Psychological Disorders Flashcards
What are the 4 broad factors that need to be considered when deciding if someone is suffering from a mental disorder?
Statistical rarity
Impairment
Subjective distress
Biological dysfunction
What is another term for a mental illness?
Psychopathology
What is the failure analysis approach to mental illness?
o Understanding mental illness by examining breakdowns in adaptation
What is statistical rarity?
- Many disorders are uncommon in the population
* Some disorders like mild depression are quite common
What is subjective distress?
- Most mental disorders cause emotional distress
* Some disorders cause individual to perceive less emotional stress
What is impairement?
- Most mental disorders interfere with everyday functioning
* Laziness is not a mental disorder but can interfere with functioning
What is biological dysfunction?
- Many mental disorders result from physiological dysfunction
- Some mental disorders are learned with little genetic predisposition
What is the family resemblance view of mental illness?
- Mental disorders don’t all have one thing in common but share a loose set of features
- Just as siblings look similar but don’t have exact same features
What is the demonic model of mental illness?
- Used in the Middle Ages
- View of mental illness in which odd behaviour, hearing voices, or talking to oneself was attributed to evil spirits infesting the body
- This includes people they thought were witches
- Treatments included exorcism, which are still done today
What is the medical model of mental illness?
• Started in the Renaissance
• View of mental illness as due to a physical disorder requiring medical treatment
• People held in asylums
o Institutions for people with mental illness created in the fifteenth century
o Many massively overcrowded and understaffed
• Treatments were anything but scientific including bloodletting, sometimes to death
• Bedlam
o Short for Bethlehem, an insane asylum in London and means utter chaos
• Snake pit
o Became a synonym for asylum as pts were tossed into a pit of snake to scare them out of their disease
What is the moral treatment view of mental illness?
- Phillippe Pinel (France) and Dorothea Dix (U.S.)
- Started in 1800s
- Approach to mental illness calling for dignity, kindness, and respect for those with mental illness
- Treatment of individuals was better but treatment for the illness was basically non-existent
Describe deinstitutionalization and its effect on the patients
o Government policy in 1960s and ‘70s
o Focused on releasing hospitalized psychiatric patients into the community and closing mental hospitals
o Resulted in some patients going back to fairly normal life
o Many were left without adequate follow up care, stopped their medications, and spent the rest of their lives homeless and aimless
Describe cultural universality
- Many mental disorders, especially severe forms, are seen cross culture
- Even isolated groups have names for conditions similar to schizophrenia, alcoholism, and psychopathic personality
What are culture bound syndromes?
• Certain conditions specific to one or more societies
Describe the koro mental illness
- Malaysia and several other Asian countries
- Affected mostly men and was a social contagion
- Fear penis and testes shrinking (shrinking breasts when women affected)
Describe the amok mental illness
- Malaysia, Philippines, and some African countries
- “Running amok,” meaning going wild, resulted from this
- Intense sadness and brooding followed by uncontrolled behaviour and unprovoked attacks on animals and people
Describe cultural differences in interpersonal anxiety
- In western cultures, more likely fear of embarrassment
* In Japanese culture, is a fear of offending others (called taijin kyofushu)
Describe the arctic hysteria mental illness
- Inuit people
* Abrupt episode accompanied by extreme excitement and frequently followed by convulsive seizures and coma
Describe the Couvade syndrome mental illness
- Worldwide
- Expectant father’s sympathetic labour pains, food cravings, nausea, even breast growth
- May gain 25-30 lbs in sympathetic belly lump
Describe the gururumba mental illness
- New Guinea
* Theft and later deposit of neighbours’ possessions in the forest followed by amnesia of the entire episode
Describe the hwa-byung mental illness
- Korea
* Abdominal pain caused by emotional distress
Describe the Mal de Ojo mental illness
Evil eye
• Spain and Latin America
• Common term for cause of disease, misfortune, and social disruption
Describe the Saora disorder mental illness
- India
* Inappropriate laughing or crying, fainting, memory loss, and the sensation you are being bitten by ants
Describe the windigo mental illness
- First Nations in central and northeast Canada
* Craving consumption of human flesh and fear of becoming an cannibal
What are the Robins and Guze criteria for valid diagnosis?
