Intro to Psychopathology Flashcards
What is Psychopathology?
Study of mental illness
Psychopathology encompasses various aspects of mental health and illness.
What is Classification in the context of mental illnesses?
A taxonomy of mental illnesses, serving as the framework for organizing mental health conditions
It is a prerequisite for diagnosis.
Define Diagnosis.
The act of categorizing an individual within the classification system based on observable signs and subjective symptoms
Examples include crying in a depressed patient or feelings of guilt.
What are Syndromes?
A collection of signs and symptoms that tend to appear together but do not necessarily have a well-defined cause or biological mechanism
Mental disorders like Major Depressive Disorder are identified based on patterns of symptoms.
How are Disorders defined?
Syndromes that cannot be explained by other conditions and are more clearly defined
They are typically associated with specific symptoms and criteria.
What distinguishes Diseases from Disorders?
Diseases have identified pathology and evolving etiology
This represents a higher level of understanding compared to disorders.
What is the taxonic nature of a syndrome, according to Emil Kraepelin?
Mental disorders are real, distinct categories that exist in the world, similar to species in biology
This implies that disorders like schizophrenia or depression can be classified into well-defined groups.
What is the debate regarding mental disorders?
Whether they are truly categorical (taxonic) or exist on a spectrum (dimensional)
Symptoms may vary in severity rather than being clearly separate from normal functioning.
What do Cognitive theories focus on?
How people acquire, process, store, and use information
They are one of the types of theories explaining mental health.
What is the Statistical Model of mental disorders?
Disorders are defined by statistical rarity or deviation from the norm
Limitations include arbitrary cutoffs and misclassification of positive traits.
What defines the Subjective Distress Model?
Disorders are marked by significant psychological distress or suffering
Limitations include ego-syntonic conditions and anosognosia.
What is the Biological Model in understanding mental disorders?
Disorders are biological or evolutionary disadvantages, reducing lifespan or reproductive fitness
Limitations include counterexamples like soldiers or celibacy.
What does the Need for Treatment Model propose?
Disorders are conditions perceived as necessitating medical intervention
Limitations include circular reasoning and counterexamples like pregnancy.
What are the two components of the ‘Harmful Dysfunction’ Model?
- Dysfunction: An organ system is not functioning according to its natural design
- Harm: The dysfunction must cause significant impairment within the individual’s context
Proposed by Jerome Wakefield in 1992.
What is Roschian Analysis in the context of mental disorders?
Disorder is an inherently fuzzy concept with no fixed boundaries or defining features
Critics argue this reliance on prototypes complicates clear conclusions.
What is Widiger’s Perspective on mental disorders?
Mental disorders are constructs that must be assessed indirectly through multiple methods
It emphasizes the influence of genetic, environmental, and social factors.
What is a common misconception about mental illness?
Mental illness is a myth
Some claim that labels are used to enforce societal norms.
What is the purpose of a classification system in psychiatry?
- Description
- Prediction
- Theory
- Communication
These elements help in understanding and treating mental health conditions.
What are the five criteria proposed by Robins and Guze for valid classification of disorders?
- Clinical Description
- Course/Natural History
- Treatment Response
- Family History
- Laboratory Studies
These criteria help in validating mental health diagnoses.
What defines a Categorical System in psychiatric classification?
Disorders are viewed as present or absent
Challenges include arbitrary thresholds for diagnosis.
What defines a Dimensional System in psychiatric classification?
Symptoms are measured on a continuum, rather than being strictly present or absent
It captures a full range of symptom severity.
What was a significant change introduced in DSM-III?
Introduction of standardized diagnostic criteria and decision rules
It included inclusion, duration, and exclusion criteria.
What was the focus of DSM-5?
Elimination of the multiaxial system and introduction of dimensional approaches
It emphasized symptom severity and spectrum.
What is a limitation of a classification system?
Loss of uniqueness
Diagnosing someone may overlook individual variations in experience.
What is Comorbidity in mental health?
High rates of comorbidity where individuals meet criteria for multiple disorders
Lifetime comorbidity rates are around 75%.
What is Cultural Sensitivity in psychiatry?
Incorporating cultural factors into diagnosis and treatment
Criticism remains for a Western-centric framework.
What is the Medicalization of Normality?
Overmedicalization of normal behaviors, emotions, and thoughts
It is observed particularly in DSM-5 with increased diagnoses and lowered thresholds.
What is the RDoC (Research Domain Criteria) approach?
Aims to replace DSM’s symptom-based approach with a focus on underlying biological and psychological processes
It seeks to understand mental disorders in a more integrative way.
What complicates the use of dimensions in psychology?
The distinction between basic tendencies (core traits) and characteristic adaptations (behavioral expressions of traits)
This distinction creates complexity in categorizing psychological traits and behaviors.
What is the purpose of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology?
To understand the relationship between different psychological phenomena, the existence of comorbidities, and to reduce heterogeneity in low level syndrome disorder categories
This taxonomy focuses on symptoms as the most useful unit of diagnosis and measurement.
What does RDoC stand for?
Research Domain Criteria
This framework aims to improve our understanding of psychological disorders.
What is the main goal of RDoC?
To replace DSM’s symptom-based approach with a focus on psychobiological systems
RDoC emphasizes understanding psychological dysfunction through biological and behavioral measures.
What does RDoC emphasize in its approach?
Dimensional measures linking behavior, self-report, and neurobiological markers
This approach aims to identify fundamental domains of human functioning.
What are the challenges faced by RDoC?
Many proposed markers lack specificity and no biological marker currently serves as a definitive inclusion test for any disorder
Some markers, like smooth pursuit eye dysfunction for schizophrenia, show promise as exclusion tests.
RDoC presumes that the locus of dysfunction is in the _______.
[brain]
What is the focus of RDoC in understanding psychological dysfunction?
Dysfunction across multiple domains of functioning
This multi-domain approach seeks to provide a more comprehensive understanding of psychological disorders.
