OCD & PTSD Flashcards
symptoms of OCD
- obsessions and/or compulsions
- time consuming (1hr+ daily)
- distress and impairment
insight specifier for OCD
- recognizing that cognitive impairments lead to untrue obsessions (good insight)
- feeling that obsessions are mostly untrue but not completely (moderate insight)
- believing that obsessions are true (lack of insight)
common types of obsessions
- order
- losing control
- cleaning/contamination
- hoarding (separate disorder)
obsessions
recurrent unwanted thoughts or mental images
compulsions
functionally repetitive behaviors that a person is driven to repeat
types of behavioral compulsions
- checking
- reassuring
- cleaning/washing self
- arranging
- repeating
- counting
types of mental compulsions
- counting
- praying
symptoms of PTSD
- 1 month +
- trauma
- 1+ intrusive symptom
- 1+ avoidance symptom
- 2+ negative changes to mood and cognition
- 2+ changes to arousal and reactivity
PTSD intrusive symptoms
- memories of the trauma
- nightmares of the trauma
- dissociation
- distress as a reaction to trauma-related cues
- physiological reactions to trauma-related cues
PTSD avoidance symptoms
- avoiding internal emotions, thoughts, or memories
- avoiding external reminders of the event
types of trauma
- threatened or actual deathly situation
- serious injury
- sexual violence
- directly witnessing something happen to someone else
- learning about trauma happening to a friend/relative
PTSD changes to arousal/reactivity
- irritability/angry outbursts
- self-destructive behavior
- hypervigilance
- heightened startle response
- unable to concentrate
acute stress disorder
same symptoms of PTSD but lasts for less than one month
event that triggered PTSD becoming an official diagnosis
Vietnam War
OCD treatment
- exposure therapy with response prevention
- cognitive restructuring: assessing accuracy of thoughts
- antidepressants
- cingulotomy (brain surgery)
PTSD treatment
- exposure therapy
- benzodiazepines may be described but are not common
body dysmorphic disorder
characterized by excessive preoccupation with a perceived defect or defects in appearance and repetitive behaviors to hide the perceived defect
catastrophic thinking
the belief that certain imperfections will lead to dire consequences
neurological factors of OCD
- neural loop activity
- abnormal frontal cortex and basal ganglia
- abnormal brain circuit operation
- genetic predisposition
psychological factors of OCD
- operant conditioning: compulsions are negatively reinforced when they relieve anxiety
- attention bias: pay more attention to threat-relevant stimuli
social factors of OCD
significant social stressors typically trigger OCD onset
factors that affect whether a disorder will develop following a traumatic event
- type of trauma (violence is more likely to lead to a disorder)
- severity of traumatic event
- duration of trauma
- proximity of trauma
neurological factors of PTSD
- sympathetic nervous system overreacts
- hippocampus abnormality
- norepinephrine and serotonin increases
psychological factors of PTSD
- pre-existing beliefs about the world and self
- poor coping mechanisms
- pre-existing disorder
- prior trauma
- classical conditioning: stimuli can become conditioned to elicit powerful responses
social factors of PTSD
- socioeconomic factors affect ability to cope and risk of experiencing trauma
- lack of social support systems
- culture
