week 11: psychological disorders Flashcards
what is mental health
A state of emotional and social wellbeing
what is a mental disorder?
A clinically recognisable set of symptoms and behaviours that disrupts wellbeing/functioning. It causes stress (for them and others) and requires treatment
what are mental health problems (psychopathology)
Problematic patterns of thought, feeling, and behaviour
psychopathology in Australia stats
Almost half the population (45%) will experience a mental disorder at some point
About 1 in 5 adults (16‐85 years) will have had a mental disorder in the past year
For children/adolescents: 12‐month prevalence was 1 in 7
what is the Context of psychopathology
Historical
Social
Cultural
Theoretical
Theoretical context of psychopathology
- Psychodynamic theories
- Cognitive‐behavioural approaches
- Biological approaches
- Systems theory (e.g. family system model)
- Evolutionary perspectives
Psychodynamic perspective classes of psychopathology
3 classes of psychopathology, in which ego functioning is central:
• Neuroses
• Personality disorders
• Psychoses
Psychodynamic perspective classes of psychopathology: neuroses
issues in living that involve anxiety (phobias) or interpersonal conflict
Psychodynamic perspective classes of psychopathology: personality disorders
chronic and severe disturbances that alter the capacity to work and to love
Psychodynamic perspective classes of psychopathology: psychoses
marked disturbances of contact with reality
cause of psychodynamic classes
neuroses: environmental
psychoses: genetic vulnerability
personality disorders: environment or the interaction of genes and environment
Cognitive and behavioural perspective of psychopathology
Cognitive: psychological disorders reflect dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs and cognitive processes
Behavioural: psychological problems arise from conditioned emotional responses
Biological perspective to psychopathology
Root of abnormal behaviour lies within the brain
Systems perspective to psychopathology
Root of abnormality lies in the context of a social group (and families)
Evolutionary perspective to psychopathology
- Random variations in genotypes can lead to less adaptive phenotypes
- Less adaptive behaviour may have its roots in behaviour important for survival 3. important interplay of genes and environment
what is the most common approach to diagnosing mental disorders in Australia?
descriptive – using atheoretical disorder classification systems
the 2 disorder classification systems
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
- International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
what is Schizophrenia
Debilitating disorder that involves disturbance in almost every dimension of human function – perceptions, thoughts, behaviour, emotions, and language – and impacts on social relationships (family life, friendships) and occupational functioning
2 types of Schizophrenia Symptom clusters
positive and negative
negative Schizophrenia symptoms
- Absence/lack of normal behaviour or function
- Flat affect (lack of emotion)
- Apathy/avolition (lack of motivation)
- Social withdrawal
- Lack of spontaneous movement
- Alogia (lack of speech)
- catatonia (weird movements)
positive Schizophrenia symptoms
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Disorganised speech or behaviour
different forms of hallucinations
auditory visual somatic (sensation in the body) eg, worms in skin tactile (touch) eg, burning olfactory (smell) gustatory (taste)
most common form of hallucinations
auditory
what are delusions
A false belief, held firmly, even in the face of objective evidence to the contrary
different types of delusions
- Persecutory (belief being mistreated)
- Grandiosity (inflated self-worth)
- control (being controlled by external forces)
- reference (event has special meaning to them)
- Somatic (belief of medical problem)
- Thought broadcasting (someone can read their mind)
- Thought insertion (planted thoughts)
- Thought withdrawal (stolen thoughts)
what is a thought disorder?
Disturbances in the speed or amount or coherence of thinking
different thought disorder symptoms
Poverty of content (adequate number of words, but limited information)
• Flight of ideas (rapid, continuous verbalisations, difficult to interrupt)
• Word salad/unintelligible verbalisations (individual words
strung together incorrectly, incoherent)
• Tangentiality (answers to questions that are oblique)
• Circumstantiality (delay in reaching goal)
Phases of schizophrenia (illness course)
premorbid phase
prodromal phase
psychotic phase
stable phase
premorbid phase of schizophrenia
childhood
cognitive, motor or social deficits
prodromal phase of schizophrenia
adolescence/young adult
brief attenuated positive symptoms and/or functional decline
extremely high degrees of recovery with treatment before first psychotic episode
the first psychotic episode at end of phase
psychotic phase of schizophrenia
young adulthood
florid positive symptoms
medium degree of recovery with intervention
stable phase of schizophrenia
negative symptoms, cognitive/social deficits, functional decline
lower degrees of recovery with intervention
factors impacting schizophrenia
biological (genetics, abnormalities in brain, abnormalities in neurotransmitters) psychosocial factors (environmental)
Bipolar and Related Disorders
Characterised by disturbance in emotion and mood.
has alternating periods of mania and depression
what is mania/manic episode?
period of abnormally elevated or expansive mood
types of bipolar
Bipolar I
Bipolar II
Cyclothymia
Bipolar I
major depression and mania
Bipolar II
major depression and hypomania
Cyclothymia
hypomania and mild depression
what are Depressive disorders
Characterised by disturbance in emotion and mood (negative mood)
Depressive disorders symptoms
5 symptoms needed, 2 needing to be:
Persistent sad mood
Anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure in activities)
Anxiety Disorders
Frequent, intense, and irrational anxiety or apprehension
anxiety in Australia
Most common of the mental disorders
afflict 1 in 7 of adult population
Higher rates in women
Phobic disorder
An irrational fear of an object or situation
social phobias
Lifetime prevalence 8%
• Fear of being in a public situation (eg. public speaking)
Agoraphobia
A fear of being in places or situations from which it might be difficult to escape
form of social phobia
Panic disorder
Intense attacks of fear and terror that are not justified by the situation
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
