Mental Illness (11.15 Lecture)

Question 1

continuum of psychological symptoms

Answer 1

<–healthy<–>reacting<–>injured<–>ill–>

(still express distress but normal), (limited)(ex. time before an exam), (ex. grief), (pervasive, chronic)

Question 2

how pervasive are mental health issues?

Answer 2

1 in 4 adults experience mental illness every year, great during COVID (especially among college students)

Question 3

what group has the highest rates of anxiety?

Answer 3

millennials and Gen Z

Question 4

anxiety

Answer 4

feeling of fear, dread, uneasiness, vague sense of being in danger (fear of a specific thing vs. anxiety from sensing smth bad will happen)
1. cognitive. subjecting
2. psychological (ex. body sweats, tensed fists, etc.)
3. behavioral (general avoidance, ex. just falling asleep)

Question 5

benefits of anxiety

Answer 5

discomfort/ distress that excites action

Question 6

harms of anxiety

Answer 6

severe/ frequent, lasts too long, triggered too easily, impairs daily function

Question 7

specific phobia

Answer 7

(type of anxiety disorder)
persistent and disproportionate (doesn’t pose a real threat) fear leads to extreme avoidance

Question 8

types of specific phobias

Answer 8

animal/ insects, heights, enclosed spaces, thunderstorms, blood/ needles

Question 9

how do phobias develop

Answer 9

classical conditioning (2 events occurring close together become associated in someone’s mind) (ex. bad experiences with dog makes someone scared of all dogs, not just that specific one)

leads to stimulus generation (generalized to all similar things, a persistent response to one stimulus and all other similar stimuli)

Question 10

social anxiety disorder

Answer 10

(type of anxiety disorder)
extreme fear of being scrutinized/ judged by others in similar situations
- 6 + months
- fear of being negatively evaluated by others
- avoidance
- significant distress or impairment

Question 11

cultural differences in social anxiety

Answer 11

collectivist cultures: fear of embarrassing others increases social anxiety
individualist cultures: fear of embarrassing ourselves

Question 12

behavioral perspective of social anxiety disorder

Answer 12

individuals with SAD anticipate social disasters will occur and avoid them/ perform safety behaviors to decrease their anxiety (ex. drinking)

Question 13

vicious cycle of SAD

Answer 13

anxiety –>
scanning for danger –>
escape/ avoidance –>
short-term: relief –>
long term: greater physical symptoms of anxiety, greater worry, less confidence, more safety behaviors –>

Question 14

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Answer 14

uncontrollable worry/ anxiety for most days for at least 6 months, pervasive across multiple situations
- need at least 3 physical symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty sleeping

Question 15

how GAD plays out psychologically

Answer 15

maladaptive beliefs about worry (think worrying about it would make you more prepared and able to prevent it)

Question 16

anxiety disorders and avoidance

Answer 16

operant conditioning –> avoidance (negative reinforcement)

avoidance prevents learning

Question 17

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

Answer 17

Characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior

Question 18

positive symptoms of schizophrenia
- delusions

Answer 18

(undesirable additions to normal life)
false, illogical beliefs:
- illusions of grandeur (ex. thought in CIA)
- illusions of broadcasting (think people can hear your thoughts)
- thought insertion (feeling like someone planted a thought in your mind)
- persecution (people watching/ targeting you)
- reference (secret message in TV, etc.)

Question 19

positive symptoms of schizophrenia
- hallucinations

Answer 19

(undesirable additions to normal life)
false perception without sensation
- auditory (voices/ noises)
- visual
- tactile
- smell/ taste

Question 20

positive symptoms of schizophrenia
- disorganized speech

Answer 20

(undesirable additions to normal life)
incoherent, confusing speech, ideas shifting rapidly
- circumstantial thought (extra details not related to event, but eventually gets back to the topic at hand)
- tangential thought (leaps between ideas and doesn’t return to the original thought)
- loose thoughts/ associations (little link between thoughts)

Question 21

positive symptoms of schizophrenia
- disorganized behavior

Answer 21

(undesirable additions to normal life)
- unusually active/ barely moving
- unusual grimaces/ gestures
- catatonia (maintain awkward body positions for hours at a time)

Question 22

negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 22

(subtractions from normal life)
- affective deficits (lacking facial expressions)
- relational deficits (lack of interest in socializing)
- community deficits (lacking in speech)
- abolition (lack of motivation)

Question 23

DSM criteria for anxiety disorders

Answer 23

(at least 2 occurring for 1 month)
*consider all with significant impairment after disturbance with effects lasting at least 6 months
1. delusions
2. hallucinations
3. disorganized speech
(at least 1 symptom from 1-3)
4. disorganized/ catatonic behavior
5. negative symptoms

Question 24

stigma around schizophrenia

Answer 24

people with schizophrenia are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators

Question 25

tropes of people with schizophrenia

Answer 25

Criminal, dangerous, supernatural, magical (stigmatizing/ objectifying disability)