Introduction Flashcards
what is Statistical criterion?
Extreme deviations from statistical norm. Used in medicine as well – Blood pressure.
what are the problems with statistical criterion
- Where should the cut off be
- There isn’t a specific number of standard deviations that confirms you have a disorder = It’s Arbitrary
- There are other negative/positive in excess that are not considered mental disorders. (ex. Excessive greed or pathological happiness).
what is Sociocultural Criterion
Unacceptable violations of social or cultural expectations. Patterns of behaviour that society does not except ( Disappeared from the DSM in 1974).
Problems with socioclutural criterion
- Cultural standards vary across time
- Cultures differ from place to place
- If disorders are brain-based, they cannot be cultural relative
what did Thomas Szasz argue?
agrued that all mental illness is cultural. There are no physical ways to determine the presence of a mental disorder. It is purely based on the interpretation of a pattern of symptoms, which in essence is a social interpretation.
what is the impairment criterion
Symptoms impair social, occupational, or other domains of functioning. If any of these areas are impaired than these symptoms deserve a label and should be treated.
(includes harm to self and others)
What are the problems with the impairment criterion
• Could someone be dangerous but not impaired and disordered?
- terrorists?
• Who decides who is impaired
• What about altruistic self-sacrifice?
• Being excessively shy can impair you, doesn’t mean you have a disorder
what is the personal distress criterion?
Even if symptoms cause no impairment in any area of your life, but you are concerned/bothered by your thoughts and emotion, a mental disorder can be labeled.
what are the problems with personal distress criterion?
• What about those dangerous, or detached from reality who are not concerned.
Ex. Someone with schizophrenia
• There are things that DO disturb us but are not considered to be a mental disorder
what is the Medical (biomedical) Model of psychopathy?
Abnormality is caused by physical problems in the brain
-basis for pharmacological and physical treatments
what are the candidate disorders of (biomedical) Model of psychopathy?
Autism, depression and schizophrenia
what is the Psychodynamic Model?
Abnormal thoughts, behaviors, caused by unconscious conflict
what are the candidate disorders of Psychodynamic Model?
- Anxiety Disorders (neurosis)
- Dissociative Disorders
- Somatic Symptom Disorders
what is the behavioural model?
- Symptoms are not the result of a disorder they are the disorder
- Abnormal behavior is acquired by learning then generalized inappropriately
- Treatment changes reward conditions to produce extinction or relearning
candidate disorders of behavioural model?
Anxiety disorders
what is the sociocultural model
• Abnormal result from social pressures
-poverty unemployment, etc.
• Higher rates of mental disorder at low socioeconomic levels
• Treat by changing external conditions
Candidate disorders of sociocultural model?
anxiety and depression
what are epigenomes?
→instructions in the genome tell what it does
→ Chemical markers (epigenomes) attached to our gene
→ Genes important when active
→ which genes got turned
→ Experiences (mother’s womb, home environment) can effect our epigenomes
→ We can follow these changes across 3 generations
• High socioeconomic status (SES) at 2-3 years old, predicts …
better gene regulation of inflammation responses in adolescent females
• Low socioeconomic status = high level of pro inflammation
• Low childhood SES of parents predicts
higher Blood pressure of their children in adolescence
• Group housing of rats did what in females and males
- Group housing worsened inflammatory responses for females
* Group housing improved inflammatory responses for males
• Self reported targeted rejection in adolescent females at risk for depression increased what?
expression of pro-inflammatory genes.
What is the cognitive model
- Abnormality results from maladaptive ways of thinking, interpreting
- Treat by changing ways of thinking through practice and reward (Cognitive-Behavioral therapy)
- Teaching people to think differently and have alternative ways of interpreting things that happen to us
- Most popular and successful non-medical treatment
Candidate disorders for the cognitive model
- Anxiety disorders (Why are we afraid – because we think certain things are scary)
- Depression
- Personality Disorders
What year were all the DSMs published?
1952, 1968, 1980, 1982, 1994, 2000, 2013
what categories were dropped/added to DSM-5?
- Subcategories of schizophrenia are now gone
- Several Pervasive development Disorders folded into autism spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- New categories include: Hoarding disorder; Excoriation (skin-Picking) disorder
How are disorders organized in the DSM?
categories are organized according to symptom similarity NOT cause
Which DSM received criticism for having a psychodynamic interpretation
DSM I
Medicine diagnosis based on?
causes
Is socially deviant behaviour grounds for a mental disorder?
NO - political, religious
What are some criticisms of the DSM approach?
→ Assume similar symptoms are resulting from a similar disorder
→Treats disorders as discrete entities, not as points on a continuum.
→ Criteria leads to ‘fads’ in diagnosis
→ Labeling biases all subsequent diagnosis and treatment
→ No known relation between DSM categories and causes of disorders
What is the comorbidity problem?
If you meet the criteria for any one of the disorder categories in the DSM chances are 80% that you will also make the criteria for another disorder in the DSM
• You can be comorbid for up to 4 disorders
ie. People are often comorbid for Anxiety and Depression
The ‘not otherwise Specified’ problem?
the symptoms do not meet the other subcategories of that disorder. Basically saying “there is no label for this”
Straddled category problem?
Diagnosis that cross the borders between two categories but don’t satisfy the requirements for either
what % of the population uses drugs for a psychiatric disorder?
20%
Necessary vs. sufficient cause
→ If some cause (A) is always followed by some effect (B), we can say A is a sufficient cause of B
→ Now suppose ONLY if (A) is present do we get (B), we say A is Necessary and sufficient
What conditions are necessary and which are sufficient according to the diathesis stress model
- Both stress and predisposition are necessary but not sufficiant
what is a low level of environmental sensitivity?
regardless of what happens around them they are unaffected
o No matter how many environmental variables surround them their level of functioning will probably stay generally stable
High level of environmental susceptibility?
more effected by what happens around them
o If there are negative environmental variables individuals will have a very low level of functioning
how does the susceptibility to environmental stimuli differ from the diathesis stress model?
In environmental model above average environment leads to above average functioning, whereas in diathesis it just leads to normal
Children did _____ than average when discipline is consistent and ____ then average when it is inconsistent – supports _______________model
Better, worse, environmental suceptibility
lWhat did foley at al find about Conduct disorder?
less conduct disorder when there was low childhood adversity - environmental susceptibility
What was discovered about the short alleles of serotonin which caused increased risk of depression?
1) best response under low levels of stress,
2) most depression after poor early environment and least when they had a supportive environment
Abnormal EEG in individuals with social Anxiety disorder (SAD) returns to normal after?
behavioral therapy.
Higher right side EEG to trauma-related pictures in PTSD reduced after
CBT
The first North American attempt to classify mental disorders occurred
in the U.S. census of 1880, which distinguished just seven categories of mental illness.
