psychological disorders Flashcards
1
Q
what percentage of us will have a diagnosable psychological problem in our lifetime?
A
50%
2
Q
what percentage of us will have had a diagnosable psychological problem within the last year?
A
20%
3
Q
the Goldwater Rule
A
“It is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement”
4
Q
often times our biggest strengths are also…
A
our biggest weaknesses
5
Q
mental disorder
A
a persistent disturbance or dysfunction in behavior, thoughts, or emotions that causes significant distress or impairment
6
Q
physiognomy
A
suggested that mental disorders could be diagnosed from racial features
7
Q
disorder
A
refers to a common set of signs and symptoms
8
Q
disease
A
a known pathological process affecting the body
9
Q
diagnosis
A
a determination as to whether a disorder or disease is present
10
Q
medical model
A
Abnormal psychological experiences are conceptualized as illnesses that, like physical illnesses, have biological and environmental causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures
11
Q
in diagnosis, clinicians attend to…
A
- signs (objectively observed indicators of a disorder)
- symptoms (subjectively reported behaviors, thoughts, and emotions
12
Q
what can we not assume when we know a disorder is present?
A
that we know the underlying disease process giving rise to the signs and symptoms
13
Q
biopsychosocial perspective
A
explains mental disorders as the result of interactions among biological, psychological, and social factors
14
Q
biological perspective
A
Focuses on genetic and epigenetic influences, biochemical imbalances, and abnormalities in brain structure and function
15
Q
psychological perspective
A
Focuses on adaptive learning and coping, cognitive biases, and interpersonal problems
16
Q
social factors
A
Focuses on poor socialization, stressful life experiences, and social inequities
17
Q
Diathesis-stress model
A
suggests that a person may be predisposed for a psychological disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress
18
Q
in the Diathesis-stress model … diathesis is the …
A
predisposition
19
Q
in the Diathesis-stress model … stress is the…
A
external trigger
20
Q
in the Diathesis-stress model it is possible for …
A
- someone with the predisposition to never encounter a precipitating stress
- someone with little genetic propensity (tendency, inclination) to a disorder might suffer from it given the right pattern of stress
21
Q
anxiety disorder
A
the class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature
- often comorbid
22
Q
comorbidity
A
the co-occurence of two or more disorders in a single individual
23
Q
other disorders that are included in anxiety disorders
A
- phobic disorders
- panic disorders
- generalized anxiety disorders
24
Q
phobic disorders
A
disorders characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations
- individuals recognize the fear it irrational, but can’t stop it from happening
25
phobic disorders must be:
1. disproportionate to actual risk
2. impair ability to carry out a normal life
26
specific phobia
an irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function
27
5 categories of specific phobias
1. animals (dogs, cats, rats, snakes, spiders, birds)
2. natural environment (heights, darkness, water)
3. situations (bridges, tunnels, enclosed spaces)
4. blood, injections, injuries
5. other phobias including: choking or vomiting
- in children, loud noises or costumed characters
28
preparedness theory
the idea that people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears
29
preparedness theory example
humans and monkeys can
1. quickly be conditioned to have a fear for stimuli such as snakes and spiders
2. cannot be quickly conditioned to have fears of flowers or toy rabbits
30
social phobia
an irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed
- try to avoid situations where unfamiliar people might evaluate them
- experience intense anxiety and distress when public exposure is unavoidable
- about 12% of men and 14% of women experience social phobia at some point in their lives
31
examples of social phobia being restricted
public speaking, eating in public, urinating in a public bathroom
32
examples of social phobias being generalized
situations that involve being observed or interacting wth unfamiliar people
33
panic disorder
a disorder characterized by the sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling or stark terror
34
criteria for panic disorders
1. must have recurrent unexpected attacks
2. report significant anxiety about having another attack
35
acute symptoms of a panic attack
- lasts only a few minutes
1. shortnedd of breath
2. heart palpitations
3. sweating
4. dizziness
5. depersonalization or derealization
6. fear that one is about to go crazy or die
36
what psychological disorder involves being frequently overwhelmed by intense fear and powerful anxiety without any danger present
panic disorder
37
agoraphobia
a specific phobia regarding fear of public places
- of having a panic attack in a public place or around strangers who might view them with disdain or fail to help them
38
what percentage of the population reports having at least 1 panic attack
20%
- typically experienced during a period of intense stress
39
generalized anxiety disorder + symptoms (GAD)
A disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms:
- Restlessness, aftique, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance
40
what percentage of the people in US suffer from GAD
6%
41
uncontrollable worrying produces...
