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MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Kaplan Ch. 7 - Psychological Disorders > Flashcards

Kaplan Ch. 7 - Psychological Disorders Flashcards

1
Q

What is a negative symptom?

A

Absence of normal behavior

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2
Q

What types of disturbances of affect may be observed in schizophrenic patients? (3)

A
  • Blunting = reduction in intensity of affect (emotion)
  • Flat affect = No signs of emotional expression
  • Inappropriate affect = person’s emotional response does not match up with their speech (i.e. laughing when saying something sad)
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3
Q

What is disorganized behavior?

A

Inability to carry out activities of daily living

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4
Q

What is a disturbance of affect?

A

An abnormal means of experiencing or displaying emotion

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5
Q

Biopsychosocial approach to treating psychological disorders

A

Assumes that there are biological, psychological, and social factors that contribute to an individual’s disorder and that all three should be considered in the treatment plan of the disorder

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6
Q

What is a delusion? (3)

A

Delusion (general): False beliefs that part from reality, these beliefs are not shared by others in the culture and community, the individual continues to hold these beliefs despite strong evidence that the beliefs are false.

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7
Q

What are the 8 symptoms associated with a major depressive episode?

Think: SIG. E. CAPS

A 
Sleep (disturbed sleep)
Interest (loss of interest in activities)
Guilt
Energy (decreased energy)
Concentration (difficulty concentrating / thinking)
Appetite (disturbed appetite)
Psychomotor symptoms (feel slowed down)
Suicidal thoughts
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8
Q

What conditions must be met in order to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder?

A

Individual must have at least 1 major depressive episode

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9
Q

What characterizes bipolar disorders?

A

Mania and depression

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10
Q

Agoraphobia

A

Anxiety disorder characterized by a fear of being in places where it might be hard to escape

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11
Q

What two kinds of therapy does the biopsychosocial approach seek to provide?

A

Direct therapy (acts on individual) and indirect therapy (aims to increase social support)

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12
Q

What is the difference between Bipolar I disorder and Bipolar II disorder?

A

Bipolar I = manic episodes w/ or w/o MDEs

Bipolar II = hypomania + at least one MDE

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13
Q

What is seasonal affective disorder? When are symptoms present? What might the symptoms be attributed to? How can this disorder be treated?

A
  • Major depressive disorder w/ seasonal onset
  • Present in winter months only
  • Abnormal melatonin metabolism
  • Bright light therapy
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14
Q

What are the symptoms of psychotic disorder (6)?

A

Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thought, disorganized behavior, catatonia, negative symptoms

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15
Q

What is hypomania?

A

Individual still displays some attributes of manic behavior but it is not significant enough to impair tier function or display psychotic features

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16
Q

What are the 5 positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thought, disorganized behavior, catatonia

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17
Q

What are the two main approaches to treating psychological disorders?

A

Biomedical approach and biopsychosocial approach

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18
Q

How is a major depressive episode defined?

A
  • At least 2 weeks in duration
  • In this 2+ week time frame, the individual must display at least 5 symptoms, 1 of which must either be depressed mood or loss of interest in activities
  • Symptoms must cause significant impairment of function
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19
Q

What is disorganized thought?

A

Presents as speech that shifts from one idea to another with no connection or structure

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20
Q

What are the 2 negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

Disturbance of affect, avolition

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21
Q

What criteria must be met to define a manic episode? What are the 7 symptoms of mania? (DIG FAST)

A

Persistent, abnormally elevated mood lasting at least 1 week w/ at least three symptoms.

Distractible (increased)
Insomnia (decreased sleep)
Grandiosity
Flight of ideas (racing thought)
Agitation
Speech (increased talkativeness)
Thoughtlessness (involved in high risk behavior)
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22
Q

What are the 5 types of delusions in the text?

A
  • Delusions of reference: common elements of world around individual are directed toward them
  • Delusions of persecution: Individual believes they are being plotted against/threatened
  • Delusions of grandeur: individual believes they are remarkable in some way
  • Thought broadcasting: individual believes that their thoughts are being broadcast to the external world
  • Thought Insertion: individual believes that thoughts are being placed in their head
23
Q

What is catatonia?

A

Inability to move or reduced ability to move

24
Q

Biomedical approach to treating psychological disorders

A

Assumes that any disorder has roots in biomedical disturbances and thus believe the solution should also be biomedical in nature

25
Q

Obsessive compulsive disorder

A

Individual displays obsessions (intrusive thoughts / impulses) that produce tension and the individual then seeks to relieve that tension by exercising compulsions (repetitive tasks). These compulsions usually cause significant impairment on person’s life

26
Q

Although proven to be oversimplified, what is the monoamine theory of depression?

A

Too much norepinephrine or serotonin in the synapse leads to mania, too little leads to depression

27
Q

What 3 conditions must be met for an individual to be given a diagnosis of schizophrenia?

A
  • They must suffer from one or more symptoms of a psychotic disorder
  • They must show signs of the disturbance for at least 6 months
  • Within that 6 month period, they must display “active symptoms” for at least 1 month
28
Q

What is a positive symptom?

