Psych Exam 3

How do mental health workers view psychological disorders?

a pattern of behavioral and psychological symptoms that causes significant personal distress, impairs the ability to function in one or more important areas of life, or both

What is the criteria for a disorder?

Deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional

Deviant

out of the norm

Distressful

causes discomfort for the individual

Dysfunctional

maladaptive/unhealthy

How many American adults have experienced the symptoms of a psychological disorder during the previous year?

26%

How many people in the US who have symptoms of a mental disorder received NO treatment within the past year?

59%

What are some reasons people don’t seek mental health treatment?

lack of insurance, low income, lack of awareness, fear of being stigmatized, living in an area where facilities are not available

How can most people manage their psychological symptoms without needing professional intervention?

mild/moderate symptoms diminish with the passage of time and impress of the person’s overall situation

What does DSM stand for?

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

What is the DSM used for?

providing a common language to diagnose and label mental disorders and comprehensive guidelines for diagnosing them

How does the DSM classify psychological disorders?

symptoms

What is the main problem with getting a disorder identified?

the label that comes with the disorder

What is the most recent version of the DSM?

DSM-5

What is the main issue with the DSM?

arbitrary cutoffs

Anxiety

an unpleasant emotional state characterized by physical arousal and feelings of tension, apprehension, and worry

Anxiety disorders

extreme anxiety is the main diagnostic feature, causes significant disruptions in the person’s cognitive, behavioral, or interpersonal functioning

What’s the different between normal anxiety and pathological anxiety?

Normal anxiety is infrequent and reasonable, pathological anxiety is irrational and persistent

Generalized anxiety disorder:

a person is unexplainably and continually in a state of tension, apprehension, and autonomic nervous system arousal

Physiological symptoms for anxiety

heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweaty palms, feeling edgy and shaking

Panic disorder

an anxiety disorder where the anxiety suddenly and frequently escalates into a terrifying panic attack

Panic attack

a sudden episode of extreme anxiety that rapidly escalates in intensity

What is a characteristic of people with panic disorder?

hypersensitive to the signs of physical arousal

What is the triple vulnerabilities model of panic disorder?

a biological predisposition towards anxiety, low sense of control over potentially life-threatening events, an oversensitivity to physical sensations

Agoraphobia

extreme fear of experiencing a panic attack or other embarrassing or incapacitating symptoms in a public situation and avoidance of situations in which escape might be difficult or help unavailable

How can agoraphobia be treated?

Exposure

Functional Neurological System/Conversion disorder

a type of somatic symptom disorder which involved a pattern in which symptoms or deficits affecting sensory or voluntary motor functions lead one to think that a patient has a medical or neurological condition

Phobia

a persistent and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity

Specific phobia (simple phobia)

an excessive, intense and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity that is actively avoided or endured with marked anxiety

What are the five categories of specific phobia?

Situations, features of the natural environment, injury or blood, animals or insects, others

Social Anxiety Disorder (social phobia)

extreme and irrational fear of being embarrassed, judged, or scrutinized by others in social situations

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

disorder in the category of obsessive compulsive and related disorders, characterized by intrusive, repetitive, and unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors or mental acts that an individual feels driven to perform (compulsions)

What are the most common compulsive rituals?

washing, checking, symmetry & precision, counting

What are the most comments types of obsessions?

contamination, pathological doubt, violent or sexual thoughts

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

anxiety disorder characterized by exposure to a highly traumatic event which results in recurrent, involuntary and intrusive memories of the event, avoidance of stimuli and situations associated with the event, negative changes in thoughts, moods and emotions, and a persistent state of heightened physical arousal

Traumatic event

experiencing or witnessing Beverly threatening, uncontrollable events with fear, helplessness or horror

Acute Stress Disorders

the reaction from traumatic stress from 3 days after the event that can last for up to 4 weeks

What would be a more appropriate diagnosis instead of acute stress disorder if the patient doesn’t have extreme symptoms?

Adjustment disorder

Dissociative experience

a break or disruption in consciousness during which awareness, memory and personal identity become separated or divided

Dissociative disorders

a category of psychological disorders in which extreme and frequent disruptions of awareness, memory, and personal identity impair the ability to function

What are the two categories of dissociative disorders?

Dissociative amnesia & Dissociative identity

Dissociative