Psychology: Mental Health Flashcards
Define mood disorder.
Mood disorders are conditions that affect a person’s emotional state. They severely impact someone’s mood & related functions.
What is major depressive disorder? List 6 symptoms.
How long must these symptoms exist for the disease to be diagnosed?
A clinical depression. It is characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest inactivity, & other symptoms that interfere with daily life.
- Having a depressed mood
- Anhedonia
- Significant weight or appetite change
- Sleep disturbance
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feeling worry or excessive guilt.
Symptoms must be present for 2 weeks in order to be diagnosed.
What is bipolar disorder?
A mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings.
Things like emotional highs & lows & depression.
- Elevated mood & a low mood (bi = both).
- Manic times & depressed times.
What is mania (a manic episode)? Give at least 5 DSM symptoms/examples of this disorder.
A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and abnormally and persistently goal-directed behavior or energy.
It lasts for at least 1 week and presents most of the day, or nearly every day.
- Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
- Decreased need for sleep
- More talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
- Increase in goal-directed activity or psychomotor agitation
- Distractibility as reported or observed.
What is persistent depressive disorder (formerly dysthymic disorder)? How is it different from major depression?
A chronic low-level depression that is not as severe, but may be longer lasting than, major depressive disorder.
How is persitisnat depressive disorder (PDD) different from major depression (MDD)?
The main difference from PDD and MDD is the duration of symptoms.
For a doctor to diagnose someone with PDD (in adulthood), symptoms must have lasted for at least 2 years.
For MDD (in an adult), the patient must experience major depressive episodes with a gap of at least 2 months between them.
Endogenous depression & an example
A mental health disorder that occurs suddenly without an obvious reason.
It happens without the presence of common triggers like stress, trauma, or grief.
A possible example of this is on a random Tuesday you suddenly have a loss of interest, lack of motivation, feel hopelessness, or suicidal but can not think of a reason why.
Reactive/exogenous depression & an example
From external factors that are life triggering.
It is referred to as “reactive depression” because it occurs in reaction to a specific identifiable event.
A possible example being the death of a loved one, financial troubles, or significant life changes like losing your job, etc.
What is SAD? What is believed to be the cause?
Sad is seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression.
- It happens during certain seasons of the year, most often fall or winter.
- Having less sunlight and shorter days are thought to be linked to a chemical change in the brain. This is believed to be the cause of SAD.
Possible causes for depression using the biological perspective
Genetics or physical health conditions.
- Bladder outlet obstruction
- Epilepsy
- Obesity
- Traumatic brain injury
- Acne
- Diabetes
- Cerebral atrophy
Genetics & imbalances in brain neurotransmitters, hormonal fluctuations, inflammation, & disruptions in the brain’s stress response system can all play a role in potentially having depression.
The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in depression, this can be passed from genetics.
Give possible causes for depression using the social-cognitive theory
Depression can come through negative thought patterns
- Low self-efficacy
- The interaction between stressful life events and cognitive vulnerabilities.
These can lead into a cycle of negative thinking & behavior.
Socially and cognitively, having difficulty recognizing emotions, understanding others’ mental states, & interpreting social cues, are also associated with depression.
These negative thoughts can play a big role in depression or developing depression.
How do you know if a feeling is a mental health disorder?
DEVIANT: different from normal behavior
DISTRESSFUL: A subjective feeling that something is wrong/feeling discomfort
DISFUNCTIONING: Impairment to your behavior/life. It’s unwanted
Anxiety Disorders
Intense, excessive, & persistent worry & fear about everyday situations
Anxiety:
- Occasional feeling of nervousness or worry
Anxiety Disorder:
- Excessive anxiety that significaly interferes with daily life & functionong
- Often triggered by various situations & causing significant distress
Symptoms: Fast heart rate, rapid breathing, swearing, feeling tired, & restlessness
Substance Use Disorders
DSM: the use of psychoactive substance, alcohol, drugs, & other substances that can cause impariemt or distress, health & social problems
Psychoactive drug: affects how the brain works
- Alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, certain pain meds, ects.
3-4 criteria:
- Taking substance in larger amounts for longer than you’re meant to
- Cravings & urges to use the substance
- Needing more of substance to get the effect that you want (tolerance)
Tolerance
Needing to take more of a substance to get/feel the effects of it.
Withdrawal symptoms
When not taking the substance you have negative physical or psychoactive symptoms.
ED: Anorexia
ED in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15% or more) underweight.
Might experience: slow heart rate, hair loss, weak muscle, loss of bone density, dehydration, etc.
ED: Bulimia Nervosa
ED in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), or fasting.
Might experience: Low heart rate, digestive system problems, teeth staining, etc.
Binge-Eating Disorder
Significant binge-eating, followed by emotional distress, feelings of lack of control, disgust, or guilt.
BUT WITHOUT the purging or fasting.
Personality Disorder
A mental health condition where people have a lifelong pattern of seeing themselves & reacting to others in ways that cause problems.
Disruptive patterns of thinking, behavior, & mood & relating to others.
Anti-social p.d.
A mental health condition that causes harmful behaviors without remorse.
Borderline p.d.
A mental illness that servery impacts a person’s ability to regulate their emotions.
Schizophrenia
When a person has a break from reality
- What they think is true & real is not what others see
Symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking & lack of motivation.
Neurosis: someone who is rigid, needs things a certain way, etc. (milder one)
Psychosis: much more serious. Impaired behavior. Psychotic. (More severe)
Define Psychopathology
The scientific study of mental illness or disorders
Subjective discomfort
Feelings of discomfort, unhappiness, or emotional distress.
EX. Someone with depression might be sad or feel hopelessness.
Statistical abnormality
A behavior is seen as abnormal if it is statistically uncommon, or not seen very often in society.
EX. Hording or self destructive behaviors because they are not common
Social non-conformity
When a person behaviors or acts in a way that goes against the standard or norm of a society.
EX. Someone who dresses differently than most people in their community.
Situational context
The specific environment or circumstances surrounding an event or interaction that can influence the perception and interpretation of individuals.
EX. Giving a speech in front of a lot of people, might make you talk faster cause you are nervous.
Cultural relativity
Not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange or normal.
EX. Some cultures eat insects as part of their diet.
Maladaptive behavior
Any behaviors that keeps someone from adapting or to participate in circumstances or situations.
EX. Self-harm, avoidance coping, maladaptive dreaming, etc.
What book is used to classify & define mental disorders?
The DSM: the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 5th edition.
It changes with to reflect new research, clinical practice is, and a better understanding of mental health.
7 categories of mental illness in the DSM
Eating disorder, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, substance related disorders, disassociative disorders, mood disorders, & neurodevelopment disorder
2 potential benefits of being diagnosed with a mental disorder
Pros:
- Will help you access special services or help
- Gives insight to the problem rather than someone thinking they’re going crazy
2 potential drawbacks of being diagnosed with a mental disorder
Cons:
- Might not fix someone’s illness so their life must be really hard
- Stigma attached mental health diagnosis that turns a person into an abnormal human being
