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MCAT > Psychological Disorders and Stress > Flashcards

Psychological Disorders and Stress Flashcards

1
Q

Mental Disorders

A

Disorders of the mind

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2
Q

Distress

A

Type of negative stress that builds up over time

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3
Q

Eustress

A

Positive type of stress that happens when situation is perceived as challenging, but motivating

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4
Q

Neustress

A

Neutral stress that is not directly impactful

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5
Q

Psychological Disorder

A

Set of behavioral/psychological symptoms that are not in keeping with cultural norms and severe enough to cause significant personal distress and/or impairment to social, occupational, or personal functioning

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6
Q

DSM-5

A

Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders edition 5 is a classification system that classifies and diagnoses mental health conditions

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7
Q

Anxiety Disorders

A

Characterized by excessive fear (specific or generally) and/or anxiety of real/imagined future events with physiological and psychological symptoms

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8
Q

Panic Disorder

A

Anxiety - Suffered at least one panic attack and is afraid of having another one

Intense dread, shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations

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9
Q

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

A

Anxiety - Tense or anxious much of the time about many issues but does not experience panic attacks. Chronic nervousness can feel like a moving target from one thing to another

Restlessness, poor concentration, irritability, muscle tension, insomnia

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10
Q

Specific Phobia and Social Phobia

A

Anxiety - many types, feels that fears are unreasonable, panic attack or anxiety when confronted with feared object or situation

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11
Q

Social Anxiety Disorder

A

Anxiety - Paralyzing fear when one is seen or watched by others (even while performing routine activities like eating)

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12
Q

Obsessive-Compulsive Related Disorders

A

Obsessions (thoughts), compulsions (actions) or both that are repeated and uncontrollable

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13
Q

Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders

A

Dysphoria, aggression, or dissociation as a response to a traumatic or stressful event

People in low socioeconomic environments encounter more stressors and are more susceptible to these

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14
Q

PTSD

A

Trauma/Stressor - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - after witnessing something extremely traumatic that involves death, serious injury, or sexual violence

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15
Q

Acute Stress Disorder

A

Trauma/Stressor - Similar to PTSD but shorter duration, last between 3 days and 1 month

PTSD can start as Acute stress disorders

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16
Q

Adjustment Disorder

A

Trauma/Stressor - Maladaptive response is to a stress (romantic break up, job issues, marital issues ) rather than a trauma. Can last anywhere from 3-6 months

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17
Q

Somatic System Related Disorders

A

Distress and Decreased Functioning due to persistent physical symptoms and concerns that mimic physical disease but are not rooted in any detectable pathophysiology

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18
Q

Somatic Symptom Disorder

A

Somatic System Related - Diminished functioning stemming from excessive preoccupation with and/or anxiety about somatic symptoms

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19
Q

Illness Anxiety Disorder

A

Somatic System Related - Commonly known as hypochondriacs - same as somatic symptom disorder except the somatic symptom is extremely small or nonexistant

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20
Q

Conversion Disorder

A

Somatic System Related - Someone who experiences changes in sensory/motor function that has no discernable physical or physiological cause

Person exhibits symptom of altered voluntary motor or sensory function that cannot be explained by mental disorder (ex. hand is paralyzed but not injured, cannot be medically explained)

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21
Q

Factitious Disorder

A

Somatic System Related - Munchhausen Syndrome . Person fabricating an illness and went to a further step of falsifying evidence or symptoms of the illness/inflicting harm on ones self to induce injury/illness

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22
Q

Bipolar/Related Disorders

A

Experiences of cyclic mood episodes oscillating between extremes or poles of depression and mania (formerly called manic depression)

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23
Q

Manic Episode

A

Bipolar - Person experienced an abnormal euphoric, unrestrained, or irritable mood for at least one week (increase in goal-directed activity), energy increases irritability

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24
Q

Bipolar I Disorder

A

Bipolar - Diagnosed only if there has been a spontaneous manic episode not triggered by treatment for depression/caused by another medical condition or medication

Can be a mixed episode where you meet symptoms for both major depressive and manic episodes.

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25
Q

Bipolar II Disorder

A

Bipolar - Manic phases are less extreme. Cyclic moods including at least one major depressive episode and one hypomanic episode but not manic or mixed episode.

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26
Q

Hypomanic Episode

A

Bipolar - Manic episode (euphoria) for at least four days

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27
Q

Major Depressive Episode

A

Bipolar - Person felt worse than usual every day for weeks; has depressed mood or decreased interest in activities

28
Q

Cyclothymic Disorder

A

Bipolar - Similar to bipolar disorders but moods are less extreme.

29
Q

Depressive Disorders

A

More acute than moodiness; persistent pattern of abnormal and often painful mood symptoms severe enough to cause significant personal distress and/or impairment to social, occupational, or personal functioning

30
Q

Major Depressive Disorder

A

Depressive - A person who suffered one or more major depressive episodes. Could be planning suicide, and episodes of depression occur during certain seasons (usually fall and winter)

31
Q

Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)

A

Depressive - less intense, but typically more chronic form of depression. Milder symptoms of depression for at least two years with symptoms never absent for more than two months (but no major depressive episode)

32
Q

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

A

Depressive - Diagnosed only in women, many of the symptoms of major depressive episode are present (intensify in the final week before onset of menses)

Unique symptoms: feeling keyed up or on edge, specific food cravings, sense of being overwhelmed, and physical symptoms of menstruation

