Integrative Approach Flashcards
I accidentally added some history cards to this deck too, oops
The reason that a person seeks mental health services
Presenting problem
Why are one-dimensional models of causality inadequate?
Incomplete, things are not so linear
Details of the combination of behaviours, thoughts, and feelings that an individual experiences that make up a particular disorder
Clinical description
The cause or source of a disorder
Etiology
A clinician’s hypothesis about the relative contribution of different causal factors (e.g. biological, psychological, social)
Case conceptualization
What are the contributors to a mental disorder?
Evolution
Social, cultural, historical forces
Genetics
Developmental factors
Biopsychosocial factors
Short-lived, temporary states lasting from several minutes to several hours, occurring in response to an external event.
Emotions
More persistent, long-term, emotional states
Moods
What are the six universal basic emotions (Paul Ekman)
Sadness, Fear, Anger, Surprise, Disgust, Happiness
When you see this card, study the emotions Venn diagram
N/A
Name some reasons as to why we have emotions.
Emotions motivate (and organize) specific actions
Emotions are an efficient way to communicate with other humans about our needs (e.g. we need social support)
Emotions communicate important information to ourselves (e.g. sadness when we have lost something important to us)
The fight-or-flight response is a helpful evolutionary adaptation (motivated by emotion)
Biological reaction to alarming stressors that musters the body’s resources to resist or flee the threat.
Fight-or-flight response
What is the relationship between the fight-or-flight response and chronic stress?
The same fight-or-flight response is often triggered by situations that are not dangerous
Chronic stimulation of fight-or-flight response leads to chronic stress
Chronic stress can lead to numerous health problems (e.g. heart disease)
What is the relationship between gender and mental health problems?
Women experience higher rates of certain mental health problems, such as depression, than men
While the exact cause is unclear why these discrepancies exist, it is likely that the cultural forces facing men, women, and gender queer and non- conforming people affect how mental disorders present
Name an impact of urbanization on mental health.
The incidence of schizophrenia is 38 percent greater in men who had been raised in cities than in those raised in rural areas (even after controlling for other factors like cannabis use, parental divorce, and family history)
Describe three factors related to mental health concerns in indigenous communities in Canada
Historical oppression (residential schools)
Ongoing discrimination
Poverty and living conditions
A stretch of DNA within a chromosome
Gene
The structure that carries DNA contained in every human cell
Chromosomes
One of two or more alternative forms of a gene
Allele
What is the arrangement of chromosomes?
Chromosomes are arranged in pairs: Each cell has 46 chromosomes (23 from each parent)
Many genes exert a small effect
Polygenic
Estimating the heritability of traits (e.g. intelligence)
Quantitative genetics
Examining the structure and function of genes
Molecular genetics
What is the relationship between gene expression and the environment?
Our environment can determine whether our genes are expressed (or not)
A pre-existing genetic vulnerability
Diathesis
Explain the diathesis-stress model
People may have the same underlying vulnerability, but will only get a mental disorder if they encounter a particular stressor (or stressors)
Explain the evidence for gene-environment interaction found by Caspi et al.?
There is a gene involved in a serotonin transporter that has two alleles: the long allele (L) and the short allele (S) (Long allele = better stress coping, short allele = worse stress coping)
People with two short alleles for a serotonin transporter gene were more likely to experience depression following severe childhood treatment
Disclaimer: “Using enormous samples (up to near half a million people), researchers have been unable to replicate any polymorphism or gene effects on depression, or gene-by-environment interactions on depression.”
Biological factors other than DNA that influence gene expression and the traits passed on to future generations (likely related to the proteins that organize DNA)
Epigenetics
People’s genetic predispositions often influence their environments
Gene-environment correlation
What are the three types of gene-environment correlation?
Passive gene–environment correlation:
Our environment is often created by our parents, who share 50% of their genes with us
Reactive gene–environment correlation: Genes evoke a response from the environment
Active gene-environment correlation:
Genes make us seek out environments
Name three types of ACES?
Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional)
Household Challenges (domestic violence, substance use, severe mental illness, divorce, legal problems)
Neglect (physical, emotional)
When you see this card, study the ACES diagram
N/A
The same environmental conditions can produce a range of outcomes
Multifinality
A behaviour or disorder may have several different cause
Equifinality
People systematically underestimate how much they will change in the future at almost every age.