• Eli Robins and Samuel Guze
• Distinguishes that diagnosis from other, similar diagnoses
• Predicts diagnosed individuals’ performance on laboratory tests, including personality measures, neurotransmitter levels, and brain imaging findings
• Predicts diagnosed individuals’ family history of psychiatric disorders
• Predicts diagnosed individuals’ natural history
o What tends to happen to them over time
• Additional point added by other authors
o Predicts diagnosed individuals’ response to treatment
What do labelling theorists believe about psychiatric diagnoses?
• Labelling theorists
o Scholars who argue that psychiatric diagnosis exert powerful negative effects on people’s perceptions and behaviours
o Believe diagnosis makes a self-fulfilling prophesy
What experiment did David Rosenhan perform to see results of stigma of a mental illness diagnosis and what did he discover?
o Had 12 people pose a fake patients admitted with a single complaint, and were kept for 3 weeks on average even when they displayed no further symptoms
o Shows that there can be some stigma, but it isn’t long term
What is the current diagnostic system the APA uses for criteria for mental disorders?
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)• Started in 1952 and is now in its 5th edition
What are the basic contents of the DSM-5?
• 18 classes of disorders
• Contains diagnostic criteria as well as a decision tool for how many criteria need to be met to make a diagnosis
• Prevalence
o Percentage of people within a population who have a specific mental disorder
• Warns about organic, or physical disorders that can mimic psychiatric disorders
• Biopsychosocial approach
o View that an illness or medical condition is the product of interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors
o Reminds clinicians to check for stressors, and history when examining patient
• Includes culturally specific information so people are not misdiagnosed
What is the biopsychosocial approach?
o View that an illness or medical condition is the product of interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors
o Reminds clinicians to check for stressors, and history when examining patient
Describe involuntary commitment and the steps that are taken to obtain it
• Procedure of placing some people with mental illnesses in a psychiatric hospital or other facility based on their potential danger to themselves or others, or their inability to care for themselves
• Must either
o Pose a clear threat to themselves or others
o Or psychologically impaired to the point they cannot care for themselves
• Must be formally approved by a judge at a hearing
• An emergency hold can be signed by 2 psychiatrists or other physicians, usually up to 3 days
• Some concerns that it is against civil liberties, African Americans more likely to be held as potentially violent
• Research has shown mental health professionals better than odds predict those that will become violent
Describe the somatic system disorder
- Condition marked by physical symptoms that suggest an underlying medical illness
- Symptoms are psychological in origin
- Controversial and new to DSM-5
- Symptoms may become so intense they interfere with daily living
Describe illness anxiety disorder
- Similar to what used to be called hypochondriasis
* Continual preoccupation with the notion they have a serious physical disease
What is generalized anxiety disorder and what are its main symptoms?
• Continual feelings anxiety across many areas of functioning • Symptoms include o Worry o Anxiety o Physical tension o Irritability o Trouble sleeping o Fatigue • Spend about 60% of each day worrying
Who is most likely to suffer from generalized anxiety disorder?
• Most likely to suffer are o Female o Middle aged o Widowed/divorced o Poor o Prone to self medicating • 1/3 develop after a major life event
What is panic disorder?
• Repeated and unexpected panic attacks along with either
o Persistent concerns about future attacks
o Or change in behaviour in an attempt to avoid them
What is a panic attack?
• Brief, intense episode of extreme fear characterized by o Sweating o Dizziness o Light-headedness o Racing heart o Sense of impending doom o Feelings of going crazy o Shortness of breath • Can occur with any anxiety disorder • Associated with separation anxiety from parent as a child
What are phobias?
- Intense fear of an object or situation that’s greatly out of proportion to its actual threat
- Must restrict their life, cause considerable distress, or both
What is agoraphobia?
- Fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or embarrassing, or in which help is unavailable in the event of a panic attack
- Develops in mid teens and is directly related to panic disorder
What are specific phobias?
- Intense fear of objects, places, or situations that is greatly out of proportion to their actual threat
- Many are widespread in children and dissipate with age
What is social anxiety disorder?
