Psych Disorders and Treatments

Psychological Disorder

a syndrome/disorder marked by a significant disturbance in someones cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

Benefits of diagnosis

• Help determine treatment

• Advocate for support

Burdens of diagnosis

• Discrimination and stereotyping

• They won’t take responsibility

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Person is continually and unexplainably tense/uneasy

Panic disorder

Person exhibits sudden episodes of intense dread

Phobias

Person feels irrationally afraid of object or situation

OCD

Unwanted or repetitive thoughts and/or actions

PTSD

Lingering memories, nightmares, and other symptoms for weeks after a severely threatening or uncontrollable event

Major Depressive Disorder

A mood disorder characterized by persistent sadness, loss of interest in activities, changes in sleep, appetite, and energy levels

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Winter depression

• B/c it’s dark and gloomy

Bipolar Disorder

• mood swings, depression and mania

  • High highs, low lows

Schizophrenia

• split mind

• highly disordered thought processing

• hallucinations, delusions, referential thinking, and catatomia

Somatic disorder

A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a bodily form without physical cause

Illness anxiety disorder

• Hypochondria (formerly)

• A disorder where a person interprets normal physical symptoms of a disease

DID (dissociative identity disorder)

A rare disorder in which a personal exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities

• Debated if real or not

Anorexia nervosa

An eating disorder in which being 15% or more underweight

Bulimia nervosa

An eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating with purging, laxatives, excessive exercise, or fasting

Avoidant personality disorder

Exhibits anxiety or fear of rejection

Schizoid personality disorder

Exhibits eccentric or odd behavior

Histrionic personality disorder

Exhibits dramatic or impulsive behaviors

• narcissists

Anti-social personality disorder

A personality disorder in which a person exhibits a lack of conscious for wrong doings, even towards family/friends

• usually male

• referred to as socio/psychopath

Psychoanalytic therapy

• Hardly used anymore

• focuses on unconscious internal conflict

• dream interpretation

• transference:

  • putting feelings of other people onto your therapist

Humanistic therapy

• More commonly used

• Emphasizes potential fulfillment

• Aims to boost self awareness and acceptance

• Focuses on present rather past

Behavioral therapy

• Application of learning principals to unwanted behavior

• Uses classical conditioning strategies to retrain the brain

• Exposure therapy

Cognitive Therapy

• Teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking

• It changes thinking and behavior

Group, family, and self help therapy

Therapy in which you are in a group of strangers or with your family to rebuild relationships with yourself and others

Anti-depressants

• Used to treat anxiety

• Agonists (increases serotonin)

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors;

  • Prozac, zoloft, and paxil

Anti-anxiety treatment

• Depress the central nervous system so people can relax

  • Xanax and antivan

Anti-psychotic treatment

• Blocks/inhibits dopamine

• Side effects:

  • Facial tics and other involuntary movements

Mood stabilzers

Example: Lithium Carbonate

Lobotomy

A psychosurgery procedure that was meant to “fix” the brain

• No longer practiced

Electroconvulsive Therapy

A psychiatric treatment where a controlled seizure is induced in the brain under anesthesia

• used to “fix” depression, bipolar, and psychosis

rTMS

A non-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses magnetic pulses to modulate brain activity

Light Therapy

Involves using specific types of light, like red, blue, or bright white light, to treat various conditions, including mood disorders, sleep disorders, and skin conditions.

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

Incorporating physical activity, a healthy diet, stress management, and other lifestyle modifications to promote physical and mental health

Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy

REBT

Repetitive Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation

rTMS

Electroconvulsive Therapy

ECT