Py 14 Flashcards
Five Common Myths/Stereotypes about Mental Illness
People with psychological disorders act in bizarre ways and are very different from normal people.
(2)Mental disorders are a sign of personal weakness.
(3)Mentally ill people are often dangerous and unpredictable.
(4)A person who has been mentally ill never fully recovers.
(5)Most mentally ill individuals can work at only low-level jobs.
looks at the combined influence of genetics and stressful events on the development of psychological disorders.
Diathesis-Stress model
Unconscious conflicts and motives underlying abnormal behavior
Psychanalytic model
Learning experiences that shape the development of abnormal behavior
Behavioral model
Roadblocks to self-awareness and self-acceptance – encountering obstacles on the road to personal growth
Humanistic model
Faulty thinking (irrational or distorted thinking) underlying abnormal behavior
Cognitive model
says that a behavior may be considered abnormal if it occurs rarely or infrequently in relation to the behaviors of the general population
Statistical frequency approach
behavior is considered abnormal if it deviates or interferes greatly from accepted social standards, values, or norms-perhaps behavior is unusual
Social Deviance
a behavior is psychologically damaging or abnormal if it interferes with the individual’s ability to function in one’s personal life or in society
Maladaptive behavior approach
50% of all lifetime mental disorders begin by age
14
75% begin develop mental disorders by age
24
what % of mental disorders begin because of alcohol and drug use
24%
About 60% of people with a lifetime mental disorder …. any professional treatment.
do not ask for nor receive
outdated term for disorders characterized by unrealistic anxiety and other associated problems; less severe disruptions than psychosis
Neurosis
serious mental disorders characterized by extreme mental disruption and defective or lost contact with reality
Psychosis
legal term applied when people cannot be held responsible for their actions, or are judged incompetent to manage their own affairs, because of mental illness
Insanity
the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient
Comorbidity
contribute to the development of mental disorders. These are unlearned or inherited tendencies that influence how a person thinks, behaves, and feels
Genetic factors
such as having an overactive brain structure that contributes to the development of a mental disorder by causing a person to see the world in a biased or distorted way and to see threats when none really exist.
Neurological factors,
can contribute to abnormal behavior.
Imbalances in Neurotransmitters
is the most common of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders, affecting an estimated 1 in 250 births. As many as 1.5 million Americans today are believed to have some form of
Autism
The most consistent finding regarding the etiology of autism is that children with autism have more
neurons in the prefrontal cortex than non-autistic children.
are marked by disruptions in memory, consciousness, or identity. Results from avoidance of painful memories or situations.
•Need to escape from anxiety
Dissociative disorders
Multiple personalities emerge within the same individual
Dissociative identity disorder
Memory loss that cannot be explained as the result of head trauma or other physical cause
Dissociative amnesia
Downcast mood, feelings
of hopelessness and worthlessness, changes in sleep patterns or appetite, loss of motivation, loss of pleasure in pleasant activities
Major depression
Periods of shifting moods between mania and depression, perhaps with intervening periods of normal mood
Bipolar disorder
More women are diagnosed with depression around the world than are men. Why might this be?
Making inaccurate attributions, or explanations of the causes of events that happen, can lead to depression. People who tend to explain disappointments and failures by making attributions that are internal, global, and stable
and are predisposing themselves to depression when they face such negative events.
Example: A global statement could be “this is going to effect my whole life” and a stable statement could be “It’s never going to change”.
Depressive Attributional style
which is a loss of pleasure in pleasant activities that interferes with the ability to function or maintain interest in life.
anhedonia
unreasonable elation or euphoria, often with hyperactivity or energy, pressured speech, flight of ideas, poor
mania
Structural brain changes
•Neurotransmitter imbalances- namely with Serotonin, Norepinephrine, and Dopamine
•Genetics
Biological Factors
Learned helplessness
Attribution style
Cognitive distortions
Psychosocial Factors
feeling helpless to control the outcomes in life when repeated efforts prove futile, can lead to giving up and becoming depressed
Learned helplessness
making internal attributions about your failures-self blaming Pessimism
Attribution style
is seen by some as a way to escape the pain of major depression. Those who attempt to commit or actually do commit suicide are not insane but feel helpless in their attempts to feel better.