33
Q

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Disorders

A

Diagnosed when someone has been experiencing one or more of the following for longer than 6 months

positive symptoms: Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, disorganized motor behavior

negative symptoms: decreased emotional expression, avolition (lack of motivation), alogia (decreased speech)

34
Q

Delusion

A

False belief that is not due to culture and not relinquished despite evidence that it is fake

35
Q

Hallucination

A

False sensory perception that occurs while a person is conscious (not during sleep or delirium)

36
Q

Dissociative Disorders

A

Disruptions in awareness, memory, and identity are extreme and/or frequent and they cause distress or impair person’s functioning. Triggered by severe stress or psychological conflicts (usually begin and end suddenly)

37
Q

Dissociative Identity Disorder

A

Dissociative - Alternates among two or more distinct personality states (identities), only one of which interacts with other people at a given time. Previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder

38
Q

Dissociative Amnesia

A

Dissociative - At least east one episode of forgetting some important personal information creating gaps in memory that are usually related to severe stress or trauma

39
Q

Dissociative Fugue

A

Person wandering aimlessly during dissociative amnesia experiencing it as some kind of journey

40
Q

Depersonalization Derealization Disorder

A

Disorder - Recurring or persistent feeling of being cut off or detached from his or her body or mental processes as if observing themselves from the outside in something like an out of body experience

41
Q

Personality Disorders

A

Enduring, rigid set of personality traits that deviates from cultural norms, impairs functioning, and causes distress either to the person with the disorder or to those in his or her life

Split into 3 clusters (A, B, C)

42
Q

Personality Disorder Cluster A

A

Paranoid (profound distrust)

Schizoid (emotionally detached, little interest in close relationships

Schizotypal ( Interpersonal problems with odd beliefs - magical or paranoid thinking)

43
Q

Personality Disorder Cluster B

A

Antisocial (history of serious behavior problems beginning at young teen, impulsive and unstable)

Histrionic (strong desire to be center of attention - personal appearance, seductive behavior

Narcissistic (feels grandiosely self important, fantasies of beauty, brilliance, power)

44
Q

Personality Disorder Cluster C

A

Avoidant (feels inadequate, inferior, and undesirable and preoccupied with fears of criticism and conflict)

Dependent (needs to be taken care of by others, unrealistic fear of not being able to take care of self)

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) (perfectionist, rigid, and stubborn with strong need for control)

45
Q

Stress-diathesis theory

A

While genetic inheritance provides biological predisposition for schizophrenia, stressors elicit onset of the disease

46
Q

Dopamine Hypothesis

A

Pathway for neurotransmitter dopamine is hyperactive in people with schizophrenia

hypo-activation of frontal lobes may be responsible for negative signs

47
Q

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

A

Something abnormal ocurred to the brain during early development whether in utero or shortly after birth

Ex. Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21), ADHD (PET scans show understimulation of the brain), Autism

48
Q

Neurocognitive Disorders

A

Dementia (general term) is a term for severe loss of cognitive ability beyond what would be expected from normal Aging

Ex. Alzheimer’s Disease (anterogade amnesia - inability to form new memories and step-wise retrograde amnesia),

49
Q

Alzheimer’s Disease

A

Cortical disease (affects outermost tissue of brain) by neuritic plaque formations (of beta-amyloid proteins). Noe vidence as to why these tangles form

50
Q

Parkinson’s Disease

A

Movement disorder caused by death of cells that generate dopamine in basal ganglia/substantia - subcortical structures in the brain

Resting tremor, slow rigid movements, and shuffling gait

51
Q

Sleep-wake Disorders

A

Result in distress from sleep related issues (insomnia, sleep apnea, sleep-walking)

52
Q

Substance-related and addictive disorders

A

Involve disablity from abnormal use of substances that affect mental functions (alcohol, tobacco, gambling)

53
Q

Feeding and Eating Disorders

A

Distresses caused by behavioral abnormalities related to food (anorexia nervosa)

54
Q

Elimination Disorders

A

Distresses from urination at inappropriate times

55
Q

Gender Dysphoria

A

Disabilities caused by a person identifying as different gender than society represents them

56
Q

Paraphilic Disorders

A

Sexual Arousal to unusual stimuli

57
Q

Cheynes-Stroke breathing

A

Increase then decrease in breathing followed by a complete stop in breathing which causes central sleep apnea

58
Q

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

A

Result of soft tissue obstruction in the airways

59
Q

Hyperventilation Disorder

A

Inability to completely ventilate the lungs

60
Q

Prosopagnosia

A

Neurological disorder characterized by inability to recognize familiar people based on facial information alone

61
Q

Synesthesia

A

Neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second pathway

62
Q

Appraisal

A

How an event is interpreted by an individual

63
Q

Stressors (3 types)

A

Catastrophes - unpredictable large scale events that include natural disasters and wartime events. Repercussions felt for years after

Significant Life Changes - moving, leaving home, losing job, marraige, death of loved one, etc.

Daily hassles - everyday irritations of life (ex. bills, scheduling activities)

64
Q

Learned Helplessness

A

Sense of exhaustion and lack of belief in one’s ability to manage situations

65
Q

Fight or Flight

A

Sympathetic Nervous system release of adrenaline; increase BP, increase HR/RR

66
Q

Cortisol

A

Glucocorticoid hormone initiated by hypothalamus, located above brainstem. Prolonged release is stressful

67
Q

Biofeedback

A

Means of recording and feeding back information about subtle autonomic responses in an attempt to train the individual to control involuntary responses

MCAT (7 decks)

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