Forensic and Abnormal Psychology NUIG

Major Depression

Also known as unipolar depression, it is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest.

Bipolar Disorder 1

A mood disorder characterized by alternating periods of mania and depression.

Symptoms of Depression

Including persistent sadness, loss of interest, changes in appetite, and feelings of worthlessness.

Antidepressant Drugs

Medications that alleviate symptoms of depression, often used as a treatment: SSRIs,

Deliberate Self-Harm

Intentional injury to oneself, often associated with mood disorders.

Suicide

A tragic phenomenon frequently linked with severe mood disorders, especially depression.

Anxiety disorder

a psychological disorder characterized by an excessive or aroused state ad feelings of apprehension, uncertainty or fear

Harm Beliefs (Phobias)

When a spider is near me, it will harm me, bite me, taunt me

Chaser and prey Beliefs (Phobias)

When A spider is near me, it will stare at me, run towards me, settle on my face

Unpredictably and Speed Beliefs (Phobias)

When I encounter a spider, it will run very quick, run in an elusive way,, behave unpredictably

Invasiveness Beliefs (Phobias)

When I encounter a spider, it will crawl into clothes, walk all over me, and hide in places I don’t want

Response Beliefs (Phobias)

When I encounter a spider, I will feel faint, scream, lose control

Phobias

disproportionate fear about specific objects or situations, objects are avoided, last at least 6 months, cause significant distress

Aetiology of Specific Phobias

Classical Conditioning to fear a stimulus, evolutionary reasons and biological preparedness, abnormalities in the amygdala

Biological preparedness

Theory which argues that we have built-in predisposition to argue we learn to fear things such as snakes, spiders, heights, and water because these were life-threatening to our ancestors

Non-associative Fear Acquisition

a model that argues that fear of a set of biologically relevant stimuli develops naturally after very early encounters given normal maturational processes and normal background experiences, with no specific traumatic experiences with these stimuli

disease-avoidance model (phobias)

the view that some animal phobias are related to attempts to avoid disease or illness that might be transmitted by these animals

Treatment of Specific Phobia

exposure therapy with cognitive restructuring

Social Anxiety Disorder

a severe and persistent fear of social or performance situations

Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

Fear of social interactions and receiving negative judgment, avoiding interactions, lasts for 6 months or longer

Behavioral Inhibition

A construct used to define the characteristic in some children of seeming quiet, isolated, and anxious when confronted with social situations with novelty

Self-Focused Attention

A theory of social anxiety disorder argues that sufferers show a strong tendency to shift their attention inwards onto themselves and their own anxiety responses during social performance

Treating Social Anxiety Disorder

Exposure therapy, social skills training, cognitive restructuring

Panic disorder

an anxiety disorder characterized by repeated panic or anxiety attacks

Criteria for Panic Attack

Fluctuations in heart rate (palpitations), shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, shaking, fearing they are dying or going crazy

criteria for panic disorder

worrying about further panic attacks or consequences of attacks, significant modifications to behavior to avoid future attacks

agoraphobia

fear or anxiety of any place where the sufferer does not feel safe or feels trapped, and is accompanied by a strong urge to escape to a safe place (home)

symptoms/criteria of agoraphobia

distinct fear of situations where the individual is outside, in a crowd/open space, or public spaces, avoiding situations when panic will occur and help may be unavailable

Aetiology for panic disorder/agoraphobia

hyperventilation and suffocation alarm theories, norandrenic overactivity, classical conditioning with fear or fear, high anxiety sensitivity

Hyperventilation (and purpose)

Rapid form of breathing that results in ventilation exceeding metabolic demand and has and end result of raising blood pH level

suffocation alarm theories

models of panic disorder in which a combination of increased CO2, intake may activate an oversensitive suffocation alarm system and give rise to the intense terror of a panic attack

anxiety sensitivity

fears of anxiety symptoms based on beliefs that such symptoms have harmful consequences (heart palpitations = heart attack)

catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations

a feature of panic disorder where there is a cognitive bias towards accepting the more threatening interpretation of an individual’s own sensations

safety behaviors

activities deployed by sufferers of panic disorder as soon as they think they are having a panic attack, developed the belief that this activity has saved them from a catastrophic outcome

