Psychology Lecture Notes

Flashcards about health psychology, psychological disorders, and treatment of psychological disorders.

What is health psychology?

It studies how biological, psychological, and social factors affect health and illness.

Define stress according to health psychology.

A state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult or demanding situation, potentially leading to hypertension, headaches, and immune suppression.

What are stressors?

Life events that cause us to experience stress.

What is eustress?

Stress that motivates us to achieve ('good stress').

What is distress?

Stress that is debilitating and prevents normal life activities.

What are the three stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)?

Alarm reaction, Resistance, and Exhaustion (ARE)

Describe the alarm reaction stage of GAS.

The sympathetic nervous system is activated (fight/flight/freeze) when stress is encountered.

Describe the resistance stage of GAS.

Coping with physical stress by releasing hormones as stress is confronted.

Describe the exhaustion stage of GAS.

Occurs when stress subsides or physical resources are spent, causing vulnerability to disease.

What does the tend-and-befriend theory suggest?

Some people (mostly women) react to stress by tending to their own needs and/or the needs of others and seeking connection with others.

What is problem-focused coping?

Views stress as a problem to be solved; tries different solutions until something works (e.g., establishing boundaries in relationships).

What is emotion-focused coping?

Focuses on reducing the emotional reaction to stressors (e.g., deep breathing, meditation).

What is Positive Psychology?

Seeks to identify factors that lead to well-being, resilience, positive emotions, and psychological health.

What are signature strengths or virtues?

A person's most consistently demonstrated and valued character strengths, categorized into wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

What is posttraumatic growth?

A positive subjective experience coming after the experience of trauma or stress.

How are psychological disorders identified?

By 3Ds: Level of dysfunction, Perception of distress, and Deviation from the social norm.

What are the characteristics of dysfunction within the 3Ds that identify psychological disorders?

Prevents individual from leading the life they want.

What are the characteristics of perception of distress within the 3Ds that identify psychological disorders?

Must be upsetting to the individual or those around them.

What are the characteristics of deviation from the social norm within the 3Ds that identify psychological disorders?

Must be unusual for the culture.

What is the DSM?

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used to diagnose over 400 disorders based on observable signs & symptoms.

What is the ICD?

International Classification of Mental Disorders used to classify mental disorders.

What is etiology?

The study of the causes of disorders or diseases.

What is the eclectic approach?

Using a variety of perspectives to diagnose and treat clients, used by most psychologists.

What does the Behavioral Perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by maladaptive (unhelpful) learned associations/conditioning.

What does the Psychodynamic Perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by unconscious thoughts and experiences, often developed during childhood.

What does the Humanistic Perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by a lack of social support and being unable to fulfill one’s potential.

What does the Cognitive Perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or emotions.

What does the Evolutionary Perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by genetic mutations that cause behaviors and mental processes that may have once been adaptive, or may be adaptive in some circumstances, but not generally not adaptive today.

What does the Sociocultural perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by maladaptive social and cultural relationships and dynamics.

What does the Biological Perspective say about mental disorders?

Mental disorders are caused by physiological or genetic issues (e.g., imbalance of neurotransmitters).

What is the biopsychosocial model?

Assumes that psychological disorders involve a combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.

What is the diathesis-stress model?

Assumes that psychological disorders develop due to a genetic vulnerability (diathesis) in combination with stressful life experiences (stress).

What are the characterizations of Neurodevelopmental disorders?

Defined as beginning in childhood and exhibiting behaviors inappropriate for a person's age or maturity range due to environmental, physiological, and/or genetic causes.

Define schizophrenic spectrum disorders. What are the two types of symptoms?

Characterized by positive symptoms (addition of inappropriate cognitions or behaviors) or negative symptoms (absence of appropriate cognitions or behaviors).

Define delusions and provide an example.

False beliefs, often of grandeur (exaggerated sense of self-importance) or persecution (everyone is out to get me).

Define hallucinations and provide an example.

False perceptions (no sensory input), can involve multiple senses but most often hearing.

