Psychological Disorders Flashcards
Schizophrenia
“splitting of psychic functions”
- affects 1% of population
- multiple types exist
- symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, odd behavior, incoherent thoughts, and inappropriate affect
How do u get schizophrenia
- genetics, prenatal trauma,
infection, and stress may all be susceptibility factors - twins are more likely to get it
- Clearly, schizophrenia is influenced by both genetics and experience; the current view
are that people inherit a predisposition for schizophrenia, which may or may not be
activated by experience - early 20’s (men), late 20’s (women)
- earlier symptoms means worse case
discovery of drugs
schizophrenia is a consequence of drugs that are able to treat it
Chlorpromazine
calms schizophrenia and activates blunt schizophrenia
Dopamine theory
1960- link between DA and parkinsons
Antipsychotic drug side effects
- Parkinson’s side effects
- reserpine depletes DA
- associated with dopamine overactivity
Limitations of Dopamine theory
- time lag between drug action and improvement
- brain damage
- the unpredictability of drug interventions
- mainly effective for positive symptoms
Positive symptoms
incoherence, hallucinations, delusions
negative symptoms
flat affect, cognitive deficits, little speech
Depression
normal reaction to loss, abnormal when it persist or has no cause
Mania
overconfidence, impulsivity, distractibility, and high energy
Unipolar
will be called unipolar until someone has a mania episode and then will be called bipolar
Mood disorder
psychiatric disorder categorized by disturbance of mood
- includes depression and mania
Types of depression
unipolar and bipolar
Causel factors of bipolar and unipolar
genetics, stressful experiences, birth trauma, seasonal mood disorders, reduction of sunlight
Antidepressants
monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI)
Tricycle antidepressants
imipramine
- block reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrines
Selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors
- prozac, paxil, zoloft
- side effects are fewer
Neuroendocrine Function
HPA axis and cortisol
- dexamethazone suppression test
Mood stabilizers
lithium
- anti-seizure drugs
- drugs are even less effective for people w/ mild to moderately depressed individuals (episodic disorder)
Monoamine Theory
underactivity of serotonin and norepinephrine synapses
- consistent with drug effects
- problem: not all respond to monoamine agonist
Diathesis Stress Model
diathesis= genetic susceptibility
diathesis and stress= depression support
Anxiety disorder
anxiety: fear in the absence of threat
Anxiety disorder: when anxiety interferes w/ normal functioning
- most prevalent psychiatric disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder
stress and anxiety in the absence of a causal stimulus
Phobic anxiety
trigger by a particular stimulus (similar to generalized anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
attacks of extreme fear and stress
obsessive compulsive disorder
obsessive thoughts alleviated by compulsive actions
PTSD
pattern of psychological distress following extreme stress
Cause of anxiety
genetics, roles in life
Benzodiazepines
(Librium/valium)
- also used as hypnotic, anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants
Seratonin agonist
reduce anxiety w/ out sedation
Antidepressants
effective due to comorbidity of anxiety and depression
Nueeral bases
-drugs suggest a role in serotonin and Gaba
Translational research
research designed to translate basic scientific discoveries into effective clinical treatments
Controversial aspects of clinical trials
- costly
- double-blind designs
- time