Treatment of Panic Disorder

CBT, medications, education about panic attacks, breathing training, exposure to harmless bodily sensations, prevention of safety behaviors

Generalized anxiety disorder

continual apprehension and anxiety about future events, leading to chronic and pathological worrying about those events: worrying is chronic and unconrolled, and events are catastrophized

Catastropizing

magnification of an event or fact where one takes it to the extreme

Symptoms of GAD

excessive anxiety or worry, physical symptoms (tension, restlessness, headaches, trembling, nausea), avoidance of events, excessive preparation, assurance seeking, procrastination, significant distress or impairment

Aetiology of GAD

Biological/genetically inherited, information processing biases (psychological theories), the belief that worrying will help solve/avoid issues

information processing biases

biases in interpreting, attending to, storing, or recalling information which may give rise to dysfunctional thinking and behaving

Treatment of GAD

CBT, medications (SSRIs, SNRIs, benzodiazepines), stimulus control treatment

Stimulus control treatment

early behavioral intervention in GAD, based on conditioning principle that the environment in which behaviors are enacted come to control their future occurrence and can elicit those behaviors

Cognitive restructuring

Methods used to challenge the biases that a client might hold about how frequently bad events might happen and to generate thoughts that are more accurate.

Behavioral Rehearsal

Methods used to challenge the biases that a client might hold about how frequently bad events might happen and to generate thoughts that are more accurate

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Disorder characterized by obsessions (intrusive and reoccurring thoughts) and/or compulsions (ritualized behavior patterns performed to prevent a negative outcome)

obsessions

intrusive and recurring thoughts that an individual finds disturbing and uncontrollable

compulsions

repetitive or ritualized behavior patterns that an individual feels driven to perform in order to prevent a negative outcome

Symptoms and diagnostic criteria for OCD

presence of obsessions, presence of compulsions, beliefs that behaviors will prevent a catastrophic event

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

An OCD-related disorder causing a pre-occupation with perceived diagnostic defects or flaws in physical appearance that are not perceived by others

Hoarding Disorder

Difficulty discarding or parting with possessions to the point where hoarding occurs

Trichitillomania

Hair pulling disorder

skin picking disorder

recurrent picking of the skin that results in lesions

Aetiology of OCD

Biological and genetic factors, memory deficits, inflated perception of responsibility, thought-action fusion, mental contamination,

mental contamination

feelings of dirtiness can be provokes without any physical contact with a contaminant

thought suppression

a defense mechanism used by individuals with obsessive thoughts to actively suppress them

Mood-as-input hypothesis

a hypothesis claiming that people use their concurrent mood as information about whether they have successfully completed a task or not

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

a set of persistent anxiety based symptoms that occur after experiencing or witnessing an extremely traumatic event

symptoms and diagnostic criteria for PTSD

individual exposed to traumatic events, intrusive symptoms associated with traumatic events, avoidance of trauma reminders, changes in mood, changes to reactive behaviors

symptoms and diagnostic criteria for Acute Stress Disorder

intrusive memories of traumatic event, distressing dreams, physical and mental distress when reminded of event, detachment, changes in sense of reality, sleep issues, concentration issues, hyperactive startle response

Acute Stress Disorder

Short term psychological and physical reaction to severe trauma, similar to PTSD, but duration is much shorter

Aetiology of PTSD

biological/genetic factors, small hippocampus, dysfunction of brain areas like amygdala and frontal cortex, conditioned fear responses, mental defeat,

emotional processing theory

theory claiming that severe traumatic experiences are such major significance to an individual that they lead to the formation of representations and associations in memory that are quire different to those formed everyday

mental defeat

a specific frame of mind in which the individual sees themself as the victim

dual representation theory

an approach to explaining PTSD suggesting that it may be a hybrid disorder involving two separate memory systems