Define catatonia

Disorganized movement can be stupor (lack of movement) or excitement (excessive, often repetitive movements).

What are potential causes of schizophrenia?

Genetics, prenatal virus exposure, and the dopamine hypothesis (high levels of dopamine).

Define depressive disorders.

Characterized by a sad, empty, or irritable mood along with physical and cognitive changes that affect a person’s ability to function.

Describe Major Depressive Disorder.

Two or more weeks of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest in formerly enjoyable activities.

Describe Persistent Depressive Disorder.

A mood disorder involving a pattern of comparatively mild depression that lasts for at least two years.

Describe Bipolar I disorder

Individuals experience full-blown manic episodes, characterized by extreme elation, inflated self-esteem, impulsivity, and reckless behavior.

Describe Bipolar II disorder

Individuals experience hypomanic episodes -milder forms of mania. Hypomanic episodes may cause increased energy, creativity, and productivity, but without the same level of impulsivity and impairment.

Describe hoarding disorder

People with this have difficulty parting with possessions, creating clutter that interferes with normal functioning and causes distress

Potential causes of obsessive-compulsive disorders

learned associations between and among stimuli, maladaptive thinking or emotional responses, and biological or genetic sources.

Potential causes of depressive disorders

biological, genetic, social, cultural, behavioral, or cognitive sources

Characterizations of Bipolar Disorder

periods of mania (high levels of activity and creativity) and periods of depression

Causes of bipolar disorders

biological, genetic, social, cultural, behavioral, or cognitive sources

Characterization of Anxiety disorders

excessive fear and/or anxiety with related disturbances to behavior

What is Acrophobia?

fear of heights

What is Arachnophobia?

fear of spiders

What is Agoraphobia?

fear of specific social situations, such as being in a crowd or being in an enclosed public space like a theater, that might cause feelings of panic or being trapped, helpless or embarrassed

Characterization of Panic Disorder

frequent panic attacks – relatively brief but unexpected and overwhelming cognitive and physical symptoms of anxiety, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, sweating, and dizziness

What is ataque de nervios

culture-bound disorder identified mainly in people of Caribbean or Iberian descent, characterized by dizziness, difficulty breathing, accelerated heart rate, screaming, crying, aggression, and/or dissociative episodes in response to challenging social circumstances or traumatic events

Social Anxiety Disorder

an intense fear of being watched or judged by others, different from but sometimes overlapping with agoraphobia

Taijin kyofusho

culture-bound anxiety disorder experienced mainly by Japanese people in which people fear that their bodily functions or appearance will cause offence

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Excessive, constant and long-lasting anxiety that is not focused on any particular object or situation, characterized by agitation, difficulty sleeping, worry, and/or tension

Potential causes of anxiety disorders

learned associations between and among stimuli, maladaptive thinking or emotional responses, and biological or genetic sources

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders

Characterized by obsessions (unwanted thoughts) and compulsions (unwanted, often repetitive behaviors intended to deal with the obsessive thoughts)

Characterization of Dissociative Disorders

Characterized by dissociations (departures) from consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior

Feeding And Eating Disorders

Characterized by altered consumption or absorption of food that impairs health or psychological functioning.

Anorexia Nervosa

distorted perception of body causes the person to see themselves as overweight even when they are not, causing them to restrict their diet and become dangerously underweight

Bulimia Nervosa

characterized by binge eating followed by purging (vomiting, laxative use, etc.), person stays around normal body weight

Potential causes of feeding and eating disorders

biological, genetic, social, cultural, behavioral, or cognitive sources

Dissociative amnesia

sudden loss of memory, including about personal identity, with no physiological cause. May occur with or without fugue, when a person leaves their familiar environment

Dissociative Identity Disorder

a person reports having more than one identity. The identities may or may not be aware of each other.

Potential causes of dissociative disorders

experiencing trauma or extreme stress

trauma and stressor-related disorders

Characterized by exposure to a traumatic or stressful event followed by psychological distress.

