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Psychological Disorders Flashcards

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1
Q

Define Psychological Disorder

A

A syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

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2
Q

Define Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A

A psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

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3
Q

Define Medical Model

A

The concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.

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4
Q

Define DSM-5

A

The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.

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5
Q

Define Anxiety Disorders

A

Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

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6
Q

Define Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A

An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.

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7
Q

Define Panic Disorder

A

An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. Often followed by worry over a possible next attack.

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8
Q

Define Phobia

A

An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.

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9
Q

Define Social Anxiety Disorder

A

Intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of such. (Formerly called social phobia.)

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10
Q

Define Agoraphobia

A

Fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic.

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11
Q

Define Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

A

A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

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12
Q

Define Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A

A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

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13
Q

Define Post-Traumatic Growth

A

Positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises.

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14
Q

Define Mood Disorders

A

Psychological disorder characterized by emotional extremes.

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15
Q

Define Major Depressive Disorder

A

A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

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16
Q

Define Mania

A

A mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.

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17
Q

Define Bipolar Disorder

A

A mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. Formerly called manic-depressive disorder.

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18
Q

Define Rumination

A

Compulsive fretting; overthinking about our problems and their causes.

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19
Q

Define Schizophrenia

A

A psychological disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished or inappropriate emotional expression.

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20
Q

Define Psychosis

A

A psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions.

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21
Q

Define Delusions

A

False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

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22
Q

Define Hallucination

A

False sensory experience, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

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23
Q

Define Somatic Symptom Disorder

A

A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause.

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24
Q

Define Conversion Disorder

A

A disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found. Also called functional neurological symptom disorder.

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25
Q

Define Illness Anxiety Disorder

A

A disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease. Formerly called hypochondriasis.

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26
Q

Define Dissociative Disorders

A

Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.

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27
Q

Define Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

A

A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder.

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28
Q

Define Anorexia Nervosa

A

An eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight.

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29
Q

Define Bulimia Nervosa

A

An eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), excessive exercise, or fasting.

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30
Q

Define Binge-Eating Disorder

A

Significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa.

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31
Q

Define Personality Disorders

A

Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.

32
Q

Define Antisocial Personality Disorder

A

A personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.

33
Q

How do we draw the line between normality and disorder?

A

A psychological disorder is marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition. Disturbed, or dysfunctional behaviors are maladaptive, interfering with normal day-to-day life.

34
Q

Why is there controversy over attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?

A

Extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity can derail social, academic, and vocational achievements, and these symptoms can be treated with medication and other therapies. But there is debate over whether normal rambunctiousness is too often diagnosed as a psychiatric disorder, and whether there is a cost to the long-term use of stimulant drugs in treating ADHD.

35
Q

Biopsychosocial approach: psychological disorders

A 
Biological influences:
evolution
individual genes
brain structure and chemistry
Psychological influences:
stress
trauma
learned helplessness
mood-related perceptions and memories
Social-cultural influences:
roles
expectations
definitions of normality and disorder
36
Q

Why do clinicians classify psychological disorders?

A

Classification creates order and describes symptoms, predicts future course, implies appropriate treatment, and stimulates research into its causes.

37
Q

What are some criticisms of the DSM?

A

Critics have faulted the DSM for casting to wide a net and bringing almost any kind of behavior within the compass of psychiatry. They worry that the DSM will extend to pathologizing everyday life. Other critics say that these labels are at best arbitrary and at worst value judgements masquerading as science.

38
Q

Why do some psychologists criticize the use of diagnostic labels?

A

Labels change how we view a person and create preconceptions that guide or perceptions and interpretations.

39
Q

Name and describe the two major approaches to understanding psychological disorders

A

The medical model: an attempt to first diagnose and then treat psychological disorders.
The biopsychosocial approach: an attempt to understand psychological disorders as an interaction of biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors.

40
Q

What are the different anxiety disorders?

A

Generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias are all classified as anxiety disorders. Two other disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, involve anxiety but are now classified separately from anxiety disorders.

41
Q

What perspectives do psychologists use to explain anxiety disorders?

A

The learning perspective is used to study fear conditioning, observational learning, and cognitive processes.

The biological perspective is used to study natural selection, genes, and the brain.

42
Q

How does the learning perspective explain anxiety disorders?

A

Classical and Operant Conditioning: two specific learning processes can contribute to these disorders. Stimulus generalization causes fear of a specific stimulus to become generalized. Reinforcement helps maintain our phobias and compulsions after they arise.

Observational Learning: we may learn fear by observing others’ fears.

Cognition: our interpretations and irrational beliefs can also cause feelings of anxiety, especially when people cannot switch off their intrusive thoughts and perceive a loss of control and sense of helplessness.

43
Q

How does the biological perspective explain anxiety disorders?

A

Natural Selection: humans are biologically prepared to fear threats faced by our ancestors. Our compulsive acts also typically exaggerate behaviors that contributed to our species’ survival.

Genes: anxiety runs in families. Genes influence disorders by regulating neurotransmitters, including serotonin and glutamate.

