Distress Vs Disorder

Question 1

Define Distress

Answer 1

Normal dysfunction to the individual following a traumatic life event, proportionate response to stress and loss

Question 2

Define Disorder

Answer 2

Abnormal dysfunction to the individual, non-normal response to the environment

Question 3

Who defined distress and disorder (for the realms of this essay)

Answer 3

Howitz 2007

Question 4

Name the 5 differences:

Answer 4

Proportionality
Removal abates symptoms
Attempt to resolve
Life and others
Self Thoughts

Question 5

Name the anagram of the 5 differences

Answer 5

SLARP

Question 6

Explain the differences in proportionality

names

Answer 6

Distress: effects are short term and resolve naturally overtime. Subsides as they adapt to their new circumstances

Disorder: long term impairment on functionality, symptoms are resistant to extinction and develop a sense of helplessness.

Difference in likelihood of reoccurrence.

Distress is a normal human emotion, not a disorder, when it both emerges and persists in proportion with external stressful situations.

Horwitz (2007)

Question 7

Explain the differences in attempts to solve the stressor

Answer 7

Distress: Freud (1925) Mourning is work and you are actively trying to resolve the stressor, sever the libido bond with the object in order to move on.

Disorder: Stress absorbs the person and there is an extraordinary reduction of self-esteem and lack of attempt to resolve the issues. A sense of hopelessness.

Question 8

Discuss differences in the effect that moving the stressor impacts on the abatement of symptoms?

Answer 8

Distress: Removal of the stressor leads to improvement and recovery from grievance overtime

Disorder: Symptoms markedly outlast the duration of the stressor. Unconscious aspect of loss, loss is more notional and unrelated to the stressor

Question 9

Give an example of distress recovery and who researched it and what they did

Answer 9

Costello et al 2003:

Measured living standards of impoverished Native Americans, when enhanced during the course of a longitudinal study, their number of distress symptoms fell by 30%.

Question 10

How do perceptions of the life and others differ?

Answer 10

Distress: the world has become poor and empty however one can dissociate the self and the ego from the world sadness. Understanding of others and does not reject help.

Disorder: The self is tied up in the trauma. One abases themselves before others, feeling sorry for others simply for being close to them. Sense of inferiority with regard to the world and others.

Question 11

How do self-thoughts differ?

Answer 11

Distress: Sadness does not translate to blame of self. Whilst one may have regrets they do not then lead to long term blame and loss of identity.

Disorder: Retroflection - punishing the self for the loss of another. Loss of self and thoughts of helplessness. Concept of narcissism, translate the loss of an object to the loss of the self, make it about them.

Question 12

Potential links between:

Answer 12

Distress is not merely a less severe or more transient version of disorder. Intensely stressful circumstances can lead to very serious but nondisordered resulting psychological conditions (e.g. Brown, 2002).

Persistent and chronic stressors can lead to long-lasting distressing symptoms
that are not disorders ( urner et al., 1995)