Lecture 7: Disorders of Trauma and Stress

Question 1

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Answer 1

controls involuntary functions of organs
- sympathetic nervous system: danger, increasing heart rate, trigger fear and anxiety
- parasympathetic nervous system: no danger, decreasing heart rate, calms us down

Question 2

endocrine system

Answer 2

activates glands that release hormones

Question 3

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) pathway

Answer 3

produces arousal and fear
- hypothalamus signals to the pituitary gland in the brain to secrete ACTH, ACTH stimulates the adrenal cortex to produce a group of stress hormones (= corticosteroids), these hormones produce arousal reactions

Question 4

fight or flight response

Answer 4

the body produces arousal through the sympathetic nervous system and the HPA pathway

Question 5

traumatic event

Answer 5

event in which someone is exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation

Question 6

acute stress disorder

Answer 6

experiencing stress or fear starting within 4 weeks of a traumatic event and lasting less than a month
- 80% of cases of acute stress disorder develop into PTSD

Question 7

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Answer 7

experiencing stress or fear starting at any point after a traumatic event and lasting more than a month

Question 8

PTSD checklist

Answer 8

• person is exposed to a traumatic event
• person experiences at least one of the following intrusive symptoms: repeated, uncontrolled, and distressing memories; repeated and upsetting trauma-linked dreams; dissociative experiences such as flashbacks; significant upset when exposed to trauma-linked cues; pronounced physical reactions when reminded of the event(s)
• person continually avoids trauma-linked stimuli
• person experiences negative changes in trauma-linked cognitions and moods, such as being unable to remember key features of the event(s) or experiencing repeated negative emotions
• person diplays conspicuous changes in arousal or reactivity, such as excessive alertness, extreme startle responses, or sleep disturbances
• person experiences significant distress and impairment, with symptoms lasting more than a month

Question 9

type I PTSD

Answer 9

if there is a single or one-off trauma

Question 10

type II PTSD

Answer 10

occurs when there has been multiple or long-term trauma

Question 11

symptoms for both acute stress disorder and PTSD

Answer 11

• reexperiencing traumatic event
• avoiding things that remind one of the traumatic event
• reduced responsiveness and dissociation
• experiencing increased arousal, anxiety, and guilt

Question 12

likely triggers of stress disorders

Answer 12

• combat
• disasters and accidents
• abuse and victimization – being a victim of sexual assault, terrorism, or torture

Question 13

biological factors increasing the chances of developing a stress disorder

Answer 13

brain-body stress pathways, brain’s stress circuit and inherited predisposition

Question 14

childhood experiences increasing the chances of developing a stress disorder

Answer 14

abuse, poverty, divorce, catastrophe or family with psychological disorders

Question 15

personal style factors increasing the chances of developing a stress disorder

Answer 15

personalities, attitudes, and coping styles (e.g. high anxiety and a negative world view)

Question 16

social support factors increasing the chances of developing a stress disorder

Answer 16

weak support from family, friends, criminal justice system

Question 17

severity of trauma increasing the chances of developing a stress disorder

Answer 17

degree to which someone has been exposed to stress or trauma

Question 18

treatment for stress disorders

Answer 18

• antidepressant drugs
• cognitive-behavioral therapy
• couple/family therapy
• group therapy
• psychological debriefing

Question 19

exposure techniques used in cognitive-behavioral therapy for stress disorders

Answer 19

• prolonged exposure: clients confront trauma-related objects/situations and their painful memories of traumatic experiences
• eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): exposure therapy where people move their eyes from one side to another while flooding their minds with thoughts related to the stressful event

Question 20

psychological debriefing

Answer 20

therapy session in which victims talk extensively about their feelings and reactions within days of the traumatic event

Question 21

dissociative disorder

Answer 21

type of disorder triggered by traumatic events and characterized by dissociative symptoms (e.g. memory difficulties, depersonalization, derealization)
- one part of the person’s memory seems to be dissociated or separated from the rest

Question 22

dissociative amnesia

Answer 22

memory loss, not being able to recall important information, usually of an upsetting nature, about one’s life
- 4 types (localized, selective, generalized, continuous)

Question 23

localized dissociative amnesia

Answer 23

loss of all memory of events occurring within a limited period
- forgotten period is called amnestic episode

Question 24

selective dissociative amnesia

Answer 24

loss of memory for some, but not all, events occurring within a period

Question 25

generalized dissociative amnesia

Answer 25

loss of memory beginning with an event, but extending back in time

Question 26

continuous dissociative amnesia

Answer 26

loss of memory continues into the future

Question 27

dissociative fugue

Answer 27

extreme version of dissociative amnesia
- memory loss of one’s own identity and past, usually fleeing to a different location, but in most cases it is brief

Question 28

dissociative identity disorder

Answer 28

people develop 2 or more personalities, who all have their own memories, thoughts, and behaviors
- often symptoms begin in early childhood after trauma or abuse

Question 29

dissociative identity disorder checklist

Answer 29

• disruption to one’s identity: at least 2 separate personality states
• repeated memory gaps about daily events, key personal information, or traumatic events, beyond ordinary forgetting
• significant distress or impairment
• not caused by a substance or medical condition

Question 30

subpersonalities

Answer 30

may have different identifying features (e.g. age), abilities, and preferences of physiological responses

Question 31

switching

Answer 31

the transition from one subpersonality to another and it is usually triggered by a stressful event

Question 32

mutually amnesic relationship

Answer 32

no subpersonality is aware of others

Question 33

mutually cognizant relationship

Answer 33

every subpersonality is aware of others

Question 34

one-way amnesic relationship

Answer 34

some subpersonalities are aware of others

Question 35

psychodynamic explanation of dissociative disorders

Answer 35

• dissociative disorders are caused by the repression of memories and thoughts
• dissociative amnesia would be a result of the repression of a single life event
• dissociative identity disorder would emerge out of a lifetime of repression

Question 36

cognitive-behavioral explanation of dissociative disorders

Answer 36

• dissociation grows from normal memory processes and is a response learned through operant conditioning
• state-dependent learning: people remember things better when they are in the same state as they were in while learning
• people who are prone to develop dissociative disorders might be especially prone to only remembering things while under certain states of arousal

Question 37

self-hypnosis explanation of dissociative disorders

Answer 37

hypnotizing yourself, people might self-hypnotize in order to forget unpleasant events
- might lead to dissociative disorders

Question 38

psychodynamic therapy as treatment for dissociative amnesia

Answer 38

attempting to bring unconscious forgotten experiences back to consciousness

Question 39

hypnotic therapy/hypnotherapy as treatment for dissociative amnesia

Answer 39

hypnotize patients and try to recall forgotten events

Question 40

drug therapy as treatment for dissociative amnesia

Answer 40

intravenous injections of barbiturates are used to calm people down, which allows them to recall stressful events without too much anxiety

Question 41

treatment for dissociative identity disorder

Answer 41

treatment of dissociative identity disorder consists of helping the client (1) recognize the nature of the disorder, (2) recover memories, and (3) integrating their subpersonalities into one functional personality (= fusion)

Question 42

depersonalization-derealization disorder

Answer 42

mental disorder which is characterized by persistent or recurrent depersonalization and derealization, symptoms may be triggered by stress, fatigue, pain, or recovery from substance abuse