Psychology - Mental Disorders (Pt. 2)

Question 1

Mood Disorders

Answer 1

• Aka: Affective Disorders
• When does a sad mood become clinical “depression”?
• Diagnosis based on
  Severity of symptoms
  Duration of symptoms
  Degree of impairment

Question 2

Mood Disorders (Cont’d)

Answer 2

• Depression: feelings of extraordinary sadness and dejection.
• Mania: intense, unrealistic feelings of excitement or euphoria.
• Mixed episodes: symptoms of both depression and mania seen in rapidly alternating moods.

Question 3

“Normal Depression” (Not a disorder)

Answer 3

• Loss and the grieving process
  Depression is a normal response
  Not a disorder unless depressive symptoms last longer than 2 months.
• Postpartum blues
  50-70% of women experience this within 10 days of giving birth.
  Due to hormonal readjustments.

Question 4

Major Depressive Disorder

Answer 4

• Prominent and persistent depressed mood and/or loss of pleasure for at least 2 weeks with 4 or more of the following symptoms:
• Poor appetite
• Insomnia or hypersomnia
• Inability to concentrate
• Psychomotor retardation
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Fatigue
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Question 5

Dysthymia (Depression lite)

Answer 5

• Depressed mood for most of the day, more days than not, for at least the past 2 years with at least 2 other depressive symptoms.
  Does not have the severity to meet the criteria for major depression.
  Average duration is 5 years.
  Can last for 20+ years!

Question 6

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Answer 6

• Recurrent major depression with a seasonal pattern
  2 episodes of depression in the past 2 years occurring at the same time of year.
  Remission (time without depressive symptoms) occurs at the same time of the year as well.
  Most often occurs in fall/winter months when there is less daylight and in areas further from the equator.

Question 7

Causes of Depression

Answer 7

- Biological
Altered neurotransmitter activity
Hormonal irregularities
Genetic influences
Decreased activity in brain's left hemisphere
- Psychosocial 
Stressful life events
Lack of social support/coping skills
- Cognitive
Beck's cognitive theory of depression
Learned helplessness and hopelessness theories.

Question 8

Bipolar Disorder

Answer 8

• A major depressive episode and one or more manic hypomanic episodes.
• Manic: Abnormally and persistent elevated or irritable mood and 3 or more of the following:
  Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
  Decreased need for sleep
  More talkative than usual
  Racing thoughts
  Easily distracted
  Increase in goal-directed activity
  Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for negative consequences

Question 9

Cyclothymia (BIpolar lite)

Answer 9

• Cyclical mood changes that are less severe than the mood swings seen in bipolar disorder.
  Basically dysthymia with hypomanic episodes
  Hypomanic episodes: just like manic episodes, but without any hallucinations or delusions and is not as severe.

Question 10

Causes of Bipolar Disorders

Answer 10

• Biological
  Genetic influence greater in bipolar disorders than unipolar disorders (like depression)
  Genes account for about 80% of tendency to develop bipolar disorder.
  Imbalance in neurotransmitters.
• Psychosocial
  Stressful life events can trigger episodes of depression and mania.

Question 11

Treatment of Mood Disorders

Answer 11

- Psychopharmacology
Anti-depressants
SSRIS (affects Serotonin; i.e. Prozac, Zoloft)
Tricyclics
Mood Stabilizers - Lithium
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Challenges faulty thinking
- ETC: electroconvulsive therapy
Used in severely depressed patients w/high suicide risk.

Question 12

Anxiety Disorders

Answer 12

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Phobias
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Question 13

Fear and Panic vs. Anxiety

Answer 13

- Fear/Panic
Triggers fight or flight response
Basic animalistic emotion
Source of danger is obvious
- Anxiety
Unpleasant inner state of anticipating something bas happening
More future-oriented 
No immediate danger

Question 14

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Answer 14

• Excessive anxiety and worry that is hard to control, occurring more days than not for at least 6 months
• Common symptoms:
  Restlessness
  Easily fatigued
  Difficulty concentrating
  Irritability
  Muscle tension
  Sleep disturbance

Question 15

Panic Attack

Answer 15

• Intense fear or discomfort in the absence of real danger
• Symptoms include:
  Increased heart rate or palpitations
  Sweating
  Shaking
  Shortness of breath
  Feeling of choking
  Chest pain
  Nausea
  Dizziness or feeling faint
  Fear of loosing control
  Fear of dying
  Numbness
  Chills or hot flashes
  Feelings of being detached from oneself

Question 16

Panic Disorder

Answer 16

• The presence of recurrent, unexpected panic attacks, followed by at least one month of constant concern about having another panic attack
• Divided into Panic Disorder with and without Agoraphobia.
  Agoraphobia: anxiety about being in places or situations that are difficult to escape from or where it would be difficult to get help in the event of a panic attack. This anxiety leads to avoidance of such situations.

Question 17

Specific Phobias

Answer 17

• Persistent fear of a specific object or situation which is thus avoided
• Level of feat is excessive or unreasonable relative to the actual danger posed by object or situation
• Exposure to the object causes intense anxiety. Some examples:
  Animal
  Inanimate objects and situations
  Bodily conditions, ect.

Question 18

Social Phobias

Answer 18

• Aka ‘Social Anxiety Disorder’
• Disabling fear of one or more social situations in which a person fears the scrutiny of others or that they might act in a way that would be embarrassing
  Ex: Fear of public speaking, urinating in a public restroom, eating in public, ect.
  These acts can be performed when alone with no anxiety.
  Fear is excessive and situations are avoided.

Question 19

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Answer 19

• Recurrent obsessions or compulsions that cause significant distress or impairment
  Obsessions: persistent ideas, impulses, thoughts or images that are seen as intrusive and inappropriate and cause anxiety (ex: thoughts about contamination or needing objects to be symmetrical)
  Compulsions: repetitive behaviors or mental acts done to reduce anxiety (ex: hand-washing). Often done to reduce distress of obsession or to prevent a dreaded event from happening.
• Obsessions and compulsions are recognized as excessive but the person is unable to ignore or control them.

Question 20

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Answer 20

• Response to a traumatic event that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury to oneself or someone else
• Symptoms include:
  Reliving the event through images, thoughts, ect.
  Recurrent nightmares of event
  Acting or feeling like the event is recurring (can include hallucinations, illusions, flashbacks even when intoxicated)
  Intense distress at cues that resemble aspects of event
  Avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma
  Difficulty sleeping
  Irritability or anger
  High arousal/vigilance
  Difficulty concentrating
  Startled easily
• Can show up months or years after event.

Question 21

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

Answer 21

• Biologyical
  Most have genetic link (up to 43% for panic disorder, 20% for GAD)
  Abnormal neurotransmitter activity (GAD, panic disorder, OCD)
  Increased activity in amygdala (panic disorder)
  Structural abnormalities in brain (OCD)
• Psychosocial
  Stressful situations can trigger panic attacks
  Traumatic event causes PTSD
• Cognitive
  Learned behavior (specific phobias, social phobias, OCD)
  Hypersensitivity to bodily sensations which lead to catastrophic thoughts (panic attacks)

Question 22

Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

Answer 22

- Psychopharmacology
Anti-Anxiety drugs (i.e. Xanax, Valium)
Anti-Depressants (affect serotonin)
- Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Exposure therapies
Participant modeling
Challenging automatic/distorted thinking
Relaxation training