Clinical Psychology- Kyra Crowder

Psychological Disorders

Dysfunctional or maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Distress

Emotional or psychological pain that often accompanies psychological disorders.

Interference

When a disorder disrupts work or leisure activities.

Medical Model

Approaches psychological disorders as diseases that can be treated with medicine and hospital stays.

Biopsychosocial Approach

States that behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are formed through biological, social, and psychological factors.

Stress Vulnerability Model

Individual characteristics and environmental stressors increase or decrease the likelihood of developing a psychological disorder.

Classification

Used to order and describe symptoms and suggest appropriate treatment for psychological disorders.

DSM-5

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, used by US physicians and mental health workers for diagnosis and treatment.

Critics of DSM-5

Argue that it is too broad and may lead to overdiagnosis, particularly in children.

Critics of Classification

Believe that diagnostic labels are subjective and may lead to viewing individuals differently.

Violence and Disorders

Disorders do not increase the risk of violence; individuals with disorders are more likely to be victims of violence.

Predictors of Violence

Use of alcohol/drugs, previous violence, and gun availability are better predictors of violence than psychological disorders.

Poverty

Poverty is a predictor of mental disorders across all ethnic and gender lines.

Onset of Disorders

By age 24, 75% of people experience their first symptoms of psychological disorders.

Antisocial Personality

Appears around age 8.

Phobias

Appear around age 10.

Alcohol use, OCD, Bipolar, and Schizophrenia

Appear around age 20.

Major Depressive Disorder

Appears around age 25.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Marked by excessive and uncontrollable worry that persists for six months or more; can lead to high blood pressure.

Panic Disorder

Characterized by recurrent irregular heartbeat, chest pains, shortness of breath, choking, trembling, dizziness; can lead to agoraphobia.

Phobias

Irrational fear and avoidance of objects, activities, or situations.

OCD

Obsessive and repetitive unwanted thoughts that seem they will never go away; behaviors are often a response to those thoughts.

PTSD

Occurs after traumatic events and is characterized by recurring haunting memories/nightmares, laser-focused attention to possible threats, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and trouble sleeping.

Conditioning, Cognition, and Biology

Influence disorders, OCD, and PTSD.

Major Depressive Disorder

At least 5 signs of depression lasting 2+ weeks, with one of them being depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure.

Signs of Depressive Disorders

Depressed mood, reduced interest or enjoyment in activities, challenges regulating appetite and weight, challenges sleeping, physical agitation or lethargy, low energy, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, problems thinking/concentrating/making decisions, thoughts of death and suicide.

Bipolar Disorder

Characterized by bouncing back from one emotional extreme to another.

Self-Termination of Depressive Episodes

Most major depressive episodes self-terminate.

Genetic Influences

Depression and bipolar disorder can run in families.

Neurotransmitters

Norepinephrine and serotonin are scarce during depressive episodes.

Mediterranean Diet

A heavy Mediterranean diet can improve physical and emotional health.

Rumination

Compulsive fretting or overthinking problems.

Explanatory Style

Has a big impact on depression.

Suicide

Over 800,000 people choose to end their lives.

Self-Injury

Can include cuts, burns, hitting oneself, inserting objects under nails/skin, self-administering tattoos.

Self-Harm

Tends to be associated with life stress, low emotional tolerance, and regulation, and can lead to suicide.

Psychotic Disorders

Marked by irrational ideas, distorted perception, and loss of connection with reality.

Positive Schizophrenia

Experiencing hallucinations, disorganized and deluded speech, and exhibiting inappropriate laughter, tears, or rage.

Negative Schizophrenia

Absence of emotion in voice, expression, or unmoving (mute/rigid body).

Onset of Schizophrenia

Usually strikes younger people maturing into adulthood.

Chronic Schizophrenia

Low recovery rates, appears by early adulthood, and progresses with aging.

Acute Schizophrenia

Higher recovery rate, can respond to drug therapy.

Brain Abnormalities

Increased dopamine during episodes, low frontal lobe activity, overactive amygdala, and core region of the brain active during hallucinations.

Prenatal