The “end of history” illusion (Quoidbach et al., 2013)
Describe Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development (no need for all the stages)
Every stage of life has a crisis that must be resolved based on our biological maturity and the unique demands of that time period
The CNS consists of…
Brain and spinal cord
Neurons are…
Brain cells that transmit information, the fundamental unit of communication in the brain
Neurons release…
Neurotransmitters (like serotonin) to other neurons/cells when they “fire”
Name the three main parts of the neuron (excluding cell body) and their functions
Dendrite: location of receptors
Axon: transmits the signal
Synaptic cleft: the space between the axon of one neuron (presynaptic) and the dendrite of another neuron (postsynaptic)
When you see this card, study the neurotransmitter diagram
N/A
Part of the brain that regulates many automatic activities, such as breathing, the pumping action of the heart (heartbeat), and digestion
Hindbrain
Part of the brain that contributes to processes of arousal and tension, such as whether we are awake or asleep
Midbrain
Part of the brain containing the limbic system and the cerebral cortex
Forebrain
Part of the forebrain that helps regulate our emotional experiences and expressions
Limbic system
Part of the forebrain associated with our ability to think, reason, and solve problems (notably the prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe)
Cerebral cortex
Nervous system containing the somatic and autonomic systems
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
Nervous system that controls muscles and voluntary movements
Somatic nervous system
Nervous system that controls the cardiovascular (heart) and endocrine (hormone) functions
Autonomic nervous system
Division of the autonomic nervous system associated with stress and the fight-or-flight reaction
Sympathetic nervous system
Division of the autonomic nervous system that functions to oppose the stress response
(“Rest and digest”)
Parasympathetic system
When you see this study the nervous system diagrams
N/A
Released throughout the body through the endocrine system
Hormones
A stress hormone implicated in the fight-or-flight response
Cortisol
The “cuddle hormone” associated with social bonding
Oxytocin
Compare the time needed for hormones and neurotransmitters to take effect
Hormones: Minutes to days before
Neurotransmitters: Milliseconds before
Both amino acid neurotransmitters, the two of the most common neurotransmitters in all parts of the brain
Glutamate and GABA
Compare glutamate and GABA
Glutamate: An excitatory neurotransmitter (increases the firing of neurons)
GABA: An inhibitory neurotransmitter (decreases the firing of neurons)
Name the three main monoamine neurotransmitters
Serotonin
Dopamine
Norepinephrin
The “liking” neurotransmitter associated with feelings of well-being, important for managing mood and anxiety
Serotonin
Modern anti-depressant drugs primarily target…
Serotonin levels
Learning through repeatedly pairing unconditioned stimulus and response (e.g. salivating at a treat) with a conditioned stimulus (e.g. a bell)
Classical conditioning
Learning through understanding the consequences (e.g. rewards and punishments) of a behaviour
Operant conditioning
Learning through social observation
Social learning
Learning that has been wired in us through evolution via natural selection
Prepared learning
What did learned helplessness experiments discover and what are the implications for mental health?
Animals who learn that they have no control over their environment (i.e. learn that they are helpless) became depressed and stopped trying to avoid shocks
Could be a similar mechanism for humans
Cognitive behavioural therapy is based on…
The principle that how we interpret a situation influences how we feel; We can change our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes
How many new cases appear during a given period
Incidence
How many people in a population have a disorder
Prevalence
A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus is paired with another stimulus
Classical conditioning
Responding to stimuli that are similar to a paired stimulus
Stimulus generalization
A stimulus that requires no pairing for a response to occur
Unconditioned stimulus
Response to an unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned response
A stimulus that generates a response because it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned stimulus
A response generated by a conditioned stimulus
Conditioned response
Process in which a response is no longer elicited by a conditioned stimulus because it ceases to be paired with a reward/punishment
Extinction
Reporting on inner thoughts and feelings
Introspection
Introducing individuals to a stimulus in order to gradually decrease their response
Stimulus desensitization
A type of learning in which behaviour changes as a function of what follows the behaviour
Operant conditioning
What is Thorndike’s law of effect?
Behaviour is either strengthened or weakened depending on the consequences of the behaviour
Positive stimulus (reward) associated with a behaviour
Reinforcement
Negative stimulus associated with a behaviour
Punishment
A process of reinforcing successive approximations to a final behaviour
Shaping
What five factors are considered in an integrative approach to psychopathology?
Behavioural
Biological
Emotional
Social
Developmental
Specific location on a chromosome that codes for a gene
Genetic locus
The appearance of an organism
Phenotype
Represented by each pair of alleles for a specific gene
Genotype
Different forms of alleles
Polymorphism
The most common polymorphism in the human genome
Single nucleotide polymorphism
Structures that cap the ends of chromosomes that are positively correlated with lifespan and seem to be shortened by stress
Telomeres