A

Behaviors, thoughts, or feelings added to normal behavior

29
Q

Persistent depressive disorder

A

Individuals who display depressed mood that isn’t severe enough to be diagnosed as a MDE are diagnosed with PDD instead

30
Q

When does PTSD occur?

A

After experiencing / witnessing a traumatic event

31
Q

What are the symptoms of PTSD?

A
  • Intrusion symptoms = Recurrent reliving of event
  • Avoidance symptoms = avoid things associated with trauma
  • Negative cognitive symptoms = inability to recall event details, negative mood/emotions/view
    Arousal symptoms = startle easily, irritable, anxious, trouble sleeping
32
Q

What conditions must be met to diagnose PTSD? What if conditions are not met?

A

A particular number of symptoms must be present for at least 1 month, if less than 1 month then patient diagnosed with acute stress disorder

33
Q

What is the general definition for dissociative disorders?

A

Person attempts to avoid stress by escaping their identity

34
Q

What are the 3 kinds of dissociative disorders?

A

Dissociative amnesia
Dissociative identity disorder (multi. Personalities)
Depersonalization/derealization

35
Q

Dissociative amnesia

A

Person is unable to recall past experiences, may experience fugue state (leave one’s home unexpectedly and wander), may also assume entirely new identity

36
Q

Dissociative identity disorder

A

2+ personalities recurrently take control of person’s behavior and the disorder arises when these identities fail to integrate

37
Q

What is believed to be a key cause of DID?

A

Early childhood trauma or sexual abuse

38
Q

Depersonalization

A

Individual feels detached from their own mind / body

39
Q

Derealization

A

Individual feels disconnected from surroundings, feels automated

40
Q

Somatic symptom disorder

A

Individual has at least 1 actual physical symptom, which causes them disproportionate anxiety and which may or may not be linked to an actual medical condition

41
Q

Illness Anxiety Disorder

A

Individual experiences excessive anxiety over the potential for having or developing a serious medical condition

42
Q

Conversion Disorder

A

Unexplained symptoms affecting voluntary motor or sensory function

43
Q

1) What is a personality disorder?

2) How does it differ from a major psychological disorder?

A

1) Pattern of behavior that causes an individual distress and impairs interpersonal skills / cognition / emotion
2) Personality disorders = ego syntonic (person believes the behavior is helping them achieve their goals)
Psychological disorders = ego dystonic (illness is seen as intrusive/bothersome)

44
Q

What are the 3 clusters of personality disorders? What is the mnemonic to remember them?

A

Cluster A = weird
Cluster B = wild
Cluster C = worried

45
Q

What personality disorders are in cluster A (3) ?

A
  • Paranoid = Distrust of others
  • Schizotypal = pattern of odd / eccentric thinking
  • Schizoid = Detachment from social relationships
46
Q

What personality disorders are in cluster B (4) ?

A
  • Antisocial = more common in men, disregard for / violation of rights of others
  • Borderline = more common in women, instability in interpersonal behavior / mood / self-image
  • Histrionic = constant attention seeking behavior
  • Narcissistic = grandiose sense of self importance but often w/ fragile self esteem
47
Q

What personality disorders are in cluster C (3) ?

A
  • Avoidant = Extreme shyness and fear of rejection
  • Dependent = Continuous need for reassurance
  • Obsessive - compulsive = NOT same as OCD, but rather describes someone who is a perfectionist and inflexible and likes rules + order
48
Q

What biological factors may contribute to development of schizophrenia (4) ?

A
  • Genetics
  • Trauma @ birth (hypoxemia = low blood [oxygen])
  • Excessive marijuana use in adolescence
  • Excess dopamine in brain
49
Q

What biological factors mark depression (4)?

A
  • High [glucose] in amygdala
  • Atrophy of cells of hippocampus
  • High [cortisol]
  • Decreased [NE], [serotonin], and [dopamine]
50
Q

What biological factors mark bipolar disorder (3)?

A
  • Increased [NE] and [serotonin]
  • Genetics (increased risk if parent has disorder)
  • Increased risk for patients with MS
51
Q

What genetic factors contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease?

What social factor contributes to the decrease in likelihood of Alzheimer’s?

A
  • Age (65+)
  • Gender (more common in females)
  • Family history
  • Mutations in various genes (particularly Beta Amyloid precursor protein gene)
  • Increased education = decreased risk
52
Q

What changes in brain physiology are characteristic of Alzheimer’s (6) ?

What changes in brain NT levels are characteristic of Alzheimer’s (2) ?

A
  • Diffuse brain atrophy
  • Enlarged cerebral ventricles
  • Flattened sulci on cortex
  • Decreased blood flow to parietal lobes
  • Beta-amyloid plaques
  • Tangles of hyperphosphorylated tau proteins
  • Decreased [acetylcholine]
  • Reduced concentration enzyme that makes acetylcholine
53
Q

What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (5) ?

A
  • Bradykinesia (slow movements)
  • Resting Tremor
  • Masklike facies
  • Rigidity
  • Shuffling gait
54
Q

What is the biological cause of Parkinson’s?

A
  • Decreased dopamine production in substantia nigra (cells that line basal ganglia and allow proper function, which is to coordinate motion and smooth motor function)

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (13 decks)

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