Psychological Disorders and Treatment

Psychological disorder

A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in and individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning; leads to distress or disability

Etiology

The cause; drives treatment

DSM-5

Includes 22 categories of disorders that are described in detail; provides an overview of the disorder, the symptoms required for a diagnosis, the prevalence, and risk factors associated with the disorder

Comorbidity

The co-occurrence of two disorders/diagnoses

Supernatural perspective

Attributed to a force beyond scientific understanding; those afflicted were thought to be practitioners of black magic or possessed by spirits

Biological Perspective

Linked to genetic factors, chemical imbalances, and brain abnormalities

Diathesis-Stress Model

People with a predisposition for a disorder are more likely than others to develop a disorder when faced with adverse environmental or psychological events

Biological

Genes, chemical imbalances, brain abnormalities

Psychosocial

Faulty thinking, inappropriate learning, stress

Inappropriate learning

Can make us afraid of things we do not need to be afraid of

Anxiety Disorders

Characterized by excessive and persistent fear and anxiety, and related disturbances in behaviors; is future oriented (most frequently occurring mental disorder)

Specific phobia

type of anxiety disorder where a person experiences excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation; fear is disruptive to one’s life

Classical conditioning

Pairing of neutral stimulus and UCS eventually results in conditioned response

Vicarious learning

Learning from someone else (modeling)

Verbal transmission

Someone tells you about something repeatedly, causing you to fear that thing

Social anxiety disorder

Extreme and persistent fear and avoidance of social situations in which they could potentially be negatively evaluated by others

Safety behaviors

Mental or behavioral acts that reduce anxiety in social situations by reducing the chance of negative social outcomes

Behavioral inhibition

Risk factor for social anxiety; inherited trait, characterized by a consistent tendency to show fear or restraint when presented with unfamiliar people or situations

Panic Disorder

recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, along with at least one month of persistent concern about additional panic attacks, worry over consequences of attacks, or self-defeating changes in behavior related to the attacks

Panic attack

A period of extreme fear or discomfort that develops abruptly and reaches a peak within 10 minutes (classically conditioned responses)

Locus Coerulus

Brain’s major source of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that triggers the body’s fight flight response (plays role in panic disorder)

Generalized anxiety disorder

A relatively continuous state of excessive, uncontrollable, and pointless worry and apprehension

Mood disorders

Extreme mood fluctuations that distort outlook on life and impair ability to function

Depression

An intense and persistent sadness; loss of interest in activities once enjoyed

Depressive disorders

Group of disorders in which depression is the main feature

Bipolar disorders

A group of disorders in which mania is the defining feature; more common in men

Mania

A state of extreme elation and agitation

Major depressive disorder (unipolar)

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day and loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities; more common in women

Biopsychosocial model

Psychosocial perspective

Agoraphobia

Fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult

schizophrenia (positive symptoms)

Hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, disorganized behavior

Schizophrenia (negative symptoms)

avolition, anhedonia, alogia

Positive symptoms

Something most people do not have; added

Negative symptoms

Absence of stuff that people should have

Avolition

Lack of motivation

Anhedonia

Lack of joy

Alogia

Decreased speech output

Psychotherapy

A psychological treatment that employs various methods to help someone overcome personal problems or attain personal growth

Biomedical therapy

Treatment that involves medication and/or medical procedures to treat psychological disorders

Deinstitutionalization

The closing of large asylums by providing for people to stay in their communities and be treated locally; was not well planned and lead to many homeless

Present treatment settings

Community mental health centers, outpatient treatment, residential treatment facilities

Providers

Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, school counselors, nurses, case managers

Involuntary treatment

Therapy that is not the individuals choice; often court ordered

Voluntary treatment

The person chooses to attend therapy to obtain relief from symptoms; greatest potential for good change

Stigma

Negative beliefs about people who experience mental illnesses

Psychoanalysis

Founded by sigmund Freud; goal is to uncover repressed feelings and unconscious conflicts ; includes free association, dream analysis, and transference

Free association

Patient relaxes and then says whatever comes to mind in that moment

Dream analysis

Therapist interprets the underlying meaning of dreams

Transference

Patient transfers all positive or negative emotions associated with the patients other relationships to the psychoanalyst

Behavior therapy

Use what we know about learning to change behavior associated with faulty thinking ; uses operant conditioning to reinforce behaviors and counterconditioning to break relationship between UCS and Cs

Exposure therapy

Type of behavior therapy where patient is presented with thing that causes their problem, in order to eventually get used to it

Systematic desensitization

Exposure little by little

Aversive conditioning

Use unpleasant stimulus to stop an undesirable behavior

Cognitive therapy

Developed by Aaron Beck; help clients change dysfunctional thoughts in order to relieve distress

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Examines how thoughts affect behavior; focus is on cognitive distortions and self defeating behaviors