The Brain: anxiety disorders are manifested biologically as an over-arousal of brain areas involved in impulse control and habitual behaviors.

44
Q

What two main forms do mood disorders come in?

A

Major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.

45
Q

What is dysthymia?

A

Persistent depressive disorder; a mildly depressed mood more often than not for at least two years and display of at least two of the following symptoms:

1) Problems regulating sleep
2) Problems regulating appetite
3) Low energy
4) Low self-esteem
5) Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
6) Feelings of hopelessness

46
Q

What are the possible symptoms of major depressive disorder?

A

Depressed mood most of the day
Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in activities most of the day
Significant weight loss or gain when not dieting, or significant decrease or increase in appetite
Insomnia or sleeping too much
Physical agitation or lethargy
Fatigue or loss of energy
Feeling worthless, or excessive or inappropriate guilt
Problems in thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
Recurrent thoughts of death and suicide

47
Q

Summarize the facts that any theory of depression must explain

A

Many behavioral and cognitive changes accompany depression: people experiencing depression feel unmotivated, are sensitive to negative happenings, and expect negative outcomes.
Depression is widespread: this suggests that its causes, too, must be common.
Women’s risk of major depression is nearly double men’s: this gender gap has been found worldwide and the trend begins in adolescence.
Most major depressive episodes self-terminate: most people suffering major depression eventually return to normal, even without professional help.
Stressful events related to work, marriage, and close relationships often precede depression.
With each new generation, depression is striking earlier and affecting more people, with the highest rates in developed countries among young adults: this increase appears partly authentic, but it may also reflect today’s young adults’ greater willingness to disclose depression.

48
Q

Compare the factors that put men and women at risk for depression

A

Genetic predispositions, child abuse, low self-esteem, marital problems and so forth are factors that put both genders at risk for depression.

Women are more vulnerable to disorders involving internalized states, such as depression, anxiety, and inhibited sexual desire.

Men are more vulnerable to external factors, such as alcohol use disorder, antisocial conduct, and lack of impulse control.

49
Q

How does the biological perspective explain mood disorders?

A

Genetic Influences: mood disorders run in families. One research team estimated the heritability of major depression at 37%

Brain Activity: studies have found that brain activity is diminished during slowed-down depressive states and more active during periods of mania. The left frontal lobe and an adjacent brain reward center are active during positive emotions, but less active during depressed states.

Brain Structure: MRI scans found that frontal lobes in people with severe depression are 7% smaller than normal. Studies show that the hippocampus is vulnerable to stress-related damage. Neuroscientists have found structural differences in the brains of people with bipolar disorder, such as decreased axonal white matter or enlarged fluid-filled ventricles.

Neurotransmitters: norepinephrine, which increases arousal and boosts mood, is scarce during depression and overabundant during mania. Serotonin-controlling genes have been found to influence mood disorders.

50
Q

How does the social-cognitive perspective explain mood disorders?

A

Self-Defeating Beliefs and Negative Explanatory Style: low self-esteem leads people with depression to have intensely negative assumptions about themselves, their situation, and their future, magnifying bad experiences and minimizing good ones, feeding depression’s vicious cycle.

Interaction of Negative Thoughts and Negative Moods: self-defeating beliefs may arise from learned helplessness. Relentless rumination can have negative emotional impacts.

Explanatory Style: internalizing blame can lead to low self-esteem and depression.

51
Q

What is Explanatory Style?

A

Who or what we blame for our failures or credit for our successes.

52
Q

Describe the cycle of depression

A

(1) Negative, stressful events interpreted through (2) a ruminating, pessimistic explanatory style create (3) a hopeless, depressed state that (4) hampers the way the person thinks and acts, which, in turn, fuels (1) negative, stressful experiences such as rejection.

53
Q

What is the most common psychological disorder?

A

Phobias

54
Q

What is the disorder for which people most often seek treatment?

A

Depression

55
Q

What are the three terms that depressed people tend to use to explain bad events?

A

Stable: it’s always going to be this way
Global: it’s going to effect everything
Internal: it’s all my fault

56
Q

What perspectives do psychologists use to explain mood disorders?

A

The biological perspective focuses on genetic predispositions and abnormalities in brain structures and function.

The social-cognitive perspective views depression as an ongoing cycle of stressful experiences leading to negative moods and actions that then fuel new stressful experiences.

57
Q

What is non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI)?

A

Self harm that does not result in death; behaviors include cutting or burning the skin, hitting oneself, pulling hair out, inserting objects under the nails or skin, and self-administered tattooing.

58
Q

Why do people self harm?

A

Those who do so tend to be less able to tolerate emotional distress, are extremely self-critical, and often have poor communication and problem-solving skills. They may engage in NSSI to:
gain relief from intense negative thoughts through the distraction of pain
ask for help and gain attention
relieve guilt by self-punishment
get others to change their negative behavior
fit in with a peer group

59
Q

What factors affect suicide and self-injury?

A

Suicide rates differ by nation, race, gender, age group, income, religious involvement, marital status, and social support structure. Those with depression are more at risk for suicide than others are, but social suggestion, health status, and economic and social frustration are also contributing factors.

