Psychological Disorders Flashcards
What is mental health?
A state of emotional and social wellbeing
What is a mental health problem?
Problematic patterns of thought, feeling, and behaviour
What is a mental disorder?
A clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours
Usually require treatment to be alleviated (they are the more extreme end of disordered functioning)
What are the four contexts of psychopathology?
Historical
Social
Cultural
Theoretical
What are the five theoretical approaches to psychopathology?
Psychodynamic theories Cognitive-behavioural approaches Biological approaches Systems theory (e.g. family system model) Evolutionary perspectives
Explain the psychodynamic perspective
Three classes of psychopathology:
Neuroses: issues in living that involve anxiety (phobias) or interpersonal conflict - environmental
Personality disorders: chronic and severe disturbances that alter the capacity to work and to love - genetic
Psychoses: marked disturbances of contact with reality - genetic and environmental
Classes form a continuum of functioning from minimal to serious disturbance
Explain the Cognitive-behaviour perspective
Integrates understanding of classical and operant conditioning with a cognitive-social perspective
Cognitive: many psychological disorders reflect dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs and cognitive processes
Behavioural: many psychological problems arise from conditioned emotional responses (a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a negative emotion)
Explain the Biological perspective
Root of abnormal behaviour lies within the brain:
Neurotransmitter dysfunction
Abnormality of brain structures
Disrupted neural pathways (functional and structural connections between brain areas)
Genetics (predispositions/vulnerabilities to illness)
Diathesis-stress model; underlying vulnerability with symptoms appearing under stress
Explain the Systems perspective
Root of abnormality lies in the context of a social group (and families)
Each person is a member of a system(social group)
The group functions as a system and the system parts are interdependent
What happens in one part of the system influences what happens in others
Explain the Evolutionary perspective
Provides insight into psychopathology rather than a comprehensive system of understanding and treatment
Suggests that:
Random variations in genotypes can lead to less adaptive phenotypes
Less adaptive behaviour may have its roots in behaviour important for survival
There is an important interplay of genes and environment
What are the two classification systems and what is their fundamental difference?
DSM-5 and ICD-11
DSM-5 is American and only classifies mental disorders
ICD-11 was made by the WHO and classifies all diseases.
What is Schizophrenia
Debilitating disorder that involves disturbance in almost every dimension of human function –perceptions, thoughts, behaviour, emotions, and language
Impacts on social relationships and occupational functioning.
What are the two types of symptom clusters for Schizophrenia?
Positive symptoms: excesses of behaviours or presence of behaviours that are not usual seen. Most prominent in the acute phase
Negative symptoms: Absence or lack of normal behaviours and functions. Most prominent in the chronic phase.
What are some examples of positive symptoms?
Delusions–false beliefs held without any objective evidence (and even despite disconfirming evidence)
Hallucinations–false sensory perceptions
Disorganised speech or behaviour
What are some examples of negative symptoms?
Emotional flattening (flat affect –lack of emotion)
Apathy (lack of motivation)
Social withdrawal
Lack of spontaneous movement
What are the types of hallucinations?
Auditory (most common) Visual Somatic Tactile Olfactory Gustatory
What are types of delusions?
Persecutory Grandiosity Control Reference Somatic Thought Broadcasting Thought Insertion Thought Withdrawal
What are some types of thought disorders in schizophrenia?
Poverty of content Flight of ideas Word Salad Tangentiality Circumstantiality
What are the four phases of schizophrenia?
Premorbid, prodromal, psychotic and stable
What are some of the theories of schizophrenia aetiology?
Biological factors and psychosocial factors
genetics
abnormalities of brain structure and function
neurotransmitter abnormalities (chemicals in the brain)
Diathesis-stress model: underlying biological vulnerability (diathesis) that is compounded by stress
Neurodevelopmental Hypothesis - a disruption of brain development during early life underlies the later emergence of psychosis during adulthood
What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?
Elevated levels of dopamine in the brain:
Greater release of dopamine (pre-synaptic abnormality)
Greater number of dopamine receptor sites (post-synaptic abnormality)
Amphetamines causes increased dopamine release and psychotic (positive) symptoms
What are the environmental risk factors of schizophrenia?
Conception/pregnancy/birth issues
Demographic or familial risk
Childhood and adolescent issues
What is Bipolar disorder?
Characterised by disturbance in emotion and mood. Alternating periods of mania and depression.
What are the three types of Bipolar disorder?
Type 1: major depression and mania
Type 2: major depression and hypomania
Cyclothymia: mild depression and hypomania
What is major depressive disorder?
Long-term episode of intense sadness, loss of appetite, and difficulty in/excessive sleeping. • Symptoms should be present for at least two weeks, in a persistent fashion.
How many symptoms are needed to diagnose major depressive disorders? What are the two symptoms of which one must be present?
Five
Persistent sad mood or Anhedonia.
What are the three types of anxiety disorders?
Phobic disorder
An irrational fear of an object or situation
Fear out of proportion to any actual dange
Panic disorder
Intense attacks of fear and terror that are not justified by the situation
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Nonspecific fears and anxiety
