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
dissociative disorders
involve a break, or dissociation, in consciousness, memory, or a person’s sense of identity
dissociative amnesia
repression (consciousness cannot deal with traumatic so it blocks it); there’s a triggering event
dissociative fugue
travel somewhere and become someone else (disappeared/forgot oneself); triggering event
dissociative identity disorder
multiple personalities; due to sever trauma; host personality unaware of other personalities; alter personalities come out in stressful situations (age/gender varies); each alter personality has own memory trace
schizophrenia symptoms
perception
-hallucination (any of the senses)
emotion
- affect (flattened/inappropriate/heightened)
thought
- psychosis (not knowing what’s real and what isn’t)
- delusion (thinking something that isn’t true)
language
- word salad (making up phrases and sentences that don’t make sense)
- neologism (making up words)
behavior
positive symptoms
something that normal people don’t have (e.g. hearing voices)
negative symptoms
something that normal people have (e.g. affect)
dopamine hypothesis
increased dopamine levels cause symptoms of schizophrenia
causes of schizophrenia
biological (combinations of genes that link to specific symptoms)
dopamine hypothesis
personality disorders
no known causes; very few medications/therapies
cluster A: odd behavior
- paranoid
- schizoid
cluster B: dramatic/impulsive behavior
- borderline
- antisocial
- histrionic
- narcissistic
cluster C: anxious behavior
- avoidant
- dependent
paranoid PD
suspicious, guarded, hypersensitive, social isolation, detachment, hostility, grudges
schizoid PD
indifferent to others, isolate themselves, don’t form emotional attachments
borderline PD
unstable moods/behavior, problems with self-image/identity, fear of abandonment, emptiness/boredom, impulsive, inappropriate anger, self-destructive, suicidal, self-mutilating, see world in absolutes
antisocial PD
disregard rights/feelings of others, egocentric, impulsive, aggressive, willing to break the law/cheat, no remorse, manipulative, charming
histrionic PD
overly seductive, dramatic, emotional, impressionable, sensitive to criticism, exaggerate relationships, blame others, need for approval, instant gratification, self-centeredness, changing emotions, lack of self-worth
narcissistic PD
very self-important, overreact to criticism, take advantage of others, expect favoritism, need attention, little empathy, selfish
psychotherapy
individual/couple/small group working directly with a therapist and discussing concerns/problems (addresses issues associated with disorder)
insight therapy
goal is to understand one’s motives and actions
action therapy
directed at changing behavior
biomedical therapy
use of drugs, surgical methods, ECT, and noninvasive stimulation techniques (eliminates or alleviates symptoms)
psychoanalysis
insight therapy that emphasizes revealing unconscious conflicts, urges, and desires that are assumed to cause disordered emotions and behavior
dream interpretation
analysis of elements within a patient’s reported dream
manifest content
what actually happened in the dream
latent content
hidden, symbolic meaning of what happened in the dream, revealing the unconscious conflicts that created nervous disorder
free association
patients encouraged to say whatever they were thinking, revealing things that were loosely associated with their flow of ideas, revealing hidden/unconscious concerns
resistance
the point at which the patient becomes unwilling to talk about certain topics
transference
when the therapist becomes a symbol of a parental authority figure from the past
interpersonal psychotherapy
psychotherapy developed to address depression; insight therapy focusing on relationships of individual with others and the interplay between mood and the events of everyday life
person-centered therapy
therapist acts as sounding board; therapists help individuals redirect their attention to focus on feelings not fully processed previously
3 elements for a successful person-therapist relationship
authenticity
unconditional positive regard
empathy
reflection
technique therapists use to allow clients to continue to talk and have insights without the interference of the therapist’s interpretations/biases; kind of mirroring of clients’ statements
motivational interviewing
therapist assists individual with self-understanding, and incorporates therapist goals and specific strategies for helping individual achieve self-directed behavior change
gestalt therapy
therapist is very directive, often confronts clients about statements they make; goal is to help client become more aware of their own feelings and take responsibility for their choices in life
behavior therapy
action based; aim to change behavior through the use of the same kinds of learning techniques that people use to learn any new responses
systematic desensitization
therapist guides client through series of steps meant to reduce fear and anxiety, normally used to treat phobic patients
- relax through deep muscle relaxation training
- construct list going from object/situation that causes least fear to client working up to object/situation that produces greatest degree of fear
- client goes through list while staying relaxed until phobia is gone
aversion therapy
teach client to pair an aversive/unpleasant stimulus with stimulus that results in undesirable response
exposure therapies
behavioral techniques that introduce the client to situations, under carefully controlled conditions, which are related to their anxieties/fears
flooding
exposure therapy is rapid and intense
modeling
person with specific fears or someone who needs to develop social skills can learn to do so by watching someone else confront those fears or demonstrate the needed social skills
participant modeling
a model demonstrates the desired behavior in a step-by-step, gradual process; client encouraged to imitate model in same step-by-step manner
token economy
client earns tokens for behaving correctly or accomplishing behavioral goals and can later exchange tokens for something they want; can also lose tokens for inappropriate behavior
contingency contracting
formal agreement between client and therapist in which both parties’ responsibilities and goals are clearly stated
cognitive therapy
focused on helping people change their ways of thinking
arbitrary interference
“jumping to conclusions” without any evidence
selective thinking
person focuses only on one aspect of a situation, leaving out other relevant facts that might make things seem less negative
personalization
individual takes responsibility or blame for events that are not really connected to the individual
rational emotive behavior therapy
clients are taught a way to challenge their own irrational beliefs with more rational, helpful statements
therapeutic alliance
relationship between the client and the therapist
evidence-based treatment
techniques/interventions that have produced desired outcomes, or therapeutic change in controlled studies
4 barriers to effective psychotherapy
culture-bound values
class-bound values
language
nonverbal communication
biomedical therapies
directly affecting the biological functioning of the body and brain
psychopharmacology
use of drugs to control or relieve the symptoms of a psychological disorder
antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to treat psychotic symptoms
antianxiety drugs
minor tranquilizers such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium
MAOIs
class of antidepressants that blocks activity of enzyme that breaks down NTs in order to give NTs more time to do “their job” with mood control
SSRIs
drugs that inhibit the reuptake process of serotonin