- Intense fear of negative evaluation in social situations
* Formerly called social phobia
What is PTSD and what are the main symptoms?
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder • Marked emotional disturbance after experiencing or witnessing a severely stressful event • Symptoms include o Flashbacks o Effort to avoid anything associated with the trauma o Increased arousal Difficulty sleeping Startles easily
What is OCDC?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Condition marked by repeated and lengthy (at least 1 hour per day) immersion in obsessions, compulsions, or both
What are obsessions?
• Persistent idea, thought, or impulse that is unwanted and inappropriate, causing marked distress
• Often about topics including
o Sex
o Aggression
o Religion
o Contamination
• They see their thoughts as irrational and label themselves as crazy
What are compulsions?
• Repetitive behaviour or mental act performed to reduce or prevent stress
Describe the learning models of anxiety that try to explain anxiety?
• John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner
o Demonstrated classical conditioning of fear
• Avoiding the fear provides negative reinforcement leading to anxiety
• May acquire fears by observing others fears
• May stem from information or misinformation from others
What is catastrophizing that is an explanation for anxiety?
• Predicting terrible events despite low probability
What is the anxiety sensitivity explanation for anxiety?
- Fear of anxiety-related situations
* Barely noticeable physical sensations or minor anxiety can spiral into full blown panic attacks
Describe the biological influences that may help explain anxiety?
- Anxiety disorders are genetically influenced
- Associated with high levels of neuroticism
- Abnormalities shown in brain scans
- Ongoing research if strep bacteria may trigger an immune response affecting the brain
What is a major depressive episode?
• State in which a person experiences a lingering depressed mood or diminished interest in pleasurable activities, along with symptoms that include weight loss and sleep difficulties
What is major depressive disorder? How are these episodes generally experienced? Who is most likely to suffer from it?
• Chronic or recurrent state in which a person experiences a lingering depressed mood or diminished interest in pleasurable activities, along with symptoms that include weight loss and sleep difficulties
o Average individual experiences 5-6 episodes over a lifetime
Most episodes last 6-12 months
o Chronic experienced in 1/5 of cases
Presents for decades without relief
• Symptoms may develop gradually or suddenly
• More common in 30’s
• More common in women but may be due to underdiagnosis in men
• In extreme cases, individuals may fail to take care of basic health needs
Describe some factors that may combine to cause major depressive disorder
o Inborn tendencies o Stressful events o Interpersonal relationships o Loss of reinforcers in everyday life o Negative thoughts o Feelings of helplessness
What is the interaction between depression and life events?
- Loss or threat of separation especially tied to depression
- Loss of sense of self-worth can be as bad
- Depression can cause negative life events so causal arrow goes both ways
Describe the interpersonal model as an explanation for major depressive disorder
• James Coyne • Theory that individuals with depression elicit hostility and rejection from others due to o Need for excessive reassurance o Constant worrying o Mistrust o Fears of rejection and abandonment o Socially inappropriate behaviours • Rejection from others worsens the depression
Describe the behavioural model as an explanation for major depressive disorder
- Peter Lewinsohn
- Theory that depression results from low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement
- Individuals stop participating in pleasant activities where they would receive reinforcement from others
- Individuals with depression lack social skills making it harder
- Further withdraw may be due to others showing depression and concern
Describe the cognitive model as an explanation for major depressive disorder
• Aaron Beck
• Theory that depression is caused by negative beliefs and expectations
• Cognitive triad
o Negative views of
Oneself
The world
The future
• Negative schemas reinforce people with depressions negative experiences
• Cognitive distortions
o Skewed ways of thinking
o Brings negative experiences into sharper focus
o Filters out positive experiences
o Evidence for mildly depressed isn’t there
• Depressive realism
o More accurate view of circumstances experienced by those with mild depression
• Another interpretation is that people with depression are less attentive to reality
• Cycle of inaccurate perceptions leading to depression and depression leading to inaccurate perceptions
Describe learned helplessness as an explanation for major depressive disorder
• Martin Seligman
• Tendency to feel helpless in the face of events we cannot control
• Theorize that depressed individuals blame failure on internal factors and success on external factors
o This may be a consequence rather than a cause of depression