60
Q

What are some important warning signs to watch for in suicide-prevention efforts?

A

Forewarnings of suicide may include verbal hints, giving away possessions, withdrawal, preoccupation with death, and discussing one’s own suicide. NSSI does not usually lead to suicide but may escalate to suicidal thoughts and acts if untreated.

61
Q

What is the difference between delusions and hallucinations?

A

Delusions are false thoughts, while hallucinations are false sensory experiences.

62
Q

What is flat affect?

A

An emotionless state that some people with schizophrenia lapse into.

63
Q

What are some ways that expressed emotion may differentiate in people with schizophrenia?

A

They may become angry for no apparent reason, cry when others laugh, laugh at inappropriate times, or lapse into a state of flat affect. Most also have difficulty perceiving facial emotions and reading others’ states of mind.

64
Q

What are some ways that motor behavior may differentiate in people with schizophrenia?

A

Some perform senseless, compulsive acts such as continually rocking or rubbing an arm. Others may exhibit catatonia and remain motionless for hours, then become agitated.

65
Q

When and how does schizophrenia typically develop?

A

Schizophrenia typically strikes as young people are maturing into adulthood. It only afflicts about 1%. Men tend to be struck earlier, more severely, and slightly more often. For some, schizophrenia will appear suddenly, seemingly as a reaction to stress. For others, it develops gradually.

66
Q

What are positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

Positive Symptoms:
hallucinations
disorganized speech
exhibition of inappropriate emotions

Negative Symptoms:
toneless voices
expressionless faces
mute or rigid bodies

67
Q

How do positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia differ?

A

Positive symptoms are the presence of inappropriate behaviors, and negative symptoms are the absence of appropriate behaviors.

68
Q

Acute vs. Chronic Schizophrenia

A

Acute: previously well-adjusted people develop schizophrenia rapidly following particular life stresses. Symptoms are more often positive and are responsive to drug therapy. Recovery is much more likely.

Chronic: slow-developing schizophrenia. Symptoms are more often negative, and recovery is doubtful.

69
Q

How do brain abnormalities help explain schizophrenia?

A

Dopamine Overactivity: the brains of people with schizophrenia have an excess of receptors for dopamine. Researchers speculate that a hyper-responsive dopamine system may intensify brain signals in schizophrenia, creating positive symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoia.

Brain Activity: brain-scanning techniques reveal that many people with chronic schizophrenia have abnormal activity in the frontal lobes, which are critical for reasoning, planning, and problem solving. They also display a noticeable decline in the brain waves that reflect synchronized neural firing in the frontal lobes, which may disrupt the integrated functioning of neural networks, possibly contributing to symptoms. PET scans of brain activity during hallucinations reveal that the brain becomes vigorously active in several core regions, including the thalamus, which filters incoming sensory signals and transmits them to the cortex. Scans also reveal that people with paranoia have increased activity in the amygdala, a fear-processing center.

Brain Structure: many studies have found enlarged, fluid-filled areas and a corresponding shrinkage and thinning of cerebral tissue in people with schizophrenia. The cortex, corpus callosum, and thalamus are all smaller than normal in the schizophrenic brain.

70
Q

Are their genetic influences on schizophrenia?

A

Twin and adoption studies indicate that the predisposition to schizophrenia is inherited, and environmental factors influence gene expression to enable this disorder.

71
Q

What other factors influence schizophrenia?

A

Viral infections or famine conditions during the mother’s pregnancy, low birth weight, oxygen deprivation at birth, separation from parents, emotional unpredictability, poor peer relations.

72
Q

Why are some people skeptical of DID?

A

Skeptics note that DID diagnoses increased dramatically in the late twentieth century and that it is rarely found outside of North America. They also note that it may reflect role playing by people who are vulnerable to therapists’ suggestions.

73
Q

What are the views of the two sides of the DID debate?

A

One side believes multiple personalities are protective reactions to traumatizing events. The other side thinks that DID is a condition contrived by fantasy-prone, emotionally vulnerable people, and constructed out of the therapist-patient interaction.

74
Q

The psychodynamic and learning perspectives agree that dissociative identity disorder symptoms are ways of dealing with anxiety. How do their explanations differ?

A

Psychodynamic theorists see them as defenses against the anxiety caused by the eruption of unacceptable impulses. Learning theorists see them as behaviors reinforced by anxiety reduction.

75
Q

What are some characteristics of those with eating disorders?

A

They tend to have low self-evaluations, set perfectionist standards, fret about falling short of expectations, and are intensely concerned with how others perceive them.

76
Q

What factors influence eating disorders?

A

Psychological factors such as low self-esteem and negative emotions, cultural pressures, stressful life experiences, and genetics.

77
Q

What are the three clusters of personality disorders?

A

One cluster expresses anxiety, which causes withdrawn or avoidant behaviors. The second cluster expresses eccentric or odd behaviors. A third cluster exhibits dramatic or impulsive behaviors.

AP Psych (11 decks)

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