Disorders

Question 1

What constitutes a psychological disorder?

Answer 1

-A psychological problem(cognition, emotions, behavior)
-Distress OR impairment
-Not culturally consistent
-Occurs often/lasts long enough to be problematic

Question 2

Mental Illness Facts

Answer 2

-Prevalent: 1 in 5 will develop a MI at some point in their lives

-Disabling: 4 of the top 10 causes for long term disability in the US are severe mental illness(depression #1)

-No one is immune: 1/10 kids suffer from MI and require treatment, prevalence and severity figures are universal

Question 3

Who defines abnormality? 7 professionals:

Answer 3

Psychiatrist
Clinical psychologist
Counseling psychologist
Pastoral counselor
Psychiatric social worker
Psychiatric nurse
General practitioner

Question 4

What is the DSM-5?

Answer 4

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Standard classification of mental disorders by US mental health professionals- provides standard language and criteria

It is not perfect, yet a valuable tool

Question 5

What are the hallmark symptoms of Schizophrenia?

Answer 5

Delusions
-false beliefs

Hallucinations
-sensory experiences that occur in the absence of actual stimulation

Question 6

What are Positive Symptoms?

Answer 6

Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral excesses

-hallucinations
-bizarre delusions
-incoherent speech
-inappropriate/disorganized behaviors

Question 7

What are Negative Symptoms?

Answer 7

Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral deficits

-loss of motivation
-emotional flatness
-social withdraw
-slowed speech or no speech

Question 8

Theories of Schizophrenia?

Answer 8

-genetic predispositions
-structural brain abnormalities
-neurotransmitter abnormalities
-prenatal abnormalities

Question 9

Genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia?

Answer 9

risk of developing schizophrenia increased as the genetic relatedness with a diagnosed schizophrenic increases

Question 10

What are the structural brain abnormalities with schizophrenia?

Answer 10

-decreased brain weight
-decreased volume in temporal love or hippocampus
-enlargement of ventricles
About 25% do not have observable brain deficiencies

Question 11

What are the neurotransmitter abnormalities associated with schizophrenia?

Answer 11

High levels of brain activity in areas served by dopamine as well as greater numbers of particular dopamine receptors

dopamine hypothesis: too much dopamine in limbic system (causing positive symptoms) and too little in the frontal lobes (causing negative symptoms)

Question 12

What are the prenatal problems or birth complications associated with schizophrenia?

Answer 12

Damage to fetal brain causes increased chances of schizophrenia and other mental disorders

-Maternal malnutrition
-Maternal illness
-Brain injury or oxygen deprivation occurs at birth
-Viral exposure: cat litter box data

Question 13

Which parts of the brain show abnormal activity in schizophrenic patients?

Answer 13

frontal cortex, thalamus, amygdala

Question 14

What is major depression

Answer 14

A mood disorder involving disturbances in emotion (excessive sadness), behavior (loss of interest in one’s usual activities), cognition (thoughts of hopelessness, concentration) and body function (fatigue and loss of appetite)

Question 15

What are some theories of depression?

Answer 15

-Biological: brain chem and structure- serotonin and catecholamine (dopamine, norepinephrine). Left prefrontal cortex

-Social explanations emphasize problems with close relationships

-Cognitive explanations emphasize particular habits of thinking and ways of interpreting events: automatic thoughts, cognitive distortions, internal, stable, global attributions, cognitive triad: negative about self, world, and future

Question 16

What is bipolar disorder?

Answer 16

A mood disorder in which episodes of depression and mania (excessive euphoria) occur

(formerly known as manic depressive disorder)

Question 17

What are the characteristics of the bipolar brain?

Answer 17

-rapid mood swings, shown in brain activity
-manifested in delusional thoughts, excessive and risky activity, pressured speech

Question 18

4 common anxiety disorders?

Answer 18

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder
Phobia
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Question 19

What is the nature of anxiety disorders?

Answer 19

People with these disorders can be incapacitated with chronic and intense feelings of anxiety

Question 20

What is Fear?

Answer 20

An innate alarm response to a dangerous or life-threatening situation

Question 21

What is Anxiety?

Answer 21

state in which an individual is inordinately apprehensive, tense, and uneasy about the prospect of something terrible happening

Question 22

What is a Phobia? What are some common ones?

Answer 22

An exaggerated, unrealistic fear of a specific situation, activity, or object

-bridges, heights, animals, claustrophobia, agoraphobia

Question 23

Define and explain Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Answer 23

A continuous state of anxiety marked by feelings of worry and dread, apprehension, difficulties in concentration, and signs of motor tension

-often worried about future
-worry about EVERYTHING, is debilitating, even worry about worrying (meta worry)

Question 24

Define and explain a Panic Disorder

Answer 24

An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences:

-recurring panic attacks
-periods of intense fear, feelings of impending doom or death
-physiological symptoms such as rapid heart rate and dizziness
-fear of future attack

Question 25

Define Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Answer 25

Anxiety disorder in which a person feels trapped in repetitive, persistent thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive, ritualized behaviors (compulsions) designed to reduce anxiety

Person understands that the ritual behavior is senseless but anxiety mounts if not performed

Question 26

Define OC Personality Disorder (OCPD)

Answer 26

Preoccupation with rules, perfectionistic, overconscientious, unable to throw out objects or delegate tasks, rigid, stubborn

Problem is pervasive and widespread

Question 27

Define Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Answer 27

Anxiety disorder in which a person who has experienced a traumatic or life-threatening event has symptoms such as nightmares, memories, flashbacks, hypervigilance

Often are avoidant and over-aroused

Traumas may be wide-ranging: child abuse to combat, rape, natural disasters

Question 28

How do you help those in need?

Answer 28

-let nature take its course
-be available but not intrusive
-try to help in practical ways
-do not encourage or discourage Rx in the early months
-keep an eye on prolonged problems
-manage an intervention

Question 29

Benefits of psychotherapy?

Answer 29

Average psychotherapy client shows more improvement than 80% in no-treatment control group

Question 30

What were the conclusions from the Consumer Reports psychotherapy study?

Answer 30

-54% much better
-33% somewhat better
-active patients had better outcomes
-when treatment duration was limited by insurance, patients did worse
-no form of therapy did better than others
-more psychotherapy is better, but levels off

Question 31

What is the Psychodynamic course of treatment?

Answer 31

“The talking cure”
-stream of consciousness
-dream analysis
-use of projection
-analysis of transference

Question 32

What are the three types of treatment?

Answer 32

Cognitive
Behavioral
Cognitive-Behavioral

Question 33

Cognitive treatment:

Answer 33

Learning to think differently about situations

depression: internal, global, stable
GAD: replacing worries with functional thoughts

Question 34

Behavioral treatment:

Answer 34

Learning and unlearning adaptive and maladaptive behaviors

Spider phobic
ADHD

Question 35

Cognitive-Behavioral treatment:

Answer 35

PTSD
Schizophrenia

Question 36

What parts of the brain changed after cognitive behavior therapy of PTSD (change in volume)

Answer 36

Anterior Cingulate and Amygdala