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Abnormal Psychology > Term Test 1 > Flashcards

Term Test 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

What constitutes abnormal?

A

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)

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2
Q

Prevalence

A

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

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3
Q

Why are we interested in prevalence when discussing mental illnesses?

A

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

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4
Q

Time limited

A

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

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5
Q

Lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia

A

1%

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6
Q

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

A

Diagnosis
Causation
Treatment/outcome

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7
Q

What are some criticisms of the DSM-5

A

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)

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8
Q

How do genes affect the body?

A

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

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9
Q

What does it mean for mental illnesses to be polygenetic?

A

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

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10
Q

Genome wide association studies

A

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

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11
Q

Explain the diathesis stress model

A

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

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12
Q

Interacting factors in mental illness development

A

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

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13
Q

Grey matter

A

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

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14
Q

White matter

A

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

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15
Q

Why might mental illness occur at a neuron level?

A

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

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16
Q

Central executive

A

Network of brain regions responsible for higher order cognitive thinking

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17
Q

Salience

A

Network of brain regions that become active when paying attention

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18
Q

Default mode

A

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

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19
Q

Glutamate and it’s role in CNS

A

Excitatory, turns on neurons

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20
Q

GABA

A

Generally inhibitory, inhibits neuron from firing action potential

21
Q

Serotonin

A

Present in circuits that influence behaviour, especially information processing

22
Q

Norepinephrine

A

Mobile brain and body for action aka fight or flight

23
Q

Dopamine

A

Exploratory pleasure seeking behaviour

24
Q

Two factor conditioning model

A

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

25
Q

Cognitive disortions

A

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

26
Q

Anxiety

A

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

27
Q

fear

A

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

28
Q

Panic

A

Abnormal form of fear

29
Q

What is the fight or flight response produced by?

A

HPA axis to prepare body for threatening external stimuli

30
Q

Explain the process of the HPA axis

A

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

31
Q

Relationship between anxiety disorders and fight or flight

A

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

32
Q

2 types of panic attacks

A

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

33
Q

GAD

A

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

34
Q

Course of GAD

A

Usually begins in late teens early 20s

Considered chronic but can be symptom free for a long time

35
Q

What circuit is relevant in anxiety disorders

A

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

36
Q

Neurotransmitters causation for GAD

A

Norepinephrine

GABA

serotonin

37
Q

Causation child psychology of GAD

A

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

38
Q

Cognitive causation GAD

A

Cognitive problems are:

Intolerance of uncertainty

Positive beliefs about worry

Poor problem orientation

Cognitive avoidance

39
Q

Drugs to treat GAD

A

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

40
Q

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

A

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

Mindfulness and meditation

41
Q

Panic disorder

A

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

42
Q

Agoraphobia

A

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

43
Q

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

A

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

44
Q

Panic disorder course

A

Usually begins in late adolescence early adulthood

Chronic but symptoms tend to differ over time

45
Q

Gender effect in panic disorder

A

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

46
Q

Treatments for panic disorder and agoraphobia

A

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

47
Q

Social anxiety disorder

A

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

48
Q

Course of social anxiety

A

Usually childhood or early adolescence

Abnormal Psychology (1 decks)

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