Psychopathology Flashcards
1
Q
The 4 D’s of Abnormality
A
Deviance
Distress
Dysfunction
Danger
-each of these classifications alone cannot be used to diagnose psychological disorders
-if multiples are met, however, it is more likely to be abnormality
2
Q
Abnormality
A
varies between people, cultures and time periods
3
Q
Deviance
A
people with psychological disorders deviate in some way from the typical behaviour of others
- does not mean that all people who differ from norms as someone with psychological disorder, nor would someone exhibiting a different cultural practice
- includes those who fall below and above the standard
4
Q
Distress
A
psychological disorders often, but not always, cause strong feelings of distress
- intense negative feelings due to their behaviour
- exceptions: people who are free of feelings of distress but not psychologically healthy (ex: bipolar in manic phase; people with antisocial personality disorder often don’t feel any distress or remorse)
5
Q
Dysfunction
A
- bheaviour tends to interfere with daily functioning
- psychoogical disorders often cause dysfunction on common everyday tasks, but this dysfunction may also be voluntary
- dysfunction alone doesn’t necessarily mean abnormality - a person may stop functioning in society as a means of protest
6
Q
Maladaptive
A
prevent individual to adapt to environment
7
Q
Danger
A
to oneself or to another
- risky behaviours - drug addiction or violence against others.
- psychological disorders often, but not always, cause a person to place themselves or others in danger
- many everyday dangerous behaviours - extreme sports and unhealthy food
8
Q
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
A
- provides standardized criteria to aid in the diagnosis of psychological disorders
- categorizes and describes mental disorders
- allows mental researchers to talk about other disorders using a common language
- groups together disorders that have similar sets of symptoms with the assumption that similarities suggest a common cause and that they can be similarly treated
- new version is released when new information leads to changes in criteria for diagnosis and groupings
9
Q
General Diagnostic Criteria
A
disordered behaviour must originate from within the person, not as a reaction to external factors
disordered behaviour must be involuntary - unable to control symptoms of the experience
10
Q
Axis I
A
Clinical Syndromes
11
Q
Axis II
A
Developmental and Personality Disorders
12
Q
Axis III
A
Clinical Conditions
13
Q
Axis IV
A
Severity of Psychosocial Stressors
14
Q
Axis V
A
Highest Level of Functioning
15
Q
Models of Psychopathology
A
Biological
Psychodynamic
Cognitive
Behavioural
16
Q
Biological Model of Psychopathology
A
psychological disorders may be due to malfunction in the brain
- physical damage, abnormal chemical activity (neurotransmitters)
- causes of disorder are physical (genetics, nutrition, disease, stress)
- treatment often relies on drug therapy or sometimes electroconvulsive shock or brain surgery
17
Q
Psychodynamic Model of Psychopathology
A
pioneered by freud
- mental disorders are rooted in internal malfunction —> psychological rather than physical
- mental conflict in the mind
- attributed to maladaptive attempts to deal with strong unconscious conflicts
- conflicts may be due to unresolved childhood issues
- treatment must focus on therapy to cope with underlying symptoms (physical therapy can only temporarily alleviate symptoms)
- psychoanalysis to get to the root of the problem
- focus on personal insight to better understand themselves to cope
18
Q
Behaviourist Model of Psychopathology
A
views psychological disorders as external, overt behaviour rather than an internal malfunction (behaviours and emotions are the problem, not symptoms)
- disordered behaviours are established through conditioning
- people may find that disordered behaviour provides rewarding from others.
- inappropriately generalized
- treatment using conditioning techniques
19
Q
Critique of Behaviourist Model
A
can all disorders be explained by reinforcement?
