Exam 1 Flashcards
normal
the average or mean, conforming to the standard or the common type
abnormal
condition or state that is irregular or deviant from typical functioning of an organism
dysfunction
abnormality or impairment in the function of a specified bodily organ or system
In what situations does dysfunction account of psychopathology falls short?
may be seen as adaptive in a certain environment, for example hallucinations are seen as good in some cultures and may even be incorporated in a religious enactment
What is meant by the subjective distress account of psychopathology?
subjective distress is actually needed in daily life/for motivation, as distress is not unhealthy or problematic (ex. exercise) and emotional stress and failures can help you in the future
What might be one problem with relying on one’s report of distress to categorize someone as mentally ill or not? Be sure to know what
malingering is and in what situations it is likely to occur
Someone may be exacerbating/under reporting their feelings, can vary from person to person
Some people also take part in malingering (exaggerate or fake an illness to get out of responsibilities such as work, family events, etc., mostly used for monetary incentives)
How do social norms influence the definition and diagnosis of mental illness? (Be
familiar with the curious case of 302.0)
The curious case of coe 302.0 dealt with having homosexuality in the DSM-II
thought homosexuals were born different, with internal defects, or seen as a normal part of development that one grows out of
through voting and protests, homosexuality did NOT appear in the DSM-III
neurodiversity
there exists variation in the human brain with respect to learning, attention, mood, sociability, and other mental processes and operations
how does neurodiversity factor into our understanding of behavior disorders?
shows how social values are more relevant to identifying behavior disorders than essentialist reality
different from the norm but does it make them a problem to be fixed?
What are the two components of the harmful dysfunction model?
harmful - the impairment in function is seen to be harmful to the individual and/or society
dysfunction - break-down or impairment in the natural function of behavior
what are some of the problems with the harmful dysfunction model?
who decides what is harmful? No one has stated an exact way to determine what is harmful or not. We also don’t know why things have evolved in certain ways and not all disorders necessarily represent dysfunction in a biological sense (ex. anxiety disorders)
What is the purpose of classification; that is, why do we need a classification system for behavior disorders?
basis for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment
nomenclature/shared jargon for communication
descriptive psychopathology, epidemiology, etiological theories
sociopolitical functions
supernatural models
a current focus is on whether spiritual issues should be incorporated into our understanding of mental health issues and their treatment, most clients are religious
influenced classification as it showed how fuzzy the connection to supernatural relates to mental health
not used in the medical world today
moral model
modeled around what was and wasn’t acceptable, thought an illness was the result of “immoral behavior” and due to the stigma, you were forced to hide
problem: you couldn’t control whether or not to have a panic attack
has led to poor outcomes (ex. its your fault for a behavior disorder), putting only accountability on someone rather than taking into account influences and environment
factitious disorders
a mental disorder in which a person repeatedly acts as if they have a physical or mental illness when they really don’t (ex. Munchausen by proxy, reserved for physical benefits)
determinism
assuming one has no ability to alter outcomes
etiological/biological model
popular in the 18th century but classification was a mess
clear relationship between physical and mental health
established evidence that psychotropic medication can prove useful for a variety of mental health conditions
psychosis vs. neurosis
psy - a severe mental disorder characterized by a break with reality, where someone losses touch with reality (ex. delusions)
neu - a milder mental disorder characterized by distortions of reality, one understands the world but behaving irrationally
What did Kraepelin view as the origin/cause of mental illness?
thought the origin of mental illness was biological and genetic (ex. depression = something is broken within you and can/should be fixed)
What were the guiding principles behind Kreaplin’s classification system?
anatomical pathology (relationship of disease to symptom)
etiology (development/why it is happening)
course/prognosis (what’s going to happen)
What did Kraepelin ultimately conclude with respect to his approach and why?
his program for classification fails, acknowledging that classifying based on pathological anatomy nearly impossible and most etiological theories were largely speculative
What was the history around the development of the DSM? Be able to discuss the major discrepancies between the DSM-I/II and later editions of the DSM (starting with DSM-III)
DSM-I/II: First DSM was mainly freudian, no real differentiation between normal and abnormal behavior, not reliable, system with psychotic v neurotic and organic v non-organic
DSM-III: Neo-Kraepelinian, organized by Phenomenology (how they appeared), more holistic with 5 axises, stricter criteria
Who were the neo-Kraepelinians and what did they stand for?
movement to reaffirm mental illness and psychiatry as a branch of medicine
What were the main critiques of the DSM?
conception of mental illness (viewed as socio-political rather than scientific)
comorbidity (co-occurence of different diagnostic criteria)
not therapeutically useful
uncertain process of including, excluding, and defining diagnosis
What is aversive conditioning and how does in factor into anxiety?
an adaptive process, making a behavior or habit be associated with something unpleasant to quit this behavior
this factors into anxiety as the signals elicit necessary responses before the outcome occurs
What differentiates anxiety from an anxiety disorder?
when it impairs your day-to-day activities/behavior/if they become problematic
whether there is a threat that justifies the avoidance behaviors
What are the two-factors of Mowrer’s two-factor theory of anxiety?
classical conditioning (pairing stimuli with outcomes) and operant conditioning (rewards and punishments)
What are some of the problems that two-factor theory has in accounting for specific phobias?
can’t remember being conditioned (infantile amnesia, insidious acquisition (over time), subconsciously)
preparedness theory (people are predisposed to fear certain things due to evolutionary pressures, harder to condition certain phobias and easier to extinguish them)
identify the different pathways to fear acquisition
direct conditioning
modeling (ex. never been shot but learned to fear it as you have seen what happens when people are shot)
instructional transference (learned something from being told what to and not to do)
lumping vs. splitting
lump - similar enough to group together but end up lack specificity, general, only one anxiety disorder
spilt - different stimuli cause different behaviors. specific, multiple anxiety disorders
What is it ultimately that creates different topographies across the anxiety disorders?
proximity of the signal to the threat:
panic - as things are happening, imminent
worry - problem solving to mitigate threat, further in time
fight or flight - proximal but avoidable threat, closer in time (ex. hoping prof is sick to cancel test)
What is the rationale for lumping all anxiety disorder into one?
high comorbidity amongst anxiety disorders, some disorders can be known as the same process towards different stimuli
What would be lost in terms of information about specific disorders if lumping was done?
specificity on the different disorders as well as how we develop these behaviors
What are the common diagnostic features across anxiety disorders?
excessive worry and fear in non-threatening situations
What are the specific diagnostic features of agoraphobia?
marked anxiety in 2 or more of the following situations:
Public transportation (big one since no escape)
Open spaces
Enclosed spaces
Standing in line or being crowded
Being outside of the home
What are the specific diagnostic features of GAD?
Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance). Individual finds it difficult to control the worry and out of proportion.
Associated with at least 3 of the following 6 symptoms:
Restlessness, on edge
Being easily fatigued
Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
Irritability
Muscle tension
Sleep disturbance
(children only need 1 of the above)
