Term Test 1

Question 1

What constitutes abnormal?

Answer 1

Psychological dysfunction within a person that causes distress or dysfunction and a response that is not typically culturally accepted (I.e think of 4 Ds)

Question 2

Prevalence

Answer 2

How common a mental health disorder or symptom is in a population

Question 3

Why are we interested in prevalence when discussing mental illnesses?

Answer 3

Since many mental health disorders are episodic, may emerge at different times during a lifespan

Question 4

Time limited

Answer 4

Illness only present for a period of time then never recurs again

Question 5

Lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia

Answer 5

1%

Question 6

What are the 3 things that mental health research typically focuses on

Answer 6

Diagnosis
Causation
Treatment/outcome

Question 7

What are some criticisms of the DSM-5

Answer 7

Being culturally biased towards American culture

Not providing reliable and valid diagnoses bc some physicians will diagnose same patient differently

Medicalizing potential normal behaviours (I.e tantrums in children)

Question 8

How do genes affect the body?

Answer 8

DNA provide genetic code to mRNA through transcription process that enables protein synthesis, which then serves a function in the body.

Question 9

What does it mean for mental illnesses to be polygenetic?

Answer 9

Many genes are involved in mental disorders, it’s not just one gene with a mutation it’s a bunch of genes with mutations that add up to produce a disorder

Question 10

Genome wide association studies

Answer 10

They look for patterns of single nucleotide point mutations across the genome to see if people with a disorder have the same point mutations

Question 11

Explain the diathesis stress model

Answer 11

A person can have a genetic predisposition to develop a disorder but depending on life stressors will influence the likelihood they develop it. Someone with low genetic predisposition might be able to handle more life stressors and not develop a disorder as opposed to someone with high genetic predisposition

Question 12

Interacting factors in mental illness development

Answer 12

Someone with genetic predisposition might be more likely to face stressors in their life, both genetics and environment interact with each other

Question 13

Grey matter

Answer 13

Mental functions performed by grey matter, neuron rich, actually pink in living brains. Grey matter regions interact with each other by signalling through axons

Question 14

White matter

Answer 14

Religion of the brain containing a lot of axons, look white due to high myelin content

Question 15

Why might mental illness occur at a neuron level?

Answer 15

Might occur when there is a problem on an axonal level where neurons are night communicating properly with other neurons

Question 16

Central executive

Answer 16

Network of brain regions responsible for higher order cognitive thinking

Question 17

Salience

Answer 17

Network of brain regions that become active when paying attention

Question 18

Default mode

Answer 18

Network of brain regions that are most active when the brain is at rest

Question 19

Glutamate and it’s role in CNS

Answer 19

Excitatory, turns on neurons

Question 20

GABA

Answer 20

Generally inhibitory, inhibits neuron from firing action potential

Question 21

Serotonin

Answer 21

Present in circuits that influence behaviour, especially information processing

Question 22

Norepinephrine

Answer 22

Mobile brain and body for action aka fight or flight

Question 23

Dopamine

Answer 23

Exploratory pleasure seeking behaviour

Question 24

Two factor conditioning model

Answer 24

Model combines classical and instrumental conditioning and can explain the persistence of fears where a person develops a fear response to a previous neutral stimuli (classical condition) and then develop behaviour to avoid triggering fear through instrumental conditioning

Question 25

Cognitive disortions

Answer 25

Unhelpful thinking styles that result in negative emotions and maladaptive behaviours in mental illness

Question 26

Anxiety

Answer 26

A physical state characterized by physical tension and apprehension about future events

Question 27

fear

Answer 27

A normal emotion that activates in potentially life threatening situations to produce the fight or flight response

Question 28

Panic

Answer 28

Abnormal form of fear

Question 29

What is the fight or flight response produced by?

Answer 29

HPA axis to prepare body for threatening external stimuli

Question 30

Explain the process of the HPA axis

Answer 30

Hypothalamus releases CRF to pituitary gland which secrete ACTH which stimulate the adrenal cortex which then releases cortisol (and a bunch of other hormones)

Question 31

Relationship between anxiety disorders and fight or flight

Answer 31

Normal fight or flight may become dysregulated such that it turns on in response to non threatening stimuli

Question 32

2 types of panic attacks

Answer 32

Expected: person is afraid of specific stimulus and they come in contact with that stimulus and have a panic attack Unexpected: random panic attack not in response to anything

Question 33

GAD

Answer 33

In GAD people are anxious almost all the time in any situation, have uncontrollable worry about many things, occurring for more than 6 months and they spend a lot of time trying to avoid feared situations

Question 34

Course of GAD

Answer 34

Usually begins in late teens early 20s | Considered chronic but can be symptom free for a long time

Question 35

What circuit is relevant in anxiety disorders

Answer 35

Behavioural inhibition system which lies in the limbic system and brings information from either down from the areas of cortex or up from the brain stem and passes them to the cortex which causes us to freeze and evaluate if the situation is dangerous

Question 36

Neurotransmitters causation for GAD

Answer 36

Norepinephrine GABA serotonin

Question 37

Causation child psychology of GAD

Answer 37

If you provide appropriately for you children they learn that they have a good sense of control of their own life, however if children are neglected they may learn that they do not have control of events, or overprotective parents may also a child’s ability to develop a sense of control by not letting them experience any adversity

Question 38

Cognitive causation GAD

Answer 38

Cognitive problems are: Intolerance of uncertainty Positive beliefs about worry Poor problem orientation Cognitive avoidance

Question 39

Drugs to treat GAD

Answer 39

Benzodiazepines: enhance the effect of GABA, immediate short term relief, prescribed for short term period, side effects might include drowsiness, dependence and impaired cognitive function Antidepressants: tend to act as reuptake inhibitors, slower acting, anywhere from 2-6 weeks. 2 used to treat gad are SSRI and SNRI

Question 40

Besides pharmaceuticals to treat GAD, what psych techniques can be used

Answer 40

CBT, recognizing cognitive distortions and developing coping mechanisms to control their anxiety Mindfulness and meditation

Question 41

Panic disorder

Answer 41

Where a person experiences an unexpected panic attack and then develops anxiety around having another panic attack

Question 42

Agoraphobia

Answer 42

Fear of having a panic attack in a place where it would not be convenient to have one

Question 43

Why would someone with agoraphobia or panic disorder avoid physical exercise?

Answer 43

Because some people with panic disorder might have a high trend awareness of bodily cues and so physical stimuli associated with working out may trick the person into thinking they’re having a panic attack

Question 44

Panic disorder course

Answer 44

Usually begins in late adolescence early adulthood Chronic but symptoms tend to differ over time

Question 45

Gender effect in panic disorder

Answer 45

Females 2x as likely to get it but em there is an age effect

Question 46

Treatments for panic disorder and agoraphobia

Answer 46

Benzodiazepines SSRIS SNRIs CBT where a patient is taught relaxation and breathing exercises then either have the patient identify catstrophizing cognitions or the therapist might try and induce these feelings, third step is to practice relaxation while having these feelings, fourth step is to recognize cognitive distortions, 5th step can be to use systematic desensitization

Question 47

Social anxiety disorder

Answer 47

People become so anxious in social situations and are afraid of being judged or humiliated from others, leads to avoiding social situations

Question 48

Course of social anxiety

Answer 48

Usually childhood or early adolescence