-treatment in office not transferrable to outside world; hearing voices are not learned behaviours
treats people as simple reflexive beings that just react the environment (rather than being able to plan, remember and predict things in their world)
20
Q
Cognitive Model of Psychopathology
A
psychological disorders may be due to maladaptive, negative interpretations of life events
-how you interpret a situation affects your response (public speaking example)
experience and learning play an important role
-cognitive therapy focuses on identifying maladaptive thinking and creating positive interpretations of situations
-behaviour therapy focuses on seeing out positive situations actions
-combined therapy
21
Q
Unipolar Depression
A
lost job, spends most time sleeping, little appetite, chronic pain, trouble concentrating and performing everyday tasks, negative thoughts, suicide
- can be presented in a less-severe form - not every symptom needs to be present
- episodes are recurrent
- can last for several months if left untreated
- normal function in between episodes
- unadvisable to leave untreated even between episodes for threat to health
22
Q
Dysthymia
A
exhibit persistent, moderate levels of depression
-less severe, but rarely return to normal functioning
23
Q
Bipolar Disorder
A
alternate between severe depression and mania
24
Q
Mania
A
heightened self-esteem, activity, energy and little sleep
- risky activity
- anger towards obstacles to goals
25
Biological Causes of Depression
chemical balance (neurotransmitters) are off; anti-depressants for drug therapy change these levels and alleviate symptoms
26
Behavioural Causes of Depression
individuals who lack social skills receive limited positive reinforcement from others; lowered mood and self-blame; depressive symptoms may elicit sympathy and attention - reinforced symptoms
-learned helplessness - subjects learn to withhold responding
27
Cognitive Causes of Depression
depressed individuals view many neutral or positive events as being negative, due to their own actions
-depressogenic schemata
28
Psychodynamic Causes of Depression
tries to promote insight and awareness - increased understanding of self to strengthen coping strategies
29
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Depression
aims to make people more aware of how they think and how this contributes to how they feel
- set goals and perform tasks
- best used in combination with psychological and biological treatments
30
Mood Disorders
characterized by disturbances in emotion, which includes both depression and mania
31
Anxiety Disorders
most common form of mental health problem
| cause persistent feelings of anxiety that interfere with daily activity
32
Generalized Anxiety Disorders
causes anxiety throughout various, trivial situations
- minor life events
- constant worry have negative impact
- can cause pervasive physical symptoms, focusing problems and irritability
33
OCD
obsession intrudes its way into consciousness
- recurring idea, persistent fear
- compulsion is a behavioural ritual that a person feels compelled to perform repeatedly (unreasonable but feels necessary)
34
PTSD
triggered by an extremely stressful event
- terrifying experience that caused or threatened to cause physical harm to you or someone close to you
- feelings of persistent anxiety and intrusive thoughts about the event occur
- flashbacks = reliving
- avoid certain objects, situations or people that reminds of event
- treatments involves discussion of event
35
Aetiology and Treatment
displaced tension between ego and id (id impulses seeking expression and ego not allowing it) leads to anxiety
anxiety is displaced into other ideas or behaviours
36
Biological Explanations of Anxiety
genetic predispositions have been found for OCD (but not GAD); drugs change chemical balance are helpful; best are combined therapies (biological and psychological)
37
CBT for Anxiety
turn anxious interpretations into rational thoughts, repeated exposure to fear
38
Somatoform Disorders
psychologically caused disorders with physical symptoms that, unlike psychophysiological disorders, cannot be explain by physiology
39
Conversion Disorder
specific sensory or motor symptom without any cause
- usually develop during stressful situation
- played a role in Freud’s development in psychoanalysis - thought that they were due to traumatic hidden memories
- limited evidence for effectiveness
40
Hypochondriasis
persistent fears of having a serious illness, report patterns of symptoms consistent with preoccupied illness
-generated by misinterpretations of bodiy signals
41
Psychophysiological disorders
physical diseases caused by psychological disorders and can be explained and treated physically
42
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
increased presentation
Disorders of thought
Delusions
Hallucinations
43
Disorders of Thought
thinking is characterized by loose associations
| speech may be vague and abstract
44
Delusions
a belief that is irrational or unsupported by external evidence
- fragmentary or bizarre
- often about thoughts or thinking
45
Thought Broadcast
the belied that others can hear one's thoughts
46
Thought Withdrawal
the belief that the individual's thoughts are being removed from their head
47
Thought Insertion
the belied that thoughts are being placed into the individual's head by others
48
Hallucinations
perceptions of things that are not really there
- auditory are more common than visual
- hearing voiced in head, or speaking from other parts of the body
- saying negative things, commenting on things, giving orders
49
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
decreased presentation
- decrease engagement with outside world
- more concerned with internal ideas and fantasies
- growing estrangement with family and coworkers
- increasing neglect of own personal appearance
- changes in emotional response
50
Affect
emotional responsiveness
51
Flat/blunted Affect
little emotional response
52
Inappropriate Affect
inappropriate emotional reactions to situations
53
