Abnormal Psychology (Barlow and Durand)

1. distress or impairment
2. dysfunction
3. atypical / not culturally expected

3 characteristics of psychological disorder

psychological dysfunction

breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning

distress

extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain

atypical

not typical

prototype

typical profile of a disorder

presenting problem

Original complaint reported by the client to the therapist.

clinical description

the unique combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that make up a specific disorder

Prevalence

percentage of people within a population who have a specific mental disorder

Incidence

The number or rate of new cases of a particular condition during a specific time.

sex ratio

percentage of males and females having a disorder

course

pattern of development and change of a disorder over time

chronic course

disorder tends to last a long time, often a lifetime

episodic course

Pattern of a disorder alternating between recovery and recurrence.

time-limited course

The disorder will improve without treatment in a relatively short period.

acute onset

disorder begins suddenly

insidious onset

disorder develops gradually over an extended period of time

prognosis

a prediction of the course of a disorder

developmental psychopathology

the study of changes in abnormal behavior

life-span developmental psychopathology

study of abnormal behavior across the entire age span

Etiology

the study of the causes of disorders

1. supernatural model
2. biological tradition
3. psychological tradition

3 historical conceptions of abnormal behavior

supernatural model

Abnormal behavior due to possession by gods or demons, or other phenomena such as the moons and stars.

mass hysteria

outbreak of irrational behavior that is spread by social contagion

mob psychology

if one person identifies a "cause" of the problem, others will probably assume that their own reactions have the same source

Hippocrates

Father of modern medicine

He suggested that psychological disorders could be treated like any other diseases.
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Humoral Theory

Pertaining to body fluids or substances contained in them.

blood

• "sanguine"

• cheerful and optimistic

black bile

• "melancholic"

• depression

yellow bile

• "choleric"

• anger / hot-tempered

phlegm

• "phlegmatic"

• sluggishness

John P. Grey

Psychiatrist who believed that the causes of insanity were always physical.
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Emil Kraepelin

• A pioneer of diagnostic categorization in mental health who was one of the first to assign formal labels to particular clusters of symptoms.

• "diagnosis" & "classification"

Philippe Pinel and Jean-Baptiste Pussin

• proponents of moral therapy

• "patients shouldn't be restrained"

moral therapy

psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally as possible in normal environments

Dorothea Dix

proponent of mental hygiene movement

mental hygiene movement

movement to treat mental patients more humanely and to view mental disorders as medical diseases

Franz Anton Mesmer

German physician whose theories and practices led to modern-day hypnotism.

Catharsis

a release of emotional tension

insight

a fuller understanding of the relationship between current emotions and earlier events

1. structure of the mind
2. defense mechanisms
3. psychosexual stages

3 major facets of psychoanalytic theory

1. id
2. ego
3. superego

3 structures of the mind

id

source of our strong sexual and aggressive feelings and energies

pleasure principle

• tendency of the id to strive for immediate gratification

primary process

id's way of processing information wherein this type of thinking is emotional, irrational, illogical, filled with fantasies and preoccupied with sex, aggression, selfishness, and envy.

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

reality principle

seeks to delay gratification of the id's urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found

secondary process

ego's way of processing information characterized by logic and reason

superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

moral principles

the principles of right and wrong accepted by an individual or a social group

Ana Freud

Developed the defense mechanisms more fully

Denial

Defense mechanism by which people refuse to accept reality.

Displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

reaction formation

Defense mechanism by which people behave in a way opposite to what their true but anxiety-provoking feelings would dictate.

Repression

Defense mechanism by which anxiety-provoking thoughts and feelings are forced to the unconscious.

Sublimation

Defense mechanism by which people redirect socially unacceptable impulses toward acceptable goals.

1. Oral Stage
2. Anal Stage
3. Phallic Stage
4. Latency Stage
5. Genital Stage

5 psychosexual stages

fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

Oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

castration anxiety

In psychoanalysis, the fear in young boys that they will be mutilated genitally because of their lust for their mothers.

Electra complex

Conflict during phallic stage in which girls supposedly love their fathers romantically and want to eliminate their mothers as rivals

object relations theory

study of how children incorporate the images, the memories, and sometimes the values of a person who was important to them

free association

a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

dream analysis

A psychoanalytic technique in which the therapist interprets the symbolic meaning of the client's dreams.

Transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

Countertransference

Circumstances in which a psychoanalyst develops personal feelings about a client because of perceived similarity of the client to significant people in the therapist's life.

Introspection

examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

systematic desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.

unconditional positive regard

according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

biological influences

it refers to how evolution, individual genes, brain structure and chemistry contributes to developing of a disorder

social influences

social and cultural factors contributing to development of disorder

emotional and cognitive influences

thoughts and feelings that affect one's behavior

behavioral influences

• acts that contribute to development of disorder

ex.
-conditioned response to sight of blood: similar situations-even words-produce same reaction

-tendency to escape and avoid situations

diathesis-stress model

a diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event

Diathesis

a vulnerability or predisposition to developing a disorder

vulnerability

susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder

gene-environment correlation

• the idea that heredity influences the environments to which individuals are exposed

• a genetically determined tendency to create the very environmental risk factors that trigger a genetic vulnerability

1. Central Nervous System (CNS)
2. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

two divisions of the nervous system

1. brain
2. spinal cord

what are the 2 parts of the central nervous system?

Neuron

a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.

Receptors

parts of the cell membrane that receive the neurotransmitter and initiate or prevent a new electric signal

excitatory neurotransmitters

excite the next cell into firing

inhibitory neurotransmitters

inhibit the next cell from firing

1. Cerebral Cortex
2. Limbic System
3. Basal Ganglia
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3 components of the forebrain

hints: CC-LS-BG

cerebral cortex

• the largest part of the forebrain

• it contains more than 80% of all neurons

amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.

limbic system

this system helps regulate our emotional experiences and expressions, and our ability to learn and control our impulses

basal ganglia

• deep brain structures involved in motor movement

• controls motor activity

thalamus and hypothalamus

involved broadly with regulating behavior and emotion

Midbrain

coordinates simple movements with sensory information

Hindbrain

it consists of medulla, pons, cerebellum

Cerebellum

A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills.

1. Somatic Nervous System
2. Autonomic Nervous System

2 parts of the peripheral nervous system

somatic nervous system

A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system. Enables voluntary actions to be undertaken due to its control of skeletal muscles.

autonomic nervous system

A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system. Controls involuntary activity of visceral muscles and internal organs and glands.

Serotonin

• affects mood, hunger, sleep and arousal.

• undersupply linked to depressions

• regulates behavior, moods, and thought processes

Norepinephrine

involved in emergency reactions or alarm responses

Dopamine

• a neurotransmitter that regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure, and emotional arousal

• neurotransmitter which is a switch that turns on various brain circuits