Introduction to psych disorders and anxiety disorders
questions about psychological disorders
how do we define, classify, understand them? How many people have or will have them?
psychological disorder
a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, and behavior
psychological disorder are
dysfunctional and maladaptive interfering with everyday life
in psychological disorder dysfunction is accompanied
by distress
Philippe Pinel (during middle ages) disagree with traditional treatments such as mutilations or beatings and says
madness is from severe stress not demonic possessions and advocated for humane cures
medical model
the concept that psychological disorders have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and often cured through treatment in a hospital
the mental health movement say
mental illness can diagnoses based on the symptoms and can be treated by therapy in a hospital
biopsychosocial approach say as individuals we differ in
amount of stress, coping method
Culture also causes differences in
stress sources and coping methods
2 disorders have the same symptoms worldwide
major depressive disorder and schizophrenia
Other disorders differ in symptoms or are unique to a culture for example
susto - found in Latin america and symptoms are anxiety, restlessness, and fear of black magic
taijin-kyofusho - found in japan and symptoms are social anxiety about looks, blush quickly, and dislike eye contact
biopsychosocial approach emphasizes
mind and body are inseparable
stress vulnerability model
individual characteristics combine with environmental stressors to increase or decrease likelihood of developing psychological disorders
epigenetics
the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change sometimes gene is expressed or dormant
benefit of classifying disorders
can predict future course, suggest treatment, prompt research into cures, and ordering/describing symptoms
DSM-5
the american psychiatric association’s diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder fifth edition a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders
DSM-5 labels change or new ones are created
for example autism spectrum disorder, hoarding, binge-eating, and mental retardation changed to intellectual disability
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD
s psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and or hyperactivity, impulsivity
the long-term effects of ADHD treatment with stimulant drugs
is unknown
overdiagnosing of
depression and ADHD
ADHD controversy is increasing number due to
overdiagnosing or because awareness is increasing
most violent criminal are not mentally ill and
most mentally ill are not violent
ethical question about
should mentally ill who are violent/criminal be held accountable for actions
psychological disorders number vary around the world
lowest 6% in nigeria and highest 27% in USA
immigrant paradox
immigrants/people not born in the country have a lower risk for mental illness
poverty is a risk factor for mental illness and
mental illness can cause someone to be poor
psychological disorder biological influences
evolution, individual genes, brain structure and chemistry
psychological disorder psychological influences
stress, trauma, learned helplessness, mood-related perceptions and memories
psychological disorder social cultural influences
roles, expectations, definitions of normality and disorder
anxiety disorders
psychological disorder characterized by distressing persistent anxiety or maladaptive/dysfunctioning anxiety reducing behavior
social anxiety disorder
intense fear and avoidance of social situations
social anxiety being maladaptive
fear of being judged anxiety so in order to reduce anxiety you never go out in public
generalized anxiety disorder
an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal
2/3 are women and usually mellows out by age 50
generalized anxiety disorder symptoms
feeling jittery, agitated sleep deprived, reduced concentration, depressed moods, high blood pressure
generalized anxiety disorder sources are
unidentified and anxiety is free floating so can not relieve stress
panic disorder
an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minute long episodes of intense dread where a person may feel terror chest pain choking and other scary sensations and followed with worry about having another attack
agoraphobia
fear or avoidance of situations like crowds/open areas where one has felt loss of control and panic
phobias
an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity or situation
obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD
a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts/obsessions and actions/compulsions or both
the compulsions are responses to the obsessive thoughts
OCD is common in
teens/young adults
OCD related disorders
hoarding, body dysmorphia, hair pulling or skin picking
posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD
a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling and or insomnia after traumatic event
survivor resiliency
recovering after traumatic event or severe stress
factors to PTSD development
amount of traumatic emotional distress, level of sensitivity in emotion processing limbic system, genes, and gender
Anxiety is a feeling and a cognition
it is doubt laden appraisal of safety and social skill
feud psychoanalytic theory say people
repress intolerable impulse, idea, feelings, and this submerged mental energy can leak out into odd symptoms
classical conditioning interpretation of anxiety
fear responses link to neutral objects (ex: little albert and furry objects)
so anxiety/traumatized people learn to associate anxiety with cues
classical conditions stimulus generalization and operant conditioning reinforcement cause 1 event to trigger phobia
stimulus generalization
occurs when people have a scary event and fear similar events
reinforcement
maintain learned fears and anxiety by repeating maladaptive behavior that avoid and escape feared situations
cognition interpretations of anxiety
say thoughts, memories, and expectations influence anxiety
observing others fears → develop fear
past experiences shape expectations and influence our interpretations and reactions
people with anxiety disorders are hypervigilant meaning
they attend more to threatening more to threatening stimuli and interpret unknown stimuli as threatening
anxiety is more common in people who
can not stop intrusive thoughts, have no control, and have a sense of helplessness
biology interpretation of anxiety
fear/anxiety is genetic and 17 genes found to be linked with anxiety
genetic predispositions/epigenetic marks for high levels of emotional reactivity and neurotransmitter productions make us vulnerable to disorder
fear learning experience create fear circuits in amygdala creating inroad for disorder
natural selection and evolution prepare us to fear threats are ancestors faced
anxiety disorders express as overarousal of brain areas in impulse control that
reflect a brain danger detection as hyperactive and producing anxiety without danger
ex: OCD when feeling amiss brain generated obsessions and compulsions
pur compulsive acts typically exaggerate
behaviors contributed to our ancestors survival