Unit 12 - Psychological Disorders & Therapy Flashcards
situational context
the social or environmental setting of a person’s behavior
subjective discomfort
emotional distress while engaging in a particular behavior or thought process
maladapitve
person finds it hard to adapt to the demands of day-to-day living
psychological disorder
any pattern of behavior or psychological functioning that causes people significant distress, causes them to harm themselves or others, or harms their ability to function in daily life
insanity defense
legal defense used to argue that a mentally ill person who has committed a crime should not be held responsible for his/her actions because that person was unable to understand the difference between right and wrong at the time of the offense
biological model
proposes that psychological disorders have a biological or medical cause
cultural relativity
refers to the need to consider the unique characteristics of the culture in which the person with a disorder was nurtured to be able to correctly diagnose and treat the disorder
cultural syndromes
disorders only found in particular cultures
DSM-5
describes about 250 disorders (symptoms, typical path, checklist of specific criteria to be met for diagnosis)
NOT THERAPY
David Rosenhan
healthy patients were admitted to hospital with diagnoses of schizophrenia or manic depression; stopped showing symptoms once in hospital but doctors still thought they were ill because of the patients’ labels
4 standards of psychological disorders
- statistical infrequency (uncommon)
- maladaptive/dysfunctional (gets in way of normal life)
- distress (bothersome) - DOESN’T ALWAYS QUALIFY
- violation of norms (does society think it’s okay?)
anxiety disorders
disorders in which the most dominant symptom is excessive or unrealistic anxiety
examples include: generalized anxiety disorder panic disorder phobias obsessive-compulsive disorder
free-floating anxiety
term given to anxiety that seems to be unrelated to any realistic and specific known factor and it is often a symptom of an anxiety disorder
phobia
an irrational, persistant fear of something
social anxiety disorder
involves fear of interacting with other or being in a social situation
specific phobia
an irrational fear of some object or specific situation
agoraphobia
fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or impossible if something should go wrong
panic attack
a sudden onset of extreme panic with various physical symptoms (racing heart, rapid breathing, a sensation of being “out of one’s body”, dulled hearing and vision, sweating, dry mouth)
panic disorder
when panic attacks occur more than once or repeatedly, and cause persistent worry or changes in behavior
generalized anxiety disorder
excessive anxiety and worries occur more days than not for at least 6 months
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
intruding thoughts that occur again and again are followed by some repetitive, ritualistic behavior or mental acts
acute stress disorder (ASD)
symptoms often occur immediately after the traumatic event and include anxiety, dissociative symptoms, recurring nightmares, sleep disturbances, problems in concentration, and moments in which people seem to “relive” the event in dreams and flashbacks for as long as 1 month following the event
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
when symptoms associated with ASD occur for more than 1 month; the symptoms of PTSD may not occur until 6 months or later after the event
magnification
the tendency to “make mountains out of molehills” by interpreting situations as being more harmful, dangerous, or embarrassing than they actually are
all-or-nothing thinking
a person believes that his or her performance must be perfect or the result will be a total failure
overgeneralization
a single negative event interpreted as a never-ending pattern of defeat
minimization
giving little or no emphasis to one’s success or positive events and traits
mood disorders/affective disorders
disturbances in emotion
major depressive disorder (unipolar disorder)
a deeply depressed mood comes on fairly suddenly and either seems to be too severe for the circumstances or exists without any external cause for sadness; no trigger or reason; occurs for 2 or more weeks
persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)
occurs for 2 or more years as adults or 1 or more years as children; livable amount of depression (can still do things but there’s no joy)
symptoms of depressive disorders
poor appetite/overeating insomnia/hypersomnia low energy low self-esteem poor hygiene poor concentration difficulty making dicisions feelings of hopelessness substance abuse aggressive behavior
bipolar disorder
a person experiences periods of mood that can range from severe depression to manic episodes; switching moods can be seasonal, take years, or days; depression usually lasts 3 times longer than mania; high suicide rate
bipolar I disorder
individual only experiences mood that spans from normal to manic, and may or may not experience episodes of depression
bipolar II disorder
spans of normal mood are interspersed with episodes of major depression and episodes of hypermania (less than mania)
symptoms of mania
excitement/euphoria hyperactivity creativity fewer inhibitions elevated self-esteem ideas of grandeur optimism poor judgement
suicide event
traumatic event causes person to fall drastically below baseline arousal; lowest point usually occurs in winter; the suicide attempt usually occurs in spring when the person starts to feel better because they now have more energy to actually attempt committing suicide
