Psychopathology

Question 1

What is a psychological disorder and how are they defined?

Answer 1

• clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behaviour
• biologically based but socially defined and evolving

Question 2

What are the difficulties in defining psychological disorders?

Answer 2

• boundaries are somewhat arbitrary since they are socially defined
• there are a constellation of symptoms
• hard to see where normal behaviour ends and psychopathological behaviour begins
• boundaries of normality determine what is considered pathological
• differences among different cultures

Question 3

What are culturally-bound disorders and what do they tell us about disorders found around the world?

Answer 3

• some disorders are found around the world but some are culturally-bound
• there are disparities in terms of diagnosis in different countries
• some cultures consider some behaviours psychopathological and others don’t

Question 4

What is dysfunction?

Answer 4

• occurs when an internal mechanism breaks down and can no longer perform its normal function
• dysfunction itself does not determine a disorder
• only determines a disorder if it leads to negative consequences for the individual

Question 5

What are the requirements for a condition to be considered a psychological disorder?

Answer 5

1. significant disturbances in thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
2. disturbances reflect some kind of biological, psychological, or developmental dysfunction
3. disturbances lead to significant distress or disability in one’s life
4. disturbances do not reflect expected or culturally approved responses to certain events

Question 6

Are people with psychological disorders dangerous?

Answer 6

• mental disorders rarely lead to violence and clinical prediction of violence is unreliable
• people with mental disorders are more likely to be the victim of crime
• some disorders do make you more likely to commit crimes: alcohol addiction, antisocial disorder, hallucinations/paranoia

Question 7

What are the different models of mental illness?

Answer 7

• medical model: mental illness diagnosed on basis of symptoms and treated through therapy
• biopsychosocial approach (diathesis-stress model): biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness

Question 8

How do we categorize mental illnesses? What is the most recent technique we use?

Answer 8

• using the diagnostic statistical manual (DSM)
• currently use the DSM 5: people had to sign NDAs to not allow them to talk about conflicts of interests with pharmaceutical companies
• DSMs have changed based on social ideas of normality (ex. homosexuality used to be an illness in the manual)

Question 9

What is the purpose of the DSM 5 (V)?

Answer 9

1. to predict disorder’s future course
2. to guide treatment choices
3. to allow clinicians to communicate
4. to please insurance companies who require a concrete diagnosis
5. to permit research

Question 10

What is the criticism of the DSM 5 (V)?

Answer 10

• makes normal behaviours seem abnormal and pathological
• antisocial disorder and anxiety disorder did poorly on field trials

Question 11

What are anxiety disorders? What is general anxiety disorder?

Answer 11

• undirected fear and persistent feeling that washes over aspects of life
• leads to an inability to live your life
• behaviours associated are used to reduce the anxiety
  general anxiety disorder: continuous state of excessive, uncontrollable, and pointless worry

Question 12

What is panic disorder and what are phobias?

Answer 12

• panic disorder: panic attacks come on suddenly, can last for a few minutes or longer, intense physical pain, inability to breathe
• phobias: intense anxiety towards an object or situation that leads to changes in everyday life

Question 13

What are the three pathways that phobias are acquired?

Answer 13

1. classical conditioning: associate neutral stimulus with unconditioned stimulus when unconditioned stimulus resulted in something bad
2. vicarious learning: observing someone going through a scary situation might make you scared of it
3. verbal transmission: other people telling you how scary something is could make you scared of it

Question 14

What is social anxiety and how do people try to reduce it?

Answer 14

• phobia of social situations like public speaking
• fear, anxiety, and avoidance experienced lead to impairments in life
• if unable to avoid the situation, people with social anxiety perform “safety behaviours” to reduce anxiety
• safety behaviours: avoid eye contact, rehearsing sentences, talking briefly, minimizing interaction

Question 15

What is behavioural inhibition?

Answer 15

• an inherited trait where you experience a consistent tendency to show fear and restraint when presented with unfamiliar people or situations
• associated with increased risk of developing social anxiety disorder

Question 16

What is obsessive compulsive disorder? Does it have a genetic component?

Answer 16

• obsessions lead to engagement in a series of behaviours (compulsions) that try to reduce anxiety about the obsession
• more common within older children and teenagers
• sometimes spontaneously resolve as people reach adulthood
• disorder is 5x more frequent in first-degree relatives of people with OCD
• concordance rate for identical twins is 57%, fraternal is 22%

Question 17

What is body dysmorphic disorder?

Answer 17

• when someone is preoccupied with a perceived flaw in physical appearance that is either nonexistent or barely noticeable to other people
• perceived physical defects cause people to think they’re unattractive, ugly, hideous, or deformed

Question 18

What is post traumatic stress disorder?

Answer 18

• exposure to some traumatic event/horrific experience results in PTSD
• when traumatic events are so intrusive that they disrupt a persons’ life
• men are at lower risk than women

Question 19

What are some symptoms of PTSD?

Answer 19

• intrusive and distressing memories of the event
• flashbacks: when an individual relives the event and behaves as if the event were occurring at that moment
• avoidance of stimuli connected to the event
• persistently negative emotional states
• feelings of detachment, irritability, outbursts, jumpiness

Question 20

How does conditioning relate to PTSD?

Answer 20

• traumatic event = unconditioned stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response
• cognitive, emotional, physiological and environmental cues related to the event are conditioned stimuli
• stimulus generalization results in similar stimulus triggering same reaction as (un)conditioned stimulus

Question 21

How do we understand anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD?

Answer 21

• biology: we are predisposed to these behaviours
• through experiences, they can become psychopathological when they begin to effect our lives
• genetics
• the brain
• natural selection

Question 22

What is the difference between major and persistent depressive disorder?