- a sense of loss of control that can erode self confidence
42
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- A disorder in which repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviors (complusions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with an individual’s functioning
43
most common OCD obsessions and compulsions
- Checking - 79% of OCD patients
- Ordering - 57% of OCD patients
- Moral concerns - 43% of OCD patients
- Contamination - 26% of OCD patients
44
percentage of adults in the US that report experiencing obsessions or compulsions at some point and percentage that will develop OCD
- 28% experience
- 2% develop OCD
45
posttraumatic stress disorder
A disorder characterized by chronic physiological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma, and avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind
46
neural correlations to PTSD (amygdala, medical prefrontal cortex, hippocampus)
- heightened activity in the amygdala --> region associated with the evaluation of threatening information and fear conditioning
- decreased activity in the medical prefrontal cortex --> region important to the extinction of fear conditioning
- a smaller size hippocampus --> the part of the brain most linked with memory
47
symptoms of PTSD soldiers experience
- flashbacks of battle
- exaggerated anxiety and startle reactions
- medical conditions that don't arise from physical damage (ex. paralysis or chronic fatigue)
48
Gilbertson (2002)
- he studied combat veterans w PTSD and their identical twins and found that the identical twins also had smaller hippocampuses
- likely a pre-existing condition making them more susceptible to PTSD when they were later exposed to the stimulus (tramua)
49
mood disorders
- mental disorders that have mood disturbance as their predominant feature
- major depressive disorder
- bipolar disorder
50
major depressive disorder (or unipolar depression)
- A disorder characterized by a severely depressed mood and/or inability to experience pleasure that lasts 2 or more weeks and is accompanied by feelings of worthlessness, lethargy, and sleep and appetite disturbance
- on average it lasts 12 weeks
51
dysthymia
- The same cognitive and bodily problems as in depression are present, but they are less severe and last longer, persisting for a least 2 years
52
double depression
- A moderately depressed mood that persists for at least 2 years and is punctuated by periods of major depression
- When both major depressive disorder and dysthymia co-occur together
53
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- in most cases, episodes begin in fall or winter and remit in spring
- pattern is due to reduce levels of light in the colder seasons
- winter-related depressions appear to be more prevalent in higher altitudes
54
what % of people in the US meet criteria for depression at some point in their lives
- 18%
55
kindling hypothesis
- at least 60% of individuals with one episode will have another
- at least 70% of individuals with two episodes will have a third
- 90% of individuals with three episodes will have a fourth
56
helplessness theory
- the idea that individuals who are prone to depression automatically attribute negative experiences to causes that are internal (i.e. their own fault), stable (i.e. unlikely to change), and global (i.e. widespread)
57
ex of helplessness theory
- A student who receives a low grade on an exam will make the following attributions
- That they are low in intelligence (internal)
- That their low intelligence will never change (stable)
- That this is a representative of their failure in other
realms (global)
58
bipolar disorder
a condition characterized by cycles of abnormal persistent high mood (mania) and low mood (depression)
59
depressive phase of bipolar disorder
- clinically indistinguishable from major depression (as far as we know)
60
manic phase of bipolar disorder
- lasts at least 1 week
- mood can be elevated, expansive, or irritable
- gradiosity, decreased need for sleep, talkativeness, reckless behavior, distractibility, racing thoughts
61
lifetime risk of bipolar disorder
2.5%
62
what % of those w bipolar disorder are rapid cycling
- 10%
- characterized by at least 4 mood episodes (either depressive or manic every year
- this type is more difficult to treat
63
life-time risk of bipolar disorder
2.5%
(does not differ in men and women)
64
which disorder is thought to give higher creativity and intellectual ability
psychotic and mood disorders (especially dipolar disorder)
65
schizophrenia
- profound disruption of basic psychological processes
- a distorted perception of reality
- altered or blunted emotion
- disturbance in thought, motivation, and behavior
66
how to be diagnosed with schizophrenia
- must have two or more symptoms during the continuous period of at least 1 month with signs of the disorder persisting for at least 6 months
67
positive symptoms of schizophrenia
- thoughts and behaviors present in schizophrenia but not seen in those without the disorder
- hallucinations
- delusions (people will have little or no insight into their disordered perceptual and thought processes)
- disorganized speech (severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and incoherently among unrelated topics)
- catatonic behavior (a marked decrease in all movement or an increase in muscular rigidity and over-activity)
- grossly disorganized behavior (behavior that is inappropriate for the situation or ineffective in attaining goals, often with specific motor disturbances)
68
negative symptoms of schizophrenia
- deficits or disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors (e.g. emotional and social withdrawal; apathy; poverty of speech; and other indications of the absence or insufficiency of normal behaviors, motivation, and emotion)
- These symptoms refer to something missing in shcizophrenic patients
- Rob people of emotion, flattened affect, deadpan responses, decreased interest in others, or decreased capacity to focus attention
69
hallucinations in schizophrenia
- 65% of schizophrenics reveal hearing voices repeatedly
- auditory hallucinations are more common than visual hallucinations
70
cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia
- deficits in cognitive abilities, specifically executive functioning, attention, and working memory
- More difficult to notice since they are less bizarre and public than most positive symptoms
71
autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
A condition beginning in early childhood in which a person shows persistent communication deficits as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, or activities
72
current model states that ASD can be understood as
- impaired capacity for empathizing (knowing the mental states of others)
- superior ability for systematizing (understanding the rules that organize the structure and function of objects)
73
ASD -- brain imaging studies show
- Comparatively decreased activity regions associated with understanding the minds of others
- Comparatively greater activation in regions related to basic object perception
74
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- A persistent pattern of severe problems with inattention and/or hyperactivity or impulsiveness that cause signification impairment in functioning
75
meeting criteria for ADHD requires either (or both)
- multiple symptoms of inattention
- persistent problems with sustained attention, organization, memory, or following instructions
- hyperactivity-impulsiveness
- persistent difficulties with remaining still, waiting for a turn, or interrupting others
76
ADHD % in boys and girls
- 10% in boys
- 4% in girls
77
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
- a classification system that describes the features used to diagnose each recognized mental disorder and indicated how the disorder can be distinguished from other, similar problems
78
DSM and DSM-II (1968)
- provides a common language for talking about the disorders
- for example, depression and anxiety were lumped together as a general diagnosis of "neurosis reaction"
79
DSM-III and DSM-IV (1968)
- removed vague descriptions in favor of...
- diagnostic criteria --> detailed lists of symptoms
- two clinicians diagnosing the same individual were now much more likely to come to the same diagnosis
80
DSM 5
- 22 major categories containing more than 200 different mental disorders
- also lists conditions that may be included as formal disorders but, for now, require additional research
