disorders of trauma and stress (ch.6)

components of stress

stressor: event that creates demands and causes fear when viewed as threatening

stress response: person’s reactions to demands

extraordinary stress and trauma

can play a central role in psychological disorders and provoke a range of significant stress symptoms (anxiety, mood, memory, behavioral disturbances)

types of extraordinary stress and trauma

acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and dissociative disorders

fight or flight response

feeling of intense physiological readiness in response to a true stressor (driven by ANS)

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

extensive network of nerve fibers that connects the CNS to all other organs of the body (sympathetic and parasympathetic)

sympathetic branch of ANS

prepares us to react, fight off, or run away from a threat

parasympathetic branch of ANS

calms our bodies down to a state or relaxation after fight or flight

endocrine system

network of glands throughout the body that release hormones like cortisol which is associated with ongoing intense stress (nuerotoxin)

acute stress disorder

fear and related symptoms begin within four weeks of traumatic event that last for less than a month

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

fear and related symptoms last longer than one month (50% of cases of acute stress develop into PTSD) 7-12% of people, any age, women, lower income

qualifiers of trauma

directly experiencing or witnessing actual or threatened death, serious injury, sexual violence (disasters, victimization, combat, life threatening accidents)

why do people develop acute and PTSD disorders

severity and nature of traumas, biology, childhood experience, lack of coping styles and social support

developmental psychopathology perspective

putting the factors of biology, overreactive stress routes, and timing of stressors/traumas over development all together

multifinality and PTSD

people challenged with more negative variables in childhood may be more susceptible to PTSD following a traumatic event

equifinality and PTSD

PTSD that occurs regardless of upbringing because of the strength of the traumatic event

PTSD treatments

exposure techniques**: prolonged exposure, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, cognitive processing therapy

mindfulness-based processing: teaching calming/relaxation tools

antidepressant drug therapy, sleep medication, couple/family/group therapy

dissociative disorders

occurs when one part of memory or identity becomes separate from other parts (major changes in memory that don’t have clear physical causes rather are often triggered by stressful/traumatic events)

memory

key to our sense of identity, provides a link between out past, present, and futuree

dissociative amnesia

occurs when a person can’t recall important life-related information, typically of a traumatic or stressful information (not caused by substance abuse of another medical condition)

dissociative amnesia with fugue

people forget their personalities and details of the past, but also flee to an entirely different location (unconscious psychological and physical escape)

dissociative identity disorder (DID)

two or more distinct personalities develop often as a coping mechanism from serious trauma often physical or sexual abuse (switching is triggered by stress, 3:1, under 5, rare)

three kinds of DID relationships

one-way amnesic relationships: the core personality is unaware of the sub

mutually amnesic relationships: neither personality is aware of the other

mutually cognizant patterns: all personalities are aware of each other

repression

unconscious defense mechanism where your mind blocks out the traumatic event

treatment for dissociative amnesia and dissociative amnesia with fugue

frequently resolves on its own, guided search into unconscious to bring forgotten experiences into consciousness

treatment for DID

therapists help clients recognize the nature of their disorder and their personalities, recover gaps in memory, and integrate sub personalities into one by fushion

depersonalization-derealization disorder

persistent feelings of detachment from your own body, mind, or surroundings while still knowing that these unreal feelings are not true

depersonalization

feeling separation from own body, self as an observer, having dreamlike dizzy feelings

derealization

feeling external world is unreal and strange