Posttraumatic stress disorder

Experience of a sudden or ongoing traumatic or stressful event followed by unwanted changes in cognition and/or behavior. Symptoms may involve hypervigilance, severe anxiety, flashbacks to traumatic or stressful experiences, insomnia/nightmares, emotional detachment, and hostility.

Potential causes of trauma and stressor-related disorders

involve the experience of trauma or stress.

Personality Disorders

characterized by enduring and inflexible patterns of internal experience and behavior that begin in adolescence or early adulthood and are relatively stable, pervasive, deviant for one's culture, and cause distress or impairment.

Cluster A personality disorders

Odd or Eccentric Cluster; disrupts relationships with unusual, suspicious, or detached behavior

Paranoid Personality Disorder

person displays a pattern of distrust and suspiciousness of others

Schizoid Personality Disorder

person is socially withdrawn and shows limited range of emotions

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

person has difficulty forming and maintaining close relationships, distorted perceptions, eccentric behavior/ideas, is socially withdrawn

Cluster B personality disorders

Dramatic, Emotional, or Erratic Cluster; impulsive or intense behaviors that are often inappropriate

Antisocial Personality Disorder

person exhibits a lack of remorse for wrongdoing and disregard for others' rights and well-being, often a pattern of cruel and/or criminal behavior

Histrionic Personality Disorder

person shows excessive emotionality and extreme attention-seeking behaviors

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

person has an exaggerated sense of self-importance and needs constant admiration, shows lack of empathy and pattern of manipulative attention-seeking behaviors

Borderline Personality Disorder

person has an unstable self image, moods, and relationships and has a fear of abandonment leading to clingy or withdrawn behavior

Cluster C personality disorders

Anxious or Fearful Cluster; anxiety as a personality trait

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Person is irrationally fearful of rejection leading to social isolation and hypersensitivity to criticism

Dependent Personality Disorder

Person is irrationally fearful of abandonment and demonstrates submissive and/or clingy behavior

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

a preoccupation with orderliness, perfection and control causes compulsive behaviors

Potential causes of personality disorders

biological, genetic, social, cultural, behavioral, or cognitive sources

psychotherapy

treatment based on conversational interactions between a trained therapist and a client

cultural humility

an ongoing practice for therapists and healthcare providers to reflect on their own cultural background, values, and beliefs in order to better understand others' cultures in order to treat them more effectively.

therapeutic alliance

a positive, productive relationship between client and therapist

psychotropic medication

medication that affects neurotransmitters, used to treat psychological disorders

deinstitutionalization

Movement beginning in the 1950’s to reduce the long-term use of psychiatric hospitals and asylums because of development of psychotropic drugs. Outpatient treatment is now preferred, homelessness has increased

APA General Ethical Principles

-nonmaleficence - psychologists should not cause harm to their patients and should protect their welfare and rights.

APA General Ethical Principles

-fidelity- psychologists take responsibility for their professional actions and consider their impact on clients and society

APA General Ethical Principles

-integrity - psychologists act with accuracy, transparency, honesty and truthfulness

APA General Ethical Principles

-justice - psychologists want everyone to be able to benefit from psychological knowledge and recognize that their biases and lack of expertise could inadvertently cause harm

APA General Ethical Principles

-respect for people's rights and dignity - psychologists respect an individual's right to privacy and to make choices for themselves. They are aware that mental illness and other conditions make some people more vulnerable.

Therapeutic Techniques: Psychodynamic

focus on searching for unconscious causes of disorder

dream analysis

through symbols using the manifest (storyline) content to reveal the latent (underlying meaning) content of a dream. Dreams are a window into the unconscious

Free Association

saying whatever comes to mind (thought, feeling or image) in response to a stimulus presented by the therapist

Therapeutic Techniques: Cognitive

focus on trying to stop and prevent unhelpful and unrealistic thinking

cognitive restructuring

a person learns to notice and change unrealistic or unhelpful patterns of thought