psych 100 exam 2 psychological disorders

psychological disorder

• dysfunction: impairment in one or more important areas functioning

• distress: painful symptom

• deviance: behavior/feelings are unusual

biological causes

genetics, epigenetic, brain chemistry, brain structure sizes

psychological causes

learning, coping, attitudes, cognitive biases

social causes

roles, expectations, social support

diathesis-stress model

an internal disposition/vulnerability exists and matches up with the right external triggers to manifest

dsm-5

classification system that describes symptoms used to diagnose & distinguish each recognized mental disorder

limitations of dsm

• descriptive, not explanatory

• must match symptoms to descriptions

• focused on diagnosis, not treatment

• classifies illnesses, not individuals

criticisms of dsm

• stigmatization thru labeling

• many patients experience more than 1 disorder (combordity)

• behaviors tend to fall on a spectrum & are not simply categorical

panic disorder

• an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent panic attacks

panic attack

• sudden episode of intense fear/terror accompanied by psychological reactions in the absence of real danger/threats

  • sweat, racing heart, difficulty breathing

• ramps up, peaks within ten minutes, and resolves

specific phobia

• irrational fear of a particular object or situation that interferes with an individuals ability to function

social phobia

an irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed

preparedness theory

idea that we’re evolutionary predisposed toward certain fears

phobias

• fear of something

• ppl are aware they are irrational

• triggers are known and actively avoided

• exposure to triggers causes strong physiological fear/avoidance response

mood disorder

psychological disorder with mood disturbance as primary feature

major depressive disorder

depression symptoms over two weeks

persistent depressive disorder

depressed mood for a majority of days overt at least 2 years

double depression

• co-occurrence of mdd and pdd

• chronic moderately depressed mood with periods of major depressions

seasonal affective disorder

• recurrent depressive episodes that follow a seasonal pattern

• typically manifests in fall/winter

• light therapy

monoamine hypothesis

argues that depression is caused by a lack of neurotransmitters

helplessness theory

• style of thinking that attributes negative outcomes to internal, stable, and global factors

  • internal: bad outcomes are ones own fault

  • stable: assumes situation is unlikely to change in the future

  • global: generalization from one bad outcome to many hypothetical outcomes

bipolar disorder

• marked by cycles of abnormally and persistently high mood (mania) juxtaposed with periods of disorder

• manic phases must last at least 1 week

bipolar I

• periods of depression and manic episodes

bipolar II

• depressive episodes are accompanied by hypomanic episodes

rapid cycling bipolar disorder

• at least 4 mood episodes per year

• most difficult to treat

schizophrenia

profound disruption of basic psychological processes marked by distorted perception, altered/blunted emotions, and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior

positive symptoms

• thoughts or behaviors not seen in those w/otu schizophrenia

  • hallucinations: false perceptual experiences

  • delusions: false beliefs maintained despite their irrationality

negative symptoms

• deficits/disruptions in emotions and behaviors

  • social withdrawal

  • apathy

  • poverty of speech

  • decreased sense of purpose/motivation

  • lack of emotional responses

disorganized symptoms

• disruptions or deficits in speech, movement, or cognition

  • disorganized speech: rapid and incoherent shifting unrelated topics causes of

  • grossly disorganized behavior: displays of extremely inappropriate behaviors for a given situation

  • catatonic behavior: decrease in movement/increase in muscular rigidity

causes of schizophrenia

• strong genetic component

• conditions prior to birth

• probably role for neurotransmitter differences

diathesis-stress model example

• people born in years of chinese famine more likely to develop schizophrenia than those born before or after

• all had similar life and stressors in life too

• diathesis: poor nutrition in utero

treatment issues

• affordability

• inability to access therapy

• not enough clinicians

• providers lack diversity

• healthcare roadblocks

psychotherapy

• treatment of a patient with a psychological disorder through interaction with a licensed clinician

• goal: effecting systematic changes to thinking/behavior

psychoanalysis

• modern freud

• clients lay on couches and free associate to understand the impact of childhood experiences on unconscious drives

• low efficacy

psychodynamic therapy

• variation of pscyhonanalysis

• focus on unconscious influences

interpersonal therapy

• focuses on current interpersonal relationships/interpersonal functioning

• works okay

person-centered therapy

• assumes that all ppl have tendency toward positive growth if given the opportunity

• need time, encouragement, and support from clinician

• ok effectiveness

behavioral therapy

• extensive use of operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and habituation

• eliminate unwanted behaviors, encourage desired behaviors, reduce unwanted emotional responses

• quite effective!

cognitive therapy

• uses cognitive restructuring to question automatic negative beliefs, reactions, or predictions and replace them with more realistic alternatives

• major focus on the clients interpretation of events

• attempts to help cope with unwanted thoughts

  • mindfulness etc

• quite effective

cognitive behavioral therapy

• mix of cognitive and behavioral approaches

• problem-focused and action-oriented

• client plays and active role in treatment

• clinical very transparent with/doesnt withhold info from client

natural improvement

tendency for symptoms to lessen over time, even without any specific treatment

placebo effect

• expectation that treatment will work causes it to work even if it isn’t actually effective

• growing stronger over time

reconstructive memory errors

• after treatment, people may falsely remember feeling worse at the beginning of treatment

meta-analyses

• studies that analyze the results obtained by many individual studies

  • pros: average away the noise associated w/ any particular study

  • cons: only useful if research in given area has been going on for a while; biases can impact conclusions

randomized controlled trials

• studies designed to assess causality

  • independent variable

  • dependent variable

  • random assignment

  • controls

double blind

• neither participants nor researchers known which group someone is in during the trial

efficacy

• demonstrated if treatment significantly better than control improvement

controls

• placebo

• current best practice

• wait-list control: get treatment, but after a delay to assess effects

effect size

a measure of the difference between conditions

antipsychotics

• treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders

anxiolytics

• anti-anxiety medications that help to reduce fear and anxiety

antidepressants

• improve mood to reduce depressive symptons

• can be monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclics or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

  • each effects a different neurotransmitter

mood stabilizers

• treat bipolar disorder

pill issues

• individual variability in treatment efficacy

• delay before improvement

  • spaces between switching medication if one doesn’t work

• misues/overuse

• many side effects