Psychological Disorders: Abnormality and Anxiety Disorders Flashcards
Abnormality
any pattern of behavior that causes people significant distress, causes them to harm themselves or others, or interferes with their ability to function in daily life
Overall looking for something that is different from a bad day/rough patch of life, vs something that needs a closer look to help day to day mentally
Four Characteristics of Abnormality
Statistically Rare, Deviance from Social Norms, Personal Distress, and Interference with Normal Functioning
Statistically Rare
Not many people that behave that way, outlier; Just because it is rare, does not mean you need treatment; Cannot always be used as guide
Deviance from Social Norms
Cannot be used as a guide, since norms change, sometimes only relative to the time period
Interference with Normal Functioning
- Interferes with day-to-day activities
- Enjoying events are interfered
- Learning things
- Holding a job
- Maintaining relationships with others
Name three statistical facts about mental health disorders
About 22% of adults suffer from mental disorder per year; About 44 million people in the US
Four out of top 10 causes of disability in the US is from Psychological Disorders
Most prevalent of psychological disorders is depression
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
contains each known disorder, a description symptom, checklist of criteria and other relevant facts
models of Abnormality
approach to studying abnormal behavior, can have biological and psychological models
Biological Models
psychological disorders have a biological cause; also known as the medical model; Behaving in this way because of biology
Psychological Models
includes psychoanalysis, cognitive perspective, and behaviorism
Psychoanalysis
behavioral abnormality is the result of repressing undesirable thoughts, memories, and concerns
Suppressing undesirable memories from childhood that shows through anxiety, depression
Although based on Sigmund Freud and he had very sketched out thoughts in detail going towards this, the overall general statement about it is true
Chemical makeup can be determined/affected in subconscious
Behaviorism
abnormal behaviors are learned through a series of rewards and punishments; Can just look at behavior and how it changes with environmental variables; “learning”; Look at punishing or not reinforcing behavior to extinguish it
Cognitive Perspective
abnormal behavior results from illogical thinking patterns
Example: negative thoughts one after the other that results in negative behavior, repeats/spirals; Not getting anything done for a day, spirals/horrible person
Psychological Disorders
Includes anxiety disorders and mood disorders
Describe Anxiety disorders
unrealistic or excessive anxiety; sometime can be tied to something specific(fear), but other time it cannot (free-floating anxiety)
Types of Anxiety Disorders
Phobias, OCD, Panic disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, PTSD
Phobias
irrational fear that causes undue personal distress and/or interferes with normal functioning
Social phobias: fear of interacting with others or being in a social situation
Specific phobias: fear of something in particular
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessions: intruding thoughts that occur again and again
Compulsions: ritualistic behavior that reduces anxiety
Panic Disorder
sudden onset of extreme panic; impending sense of doom
Symptoms: Racing heart rate, rapid breathing, out of body experience, sweating, dry mouth
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
excessive anxiety and worry occur more days than not for at least six months that interferes with normal functioning and causes personal distress; Can often lead to depression and other disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a traumatic event, oppressive situation, abuse or disaster
Characteristics: flashbacks, emotionally avoidant, desensitization, exaggerated startle response, difficulty concentrating, apprehensive and nervous, impulsive outbursts (sometimes aggressive)
Not everyone develops PTSD after a traumatic event. Why is that?
Some people may have a biological predisposition to develop PTSD after trauma
What causes anxiety disorders?
Psychologists approach anxiety disorders using the model of their choice
Psychoanalytical Approach, Behavioral Approach, Cognitive Approach
Psychoanalytical Approach for Anxiety Disorders
anxiety disorders are the result of repressed feelings and thoughts
Behavioral Approach for Anxiety Disorders
anxiety disorders are learned over time
Cognitive Approach
anxiety disorders are the result of illogical irrational thinking patterns, such as Magnification, All-or-Nothing thinking, Overgeneralization, and Minimization
Magnification
exaggeration of events, ideas, feelings
All-or-nothing thinking
must be perfect or it’s completely ruined
Overgeneralization
single negative event interpreted as a pattern
Minimization
only look at the bad, minimizing the positive
