lecture 11 p3: psychological challenges

Question 1

Understanding and Stigma

Answer 1

● Understanding Through Labels
● Content Validity and Common Understanding
● Comorbidity Challenges
● Treatment Dilemma in Comorbidity
● Psychologists’ Competitiveness
● Labeling and Stigma
● Negative Consequences of Labeling
● Stigmatization in Mental Health
● Social Perception Disparities
● Societal Attitudes

Question 2

Understanding Through Labels

Answer 2

○ Labels can aid understanding by providing a framework for one’s experiences.
○ Knowing the label can offer a sense of clarity about the nature of symptoms.

Question 3

Content Validity and Common Understanding

Answer 3

○ Content validity relies on a shared understanding of psychological terms.
○ Challenges arise when interpretations vary, leading to potential miscommunication.

Question 4

Comorbidity Challenges

Answer 4

○ Comorbidity introduces complexities in diagnosis.
○ Untangling the causal relationship between disorders becomes challenging.

Question 5

Treatment Dilemma in Comorbidity

Answer 5

Determining which disorder to address first in comorbidity poses a treatment challenge.
○ Different disorders may require distinct treatment approaches.

Question 6

Psychologists’ Competitiveness

Answer 6

○ The competitive nature of psychology professionals can impact collaborative efforts.
○ This competitiveness may affect decision-making in complex cases.

Question 7

Labeling and Stigma

Answer 7

○ Pros of labeling include having a term to describe one’s experiences and access to shared resources.
○ Cons involve potential stigma, pigeonholing, and societal expectations.

Question 8

Negative Consequences of Labeling

Answer 8

○ Pigeonholing may lead to stereotyped expectations of behavior.
○ Individuals might conform to perceived norms associated with their label.

Question 9

Stigmatization in Mental Health

Answer 9

○ Mental health issues often face more stigma than physical health problems.
○ Stigmatization can result in blame being assigned to the individual rather than understanding the complexities of mental health.

Question 10

Social Perception Disparities

Answer 10

○ Disparities exist in how society perceives and treats physical and mental health issues.
○ Mental health challenges may be unfairly attributed to personal failure.

Question 11

Societal Attitudes

Answer 11

○ Individuals with mental health issues may face dismissive attitudes or moral judgments.
○ Unlike physical health problems, mental health concerns may be perceived as moral failings.

Question 12

Anxiety Disorder learnings

Answer 12

● Benefits and Challenges of Labels
● Defining Anxiety
● Four Key Components of Anxiety
● Specific Anxiety Disorders
● Specific Phobias
● Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
● Panic Disorder

Question 13

Benefits and Challenges of Labels

Answer 13

○ Labels provide understanding and access to resources.
○ Negative aspects include potential stigma and societal expectations.
○ Society needs improvement in addressing mental health issues.

Question 14

Defining Anxiety

Answer 14

Anxiety is a negative mood state characterized by physical tension.
○ Involves feelings, behaviors, and thoughts related to unease and distress

Core characteristic
■ persistent and uncontrollable worry.

Question 15

Four Key Components of Anxiety

Answer 15

○ Emotional Symptoms
○ Cognitive Symptoms
○ Physical Symptoms
○ Behavioral Symptoms

Question 16

Emotional Symptoms

Answer 16

■ Tension and apprehension

Question 17

Cognitive Symptoms

Answer 17

■ Excessive worrying, inability to cope

Question 18

Physical Symptoms

Answer 18

■ Increased heart rate, muscle tension, autonomic arousal

Question 19

Behavioral Symptoms

Answer 19

■ Avoidance of feared situations, decreased performance, increased startle response

Question 20

Specific Anxiety Disorders

Answer 20

Phobias
Agoraphobia
Social Anxiety Disorder

Question 21

Phobias

Answer 21

■ Strong irrational fears of certain objects or situations.
■ Named “phobias” to denote an intense and irrational fear

example: arachnophobia

Question 22

Agoraphobia

Answer 22

■ Fear of public places, open spaces, or situations where escape may be difficult.

Question 23

Social Anxiety Disorder

Answer 23

■ Fear of public places, open spaces, or situations where escape may be difficult.

Question 24

Specific Phobias

Answer 24

○ Intense irrational fears of certain objects or situations.
○ Examples include arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces).
○ Phobias can be associated with various stimuli or situations.

Question 25

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Answer 25

○ Chronic state of free-floating anxiety.
○ Involves excessive worry about various situations or objects

Question 26

Criteria for diagnosis: GAD

Answer 26

■ Excessive worry occurs more days than not for at least six months.
■ Difficulty controlling worry.
■ Associated with three or more symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbances.
○ Challenges arise when individuals with GAD exhibit different symptom combinations.

Question 27

Panic Disorder

Answer 27

○ Characterized by experiencing panic attacks and subsequent fear of having another attack.

Question 28

panic attack

Answer 28

abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort.

Panic disorder involves persistent anxiety about having another attack, especially in public

Question 29

criteria for panic attack

Answer 29

1. palpitations
2. sweating
3. trembling
4. shortness of breath
5. chest pain
6. dizziness
7. derealization.