Week 12 - Part 2: Mental Health (Psychological Disorders)

Anxiety Disorders

A category of disorders involving excessive, irrational, and maladaptive fear or nervousness.

• ¼ Canadians have experienced.

• 12% of Canadians.

• After COVID-19, increased in Canadians.

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

• Observational learning.

• Anxious individuals think about the world differently.

• Catastrophic Thinking: Predicting terrible events despite low probability.

GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)

High, difficult to control levels of anxiety over a long period.

• Tense, on edge, tired, irritable, difficulty concentrating/sleeping.

• Trembling, palpitations, sweating, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, and frequent urination.

• More prevalent in women.

Panic Disorder

An anxiety disorder, described by occasional episodes of sudden, very intense fear.

Panic Attacks

Brief moments of extreme anxiety, includes a rush of physical activity and frightening thoughts.

(OCD) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

An anxiety disorder described by unwanted obsessions, often with repetitive and ritualistic behaviours (compulsions).

• Linked to Parkinson’s disease.

MDD (Major Depressive Disorder)

A mood disorder described by prolonged periods of sadness, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, social withdrawal, and cognitive and physical sluggishness.

• 16% of general population.

• More prevalent in women, most likely in the 30s.

Causes of MDD

• Genetic inheritance.

• Brain chemistry.

• Norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine.

• Distortions in thinking.

Bipolar Disorder

A mood disorder described by extreme highs and lows in mood, motivation, and energy.

• Equally common in men and women.

Bipolar Disorder - Manic Episode

Excessive euphoria, inflated self-esteem, wild optimism, hyperactivity, high energy, lowered need for sleep, and extremes in behaviour.

Causes of Bipolar Disorder

• Heavily genetic inheritance.

• Stressful events.

Personality Disorders

Unusual patterns of behaviour that are maladaptive, distressing to oneself or others, and resistant to change.

Manifestations of Personality Disorders

• Cognition: Perceptions of others, events, and self are distorted by a pattern of engrained false perception.

• Affectively: Charged and ranged emotional intensity, appropriateness can be odd and mood fluctuations with or without cause.

• Interpersonal Functioning: Varies from enmeshment (dysfunctional relationships with poor boundaries) to disconnectedness.

• Impulse Control: Poor control, resulting in risk of injury to self or others.

Schizophrenia

A psychotic, neurodevelopment disorder described by experiences of breaks from reality, a lack of integration of thoughts and emotions, and problems with attention and memory.

• In 2024, 1% of Canadians, more males.

• Often diagnosed in adolescence or early childhood.

Positive Schizophrenia Symptoms

Involve the presence of maladaptive behaviour.

• Hallucinations.

• Delusions.

• Thought disturbances.

• Disorganized behaviour.

• Inappropriate affect.

Negative Schizophrenia Symptoms

Include absent or flat emotional reactions and a lack of speech and motivation.

• Loss or deficiency in normal thoughts and behaviours.

• Flat affect.

• Poorest outcomes.

Types of Schizophrenia - Paranoid Schizophrenia

A type of schizophrenia described by delusional beliefs that one is being followed, watched, or persecuted.

• May include delusions of grandeur.

Types of Schizophrenia - Disorganized Schizophrenia

A type of schizophrenia described by thoughts, speech, behaviours, and emotions that are poorly integrated and incoherent.

Types of Schizophrenia - Catatonic Schizophrenia

A type of schizophrenia described by episodes in which one becomes mute and immobile for extended periods.

• May include repetitive, purposeless movements.

Genetics and Schizophrenia

• As genetic relatedness increases, the chances of developing schizophrenia increases.

The Nervous System and Schizophrenia

• Schizophrenics have excessive synaptic pruning, causing fewer connections between neurons, leading to a smaller and less powerful prefrontal cortex.

• Dopamine Theory: Excessive dopamine activity and/or other neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, glutamate, and serotonin).

• Reduced size in hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, front lobe grey matter.

• Low frontal lobe activity.

Development of Schizophrenia - Neurodevelopment Hypothesis

In adults, the manifestation of schizophrenia is the outgrowth of disrupted neurological development early in the person’s life.

Development of Schizophrenia - The Adolescent Brain

Schizophrenia is caused by a combination of genes, prenatal factors, and one or more influences after birth. (E.g. excessive synaptic pruning).

Development of Schizophrenia - Environment and Social Influences

• Births where the umbilical cord limits oxygen.

• Head injuries prior to 10.

• Raised around psychosocial stressors.

• Family with high EE (Emotional Expressiveness).

• Frequent smoking of cannabis.

Development of Schizophrenia - Culture and Schizophrenia

• Different cultures focus on different aspects of schizophrenia.

• Different cultures treat individuals with schizophrenia differently.

• Individuals with long-term schizophrenia are better when surrounded by traditional cultures.

What Causes Personality Disorders

• Significantly interrupted childhood development. (E.g. abuse or neglect).

  • Individual coped in the best way possible as a child. However, these coping mechanisms do not work in adulthood and have become maladaptive.

Stigma

Negative attitudes, stereotypes, and discrimination against people with perceived differences.

• Personality Disorders are one of the most stigmatized diagnoses.

Structural Stigma

Institutional policies, cultural norms, and organizational practices that limit a consumers access to health services, quality of care, and capacity to achieve optimal health and well-being.

Suicide in Canada

• In 2023, 12th cause of death in Canada.

• 3rd for children and adolescents in Canada.

• Daily, 12 Canadians die.

• 4x completed by men.

• 4x attempted by women.

• <90% of suicide victims had a mental disorder.

• 12-20% of children have suicidal idealization.

• 38% of deaths among Indigenous youth.