lecture 11 p8: psychological challenges Flashcards
Flum Anesthesia
○ Individuals with conversion disorder may experience symptoms like numbness from the wrist down.
○ This symptom has no medical basis but is perceived by the individual, suggesting a psychological origin
Brain Processing and Conscious Experience
○ Some cases involve individuals reaching for objects or moving out of the way despite claiming the inability to see.
○ The brain processes visual information, but a disconnect prevents it from reaching conscious awareness.
○ Understanding the precise mechanisms behind these experiences remains a challenge
Factitious Disorder
● Intentional feigning, exaggeration, or induction of physical or psychological symptoms
(○ Motivation is not external incentives but often centers around garnering attention or making medical professionals look foolish)
● Former Terminology
○ Previously known as Munchausen Syndrome, where individuals mimic symptoms for attention or to assume the sick role.
○ An extension is Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, where caregivers induce symptoms in others, typically vulnerable individuals.
Factitious Disorder and Motivations
● Intent to Embarrass Medical Professionals
● Seeking Preferential Treatment
Intent to Embarrass Medical Professionals
○ Individuals with factitious disorder intentionally create symptoms, often resorting to extreme measures such as self-injections or ingestion of harmful substances.
○ Motivations may include harboring a grudge against medical professionals.
Seeking Preferential Treatment
○ Some individuals develop a desire for the sick role’s preferential treatment.
○ They intentionally produce symptoms to receive special attention, a phenomenon more common in those who experienced it as children
Montausel by Proxy
● Similar to factitious disorder but involves inducing symptoms in another person, often a child under one’s care.
○ Caregivers may administer substances, medications, or perform actions leading to symptoms in the child
● Motivations Montausel
○ Motivations may include a desire for attention, portraying themselves as exemplary caregivers.
○ In some severe cases, the child may experience fatal complications from medical interventions or induced symptoms
Understanding Montausel by Proxy
● Attention-Seeking Behavior
● Fatal Consequences
Attention-Seeking Behavior
○ Individuals engaging in Montausel by Proxy often seek attention and accolades for their caregiving abilities.
○ The act of inducing symptoms in the child becomes a means of garnering sympathy and admiration.
Fatal Consequences
○ In severe cases, the child may suffer fatal outcomes due to complications from medical interventions or the induced symptoms themselves.
○ This behavior is deemed a form of severe child abuse
Dissociative Disorders and Stress
Triggered by Stressful Events
○ Dissociative disorders often emerge in response to highly stressful or traumatic events.
○ The mind may compartmentalize or separate aspects of itself to cope with overwhelming experiences.
○ Different types of dissociative experiences include amnesia, derealization, and depersonalization.
Depersonalization
Feeling of Separation from Body
depersonalization criteria
○ Depersonalization involves a sense of separation from one’s body.
○ Individuals may feel as if they are observing themselves from an external perspective, similar to a dreamlike state.
○ Sensations of limbs moving without control contribute to the disconnect experienced
Derealization
● Perception of the World as Unreal
derealization criteria
○ Derealization includes a distorted perception of the external world.
○ Individuals may feel as if reality is foggy, dreamlike, or lacking authenticity.
○ Sensory distortions contribute to the feeling that the real world
Types of Dissociative Amnesia
● Localized Amnesia
● Selective Amnesia
● Generalized Amnesia
● Continuous Amnesia
● Anterograde Amnesia
Localized Amnesia
○ Loss of memory or awareness for a specific time frame or place.
○ Examples include not remembering activities during a certain time of the day or night.
Selective Amnesia
○ Remembering specific events during a time frame while remaining unaware of other occurrences.
○ Individuals recall certain incidents but not the entirety of what happened.
Generalized Amnesia
○ Loss of memory not restricted to a specific time frame.
○ Memory gaps may extend across various events, creating a more generalized form of amnesia
Continuous Amnesia
○ Inability to form new memories while retaining ongoing gaps in memory.
○ Often seen in cases where new experiences fail to integrate into long-term memory.
Anterograde Amnesia
○ Impaired ability to create new memories after a specific event or point in time.
○ Notable examples include the case of H.M., who had anterograde amnesia following the removal of the hippocampus
Dissociative Fugue
○ Dissociative fugue involves not only amnesia but also unexpected travel away from home.
○ Individuals may take on a new identity during this state.
○ The condition often arises from significant stress or trauma.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
● Characterized by Multiple Personalities
○ DID involves the presence of two or more distinct identities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the world.
○ Transitioning between identities often associated with memory gaps.
○ The disorder may arise as a protective mechanism during severe abuse or trauma.