Answer 22

• major: at least 5 depressive symptoms that last longer than 2 weeks
• persistent: fewer depressive symptoms but last longer than 2 years
• symptoms relate to persistent sadness, inability to eat or sleep
• symptoms must be impairing normal functioning

Question 23

What are seasonal pattern depression and peripartum (postpartum) depression?

Answer 23

• seasonal pattern: person experiences symptoms of major depressive disorder only during a particular time of the year
• peripartum: women who experience major depression during pregnancy or in the four weeks after giving birth

Question 24

What is bipolar disorder (manic depression)?

Answer 24

• alternate between two extreme emotional states: depressive and manic
• mania: loss of touch with reality, series of delusion, paranoia, impulsivity
• only need to have experienced one manic episode to be diagnosed

Question 25

What must a theory of depression explain?

Answer 25

• how behaviours and thoughts change with depression
• why depression is widespread
• why women’s risk of major depression is nearly double men’s
• why most major depressive episodes end on their own
• why stressful events related to work, marriage, and close relationships often come before depression
• why with each new generation, depression is striking earlier in life and affecting more people

Question 26

What is learned helplessness and what study was done to prove it?

Answer 26

• exposed young animals to two conditions
  1. shocked, then could jump into another section with no shocks (avoidable stress)
  2. shocked, then COULDN’T jump into another section (unavoidable stress)
• the ones that couldn’t avoid stress had “learned helplessness”
• eventually the puppies believed there is now ay to avoid the shock, so they accept it even if there is a way out in the future
• uncontrolled bad events -> perceived lack of control -> generalized helpless behaviour

Question 27

What are the symptoms for schizophrenia in the DSM 5(V) ?

Answer 27

1. delusions
2. hallucination
3. disorganized speech
4. grossly disorganized or catatonic behaviour
5. negative symptoms (lower emotional expression)

Question 28

What is the criteria for schizophrenia in the DSM 5(V) ?

Answer 28

A. 2+ symptoms present for 1 month
B. level of functioning in work, interpersonal relations, or self-care is below the level achieved prior
C. continuous signs persist for at least 6 months, 1 of which having symptoms
D. schizoaffective disorders have been ruled out
E. disturbance is not attributed to physiological effects of a substance

Question 29

What does schizophrenia look like in terms of positive, negative, cognitive, and mood symptoms?

Answer 29

positive: hallucinations, delusions
negative: low levels of motivation, movement, communication
cognitive: problems with attention, working memory
mood: emotions don’t line up with the situation, sometimes comorbid depression

Question 30

What is dissociative identity disorder? What is it most commonly mistaken as?

Answer 30

• previously called multiple personality disorder
• people who have gone through horrendous experiences dissociate
• might feel their thoughts are not their own; feel there is no control over their movements and speech
• distorted sense of time and sometimes out of body experience
• may be a culturally bound disorder

Question 31

What are the features of ADHD? Do genetics play a role?

Answer 31

• constant pattern of inattention and/or hyperactive and impulsive behaviour that interferes with normal functioning
• inattention: difficulty with and avoidance of tasks that require sustained attention, failure to follow instructions, disorganization, easily distracted, and forgetfulness
• genetics play a significant role in development of ADHD

Question 32

What is autism spectrum disorder? Is it different from Asperger’s syndrome?

Answer 32

• neurodevelopment disorder with disturbances in three main areas
  1. deficits in social interaction
  2. deficits in communication
  3. repetitive patterns of behaviour or interests
• research has failed to demonstrate that they differ qualitatively and DSM-5 does not include Asperger’s syndrome

Question 33

Is autism spectrum disorder genetic or environmental?

Answer 33

• concordance rate for identical twins is 60-90%
• concordance rates for fraternal twins and siblings are 5-10%
• research also suggests environmental factors are associated with increased risk
• exposure to pollutants (plant emissions or mercury), urban vs. rural residence, and vitamin D deficiency

Question 34

What are the characteristics of borderline personality disorder?

Answer 34

• characterized by instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, mood, and impulsivity
• cannot tolerate the thought of being alone and will make efforts to avoid abandonment or separation

Question 35

What are the main characteristics of antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 35

• people who show no regard at all for other people’s rights or feelings
• lack of regard shown by performing illegal acts, lying or conning others, impulsivity and recklessness, irritability and aggressiveness, and failure to act in a responsible way
• experience emotions differently than regular people, fail to show fear in response to environmental cues that signal punishment, pain, or noxious stimulation

Question 36

What is insight vs. non-insight therapy? What are examples of each?

Answer 36

• insight: psychodynamic, humanistic approach
• wanting to identify underlying conflicts and problems who mark who you are now
• non-insight: behaviour, drugs
• not trying to come to some sort of revelation, just trying to create strategies to resolve the problem

Question 37

What are the goals and techniques of psychodynamic therapy?

Answer 37

goals: to help people understand current symptoms; to explore and gain perspective on defended-against thoughts and feelings

techniques: client-centred face-to-face meetings; exploration of past relationship troubles to understand origins of current difficulties

Question 38

What are the goals and techniques of humanistic therapy?

Answer 38

goals: to reduce inner conflicts that interfere with natural development and growth

techniques: client-centred therapy; focus on taking responsibility for feelings and actions and on present and future rather than past

Question 39

What is Rogers’ person-centered therapy?

Answer 39

• focuses on person’s conscious self-perception; non-directive; active listening; unconditional positive regard
• most people possess resources for growth
• therapists foster growth by exhibiting genuineness, acceptance, and empathy