Suicide
Cognitive, Emotional & Environmental factors that contribute to the development of mental disorders include:
•Deficits in Cognitive Processing, such as having unusual thoughts and beliefs
•Deficits in Processing Emotional Stimuli, such as underreacting or overreacting to emotional situations
•Environmental Challenges, such as dealing with stressful situations
Viewing events in black or white terms, as either all good or all bad
All-or-nothing thinking
Tendency to blame or criticize yourself for disappointments or setbacks while ignoring
external circumstances
Misplaced blame
Tendency to think that one disappointment will inevitably lead to another
Misfortune telling
Focusing your attention only on the negative aspects
of your experiences
Negative focusing
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by trivializing or denying your accomplishments; minimizing your strengths or assets
Dismissing the positives
Drawing a conclusion that is not supported by the facts at hand
Jumping to conclusions
Exaggerating the importance of negative events or personal flaws (making mountains out of molehills)
Catastrophizing
Reasoning based on your emotions rather than on a clear-headed evaluation of the available evidence
Emotion-based reasoning
Placing unrealistic demands on yourself that you should or must accomplish certain tasks or reach certain goals
Shouldisms
Attaching negative labels to yourself or others as a way of explaining your own or others’ behavior
Name-calling
Assuming that you are the cause of other people’s problems
Mistaken responsibility
Fear and avoidance of public places
This generally develops secondarily to panic disorder, as the person attempts to avoid situations in which attacks have occurred or in which help might be unavailable in the event of an attack.
Agoraphobia
Repeated panic attacks accompanied by persistent concern about future attacks
Panic attacks have strong physiological symptoms; beginning attacks occur without warning; this disorder may be accompanied by agoraphobia.
Panic disorder
Persistent, excessive levels of anxiety and worry
Anxiety has a free-floating quality in that it is not tied to particular objects or situations.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation
Avoidance of the phobic object or situation is negatively reinforced by relief from anxiety.
Specific phobia
Fear and avoidance of social situations or performance situations
This involves underlying fear of rejection, humiliation, or embarrassment in social situations.
Social anxiety disorder
Recurrent obsessions and/or compulsions
A repetitive cycle may ensue in which obsessive thoughts engender anxiety that, in turn, is partially relieved (negatively reinforced) by
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
The most common diagnosed mental disorder among adults in the United States today is
Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Anxiety is experienced by most everyone at different times and is not a mental disorder unless its
chronic intensity disrupts your life.
Research shows the ….. can become overactive and make individuals with Anxiety disorders overly responsive to threatening cues.
Amygdala
Psychological symptoms of GAD
being irritable, having difficulty concentrating, and being unable to control one’s worry, which is out of proportion to the actual event
Possible contributors to Anxiety Disorders
Our fast-paced lives, increased mobility, and decreased job security and family support are believed to be important factors in the increase in Anxiety Disorders over the past few years.
Delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behavior, incoherent
or loosely connected speech, inappropriate emotions or
lack of emotional expression, social withdrawal, and apathy
An interaction of a genetic predisposition and life stress; underlying brain abnormalities
Schizophrenia
overactivity of dopamine neurons may contribute to some forms of schizophrenia
•Brain abnormalities – Larger cerebral ventricles
•Genetics- Many young people who have a genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia should avoid using hallucinogens, namely Marijuana, because use can awaken this disorder.
Dopamine hypothesis
•Critical and hostile families with communication problems
•An abusive family environment
•Life Stresses
Psychosocial effects of Schizophrenia
A pattern of antisocial and irresponsible behavior; callous treatment of others; lack of remorse for wrongdoing
Lacks empathy for others and may take advantage of people or fail to meet their commitments
Antisocial personality disorder
Unstable moods and stormy relationships with others; unstable
self-image; lack of impulse control
May engage in self-destructive behaviors, such as cutting themselves
Borderline personality disorder
include extremely rigid patterns of behavior and having inflexible and maladaptive personality traits that cause significant impairment of social and occupational functioning.
Personality Disorders
Personality Disorders Treatment involves long term
Psychotherapy
Severe instability of mood, emotion and self-concept, along with impulsive and self-destructive behavior
•Sees the world in black & white/at times this thinking style can contribute to suicidal thoughts
•Relationship and self-image problems
•People with borderline personality disorder tend to be impulsive, to have stormy relationships, and to have an unstable self-image. The
Borderline Personality Disorder
(sometimes called psychopaths or sociopaths) tend to show a lack of regard for the rights of others. They also tend to disregard rules and behave in ways that satisfy their own needs to the detriment of those around them. Displays egocentrism
Antisocial Personality disorder
