective; most often the focus is on a part of their face
Stress
When the demands of the individual exceed their available resources
Coping
Regulatory processes that are activated in response to stress
Allostasis
The process of maintaining stability (homeostasis) by active means, namely, by putting out stress hormones and other mediators
Allostatic load
The wear and tear to the body and the brain by use of allostasis, particularly when the mediators are disregulated, ie. not turned off when the stress is over or not turned on adequately when they are needed
Epigenetics
Environmental regulation of gene expression
Positive stress responses
Brief, mild-to-moderate responses, usually with a supportive caregiver
Tolerable stress responses
Atypical stressors that trigger a more widespread and possibly longer-lasting response
Toxic stress responses
Strong, frequent, or prolonged activation of the body’s stress response systems in the absence of the buffering protection of a supportive, adult relationship
‘Families’ of coping strategies
- problem solving
- information seeking
- helplessness
- escape
- self-reliance
- support seeking
- delegation
- social isolation
- accommodation
- negotiation
- submission
- opposition
Maltreatment
Broad category of behaviour, includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect; “the gross violation of the rights of a vulnerable and dependent child”
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Experience of trauma and the display of symptoms from each category; diagnosed when symptoms last for longer than one month
Post-traumatic growth
Positive changes following trauma
Fears
Emotional response to a real/perceived imminent threat
Worries
Anticipation of a future threat
Anxiety disorders
Internalising disorders in which anxiety has gone from typical or adaptive to pathological in terms of its intensity, duration, and/or pervasiveness
Anxiety sensitivity
Involves hypervigilance and attention to bodily sensations; a tendency to focus on weak or infrequent sensations, and a disposition to react to somatic sensations with distorted cognitions
Phobic disorders
Excessive and exaggerated fears of particular objects or situations, including intense anxiety and avoidant behaviours; associated with significant impairment
- specific phobias
- social phobia
- agoraphobia
Somatisation
Refers to a variety of processes in which aspects of psychological distress manifest themselves in physical symptoms
Conversion disorder (functional neurological symptom disorder)
Characterised by unexplained deficits in voluntary motor or sensory function that cannot be adequately accounted for by known pathophysiological mechanisms
Homotypic continuity
When a particular psychiatric disorder predicts itself at a later time point
Heterotypic continuity
When a particular psychiatric disorder predicts another disorder at a later time point
Modeling
Treatment based on the impact of observational learning:
- symbolic modeling
- live modeling
- participant modeling
Systematic desensitisation
Teaching an anxious person to relax and how to maintain relaxation when exposed to the feared stimulus
Exposure
Rewarding a child for desired behaviour
