Psychological Disorders Flashcards
Different from the norm;unusual; statistically atypical
abnormal
When is abnormal behavior a psychological disorder
when the behavior causes significant stress
What is normal distress
when the distress is an expected response to an event
Impairs one’s ability to get along in life
dysfunction
How to classify psychological disorders
- syndromes
- Diagnostic and statistic manual
3 Group disorders by category - Checklist of observable symptoms for diagnoses
What do mental health professionals use diagnostic labels for?
- Efficiently communicate about their cases
- Bring to mind the “likely” underlying causes
- Discern effective treatment programs
What is the defining feature of anxiety disorders?
exaggeration of threat
What do anxiety disorders result in?
distressing, persistent anxiety
What can anxiety disorders lead to?
Maladaptive, anxiety-reducing behaviors
What is the defining feature of a generalized anxiety disorder?
Continually tense and uneasy-even in the absence of any specific anxiety-provoking stimulus
What is the defining feature of panic disorder?
intense fear, frightening physiological symptoms
Intense fear of a particular animal, object, or situation
phobias
What are the defining features of OCD?
Obsessions and compulsions
Recurrent and persistent distress-causing thoughts
obsessions
Repetitive behaviors driven by the obsessions
compulsions
What are the five common types of obsessions?
- Contamination
- Repeated doubts
- Need for symmetry, orderliness
- Aggressive impulses
- Sexual imagery
What are the five common types of compulsions?
- Cleaning,washing
- checking
- Arranging; lining up objects
- Counting, repeating words, constant praying
- Hoarding
What are the Defining features of PTSD?
exposed to a traumatic event and reacted with intense fear, helplessness, or horror
re-experiences trauma
How do people re-experience trauma?
- distressing recollections/dreams
- feeling of reliving trauma
- intense distress/ physiological arousal when exposed to reminders
Anxiety arises from unpredictable and/or uncontrollable negative events
Stimulus generalization
reinforcement
Fear conditioning
Fears may be transmitted by others, either vicariously or via information or misinformation
observational learning
Exaggerations or distortions of normal mood states
mood disorders
Tendency to feel helpless in the face of events we cannot control
Learned helplessness
How is a bipolar disorder characterized?
manic episode; depression and mania
What are the symptoms or a manic episode?
A period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable moods
View of mental illness in which odd behavior; hearing voices, or talking to oneself was attributed to evil spirits infesting the body
demonic model
View of mental illness as due to a physical disorder requiring medical treatment
medical model
institution for people with mental illnesses created in the 15th century
asylum
percentage of people within population who have a specific mental disorder
prevalence
dimension of functioning
axis
co-occurence of two or more diagnoses within the same person
comorbidity
model in which a mental disorder differs from normal functioning in kind rather than degree
categorical model
model in which a mental disorder differs from normal functioning in degree rather than kind
dimensional model
legal defense proposing that people should not be held legally responsible for their actions if they weren’t of “sound mind” when committing them
insanity defense
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
involuntary commitment
condition marked by physical symptoms that suggest an underlying medical illness, but they are actually psychological in origin
somatoform disorder
An individual’s continual preoccupation with the notion that he has a serious physical disease
hypochondriasis
continual feelings of worry, anxiety, physical tension, and irritability across many areas of life functioning
generalized anxiety disorder
fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or embarrassing, or in which help in the event of a panic attack
agoraphobia
state un which a person experiences a
lingering depressed mood or diminished interest in pleasurable activities, along with symptoms that include weight loss and sleep difficulties
major depressive episode