Catatonic Behaviour of Schizophrenia
unrelated to stimuli from the outside world
Catatonic Rigidity/Catatonic Stupor
Catatonic Excitement
54
Catatonic Rigidity/Catatonic Stupor
dramatic reduction in movement (or ceasing to move at all)
| -waxy flexibility - arms and legs moved into a variety of positions then slowly move back into original position
55
Catatonic Excitement
- repeated stereotyped motor movements
| - active/frantic movements
56
Subtypes of Schizophrenia
Paranoid
Catatonic
Disorganized
Undifferentiated
57
Paranoid Schizophrenia
delusions or auditory hallucinations with a single theme
- thoughts, affect, and motor behaviour are normal
- shows anger or anxiety relating to the disturbing content of the delusions
58
Catatonic Schizophrenia
strong motor disruption
- stupor
- excitement
- alternations between the two
59
Disorganized Schizophrenia
most severe and disruptive
- incoherent thought and speech
- disorganized behaviour
- flat/inappropriate affect
- possible motor disturbance
- social withdrawal
60
Undifferentiated Schizophrenia
cases which do not fit into any of the other 3
- some cases do not neatly fit into one of the established subtypes
- researchers can disagree on the appropriate characteristics that define a certain subtype
61
Diathesis-Stress Hypothesis
the thought that schizophrenia develops when there is a genetic predisposition and some environmental stress that triggers the symptoms
- probability of development is higher the more closely related they are to someone who has the disorder
- twin & adoption studies
62
Triggers
stress and problems with relationships with others (esp. family)
-evidence of higher levels of dysfunction in families with schizophrenics
63
Treatments of Schizophrenia
Chronic care was used
drug treatments are limited in effectiveness - side effects are common and this can affect compliance
-psychotherapy helps patient develop coping strategies once drugs relieve symptoms
64
Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy for Schizophrenia
taught how to think about psychosis in ways that allow for better coping
- learn to identify and avoid triggers
- learn positive ways to react to triggers
- encourage compliance with medical instruction (through rewarding adherence)
- addresses environmental factors (the family)
65
Dissociative Disorders
historically have been confused with schizophrenia
| include symptoms that distance the individual from anxiety-producing events or memories
66
Dissociative Identity Disorder
also known as multiple personality disorder
| characterized by single individual who manifests several distinct personalities
67
Alternative Identities in DID
at any given time, only one of these alters dominates
- presenting personality usually doesn't know about the others
- others usually know about the main personality and each other
- can be different ages, sexes, races, intelligences, etc.
68
Sexual Abuse
believed to cause DID
- alters are created in response to traumatic incidents
- their purpose is to shield the main personality from trauma by carrying away the memory of abuse
- memories are segregated into separate personalities and memories of alters
- coping strategy
69
Critique of Sexual Abuse
alternate personalities can be created without traumatic events - personalities can be implanted by suggestion
70
Non-Personality Disorders
set of specific symptoms that affect lifestyle in a certain way
71
Personality Disorders
generalized symptoms that affect the entire personality
- something about the individual's basic personality leads to maladaptive or inflexible behaviours and thought processes
- cause problems in interactions with others and effective functioning with others
72
3 Clusters of Personality Disorders
Odd and Eccentric
Anxious and Fearful
Dramatic and Erratic
73
Antisocial Personality Disorder
show consistent erratic and irresponsible behaviour
-begins in childhood and early adolescence and continues into adulthood
child - frequent liar, truant from school, thief
adult - fail to honour financial obligations, late for work, shows up intoxicated
-selfish and self-centered
74
Difficulties in Antisocial Personality Disorder
postponing gratification
planning ahead
Consideration for safety (of self and others)
social relationships
-use, manipulate or mistreat others for personal gain
-trouble sustaining close relationships and jobs
-sexually promiscuous
-aggressive, outgoing, attention-seeking, history of abusing others
75
Biological Factors of Antisocial Personality Disorder
criminality and antisocial behaviour runs in families
| -adoption studies
76
Environmental Factors of Antisocial Personality Disorder
family disruption through disertion, divorce or separation is more frequent among antisocial individuals than the population at large
77
Biological Model of Antisocial Personality Disorder
changes in brain function
antisocial brain is chronically unaroused - sensation seeking and antisocial behaviour may bring level of brain arousal to normal
78
Psychodynamic Model of Antisocial Personality Disorder
lacks adequate superego - due to faulty or abnormal resolution of Oedipus Complex
- no treatment is consistently successful
- reports of exceptional resistance to reform
79
Borderline Personality Disorder
unstable, highly changeable emotions and behaviour
- frequent mood changes
- irritable, impulsive, sarcastic, easily angered, unpredictable, insecure, unstable view of self
- demand attention and dont like being left alone
- self-mutilation and high risk of suicide
- unhealthy behaviours
80
Histrionic Personality Disorder
overly dramatic and self-centred
shallow
must be the centre of attention
associated with high rates of depression and poor physical health
81
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
convinced of perfection, demands respect from others
never dates anyone for very long
convinced self is superior
relationship difficulties (demands/requires admiration)
-difficulty holding jobs
-frustrated when others cannot recognize superiority
-cannot take criticism