Treatment of PTSD

Psychological debriefing, exposure therapies, imaginal flooding, cognitive restructuring, EMDR, cognitive restructuring,

psychological debriefing

a structured way of trying to intervene immediately after trauma in order to try to prevent the development of PTSD

imaginal flooding

a technique whereby a client is asked to visualize a feared, trauma related scene for extended periods of time

eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

a form of exposure therapy for PTSD in which clients are required to focus their attention on a traumatic image/memory while following the therapists finger movements in front of their eyes

depression

mood disorder involving emotional, motivational, behavioral, physical, and cognitive symptoms

mania

emotion characterized by boundless, frenzied energy and feelings of euphoria

Major depression (unipolar depression)

a psychological problem characterized by relatively extended periods of clinical depression that cause significant distress to the individual and impairment in social or occupational functioning

bipolar 2

A psychological disorder characterized by periods of depression and hypomania

Depression symptoms and diagnostic criteria

depressed mood, less interest in activities, weight change, insomnia, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, lack of concentration, thoughts of death or suicide

Dysthymic disorder

a form of depression in which the sufferer has experienced at least 2 years of depressed mood for more days than not

premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)

a condition in which some women experience severe depression symptoms between 5-11 days prior to the start of period

seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

a condition of regularly occurring depressions in winter with remission the following spring or summer

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

a disorder characterized by depression and mood fluctuations together with physical symptoms such as extreme fatigue, muscle pain, chest pains, headaches, and noise and light sensitivity

Aetiology of major depression

genetic factors, neurochemical factors, brain abnormalities in the anterior cingulate cortex, high levels of cortisol, parenting, failure and loss, negative biases

tricyclic drugs

drugs that block the reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine

Cortisol

an adrenocortical hormone, stress hormone

Introjection

response to grief where person integrates identity lost into their own personality

anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) - description and purpose

Collar around the corpus callosum, relays neural signals between right and left hemispheres of brain

Symbolic loss

Freudian concept where other types of losses are viewed as equal with losing a loved one

affectionless control parenting

parenting with high levels of overprotection and lack of warmth

negative triad

depression theory where depressed people have a negative view of their future, the world, and themselves

learned helplessess

depression theory arguing people become depressed following unavoidable negative life events because these events create a schema that individuals feel helpless, lethargic, and depressed

battered woman syndrome

patterns of repeated partner abuse leads battered women to believe they are powerless to change their situation

attribution theories of depression

people who are likely to become depressed attribute negative life events to internal, unchanging (stable) , and overarching (Global) factors

hopelessness theory

theory of depression in which individuals exhibit an expectation that positive outcomes wont happen, negative outcomes will, and the individual cannot change the outcomes

hypomania

mild episode of mania

Cyclothymic disorder

form of depression with at least 2 years of hypomania symptoms that don’t meet mania criteria, and then depression symptoms

Symptoms and Diagnostic criteria for bipolar

unusual fluctuations in mood between mania and depression, changes not noted by individual, functionality changes and mood noticed by others

aetiology of bipolar depression

genetic factors, neurochemical factors

olanzapine

antipsychotic drug used with an SSRI to treat bipolar

treatments for depression and mood disorders

Electroconvulsive therapy, medications

what types of meds are used to treat depression

tricyclic drugs, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, SSRIs, SNRIs

What is lithium carbonate used for

treatment for bipolar depression

Psychological treatments for depression

psychoanalysis, social skills training, behavioral activation therapy, CBT, mindfulness therapy

behavioral activation therapy

therapy for depression that attempts to increase client’s access to pleasant events and rewards, and decrease experiences of aversive events and consequences

cognitive retraining

an approach to treating depression, CBT or cognitive restructuring