Psych Class 5 - Psychological Disorders and Consciousness

How common are psychological disorders?

¼ of US population

What are psychological disorders?

Behavior/psychological symptoms that are not in line with cultural norms and severe enough to cause significant personal distress and impairment to social, occupational, or personal functioning

Diagnosable and treatable

Combo of biological, sociocultural, and psychological stuff

What are characteristics of anxiety disorders?

18% of US

3.83% of world

Excessive fear/anxiety

Avoidance behaviors

Panic attacks

Wha tare types of anxiety disorders?

Phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder

What are characteristics of depressive disorders?

10% of US

3.77% of world

Sad, empty, and/or irritable mood

Not related to normal grief

What are specific depressive disorders?

Major depressive disorder (harder, faster)

Persistent depressive disorder (weaker, longer)

What are characteristics of bipolar disorders? Pervasiveness?

0.61% of world

Bridge between psychotic and depressive disorders

Involves episodes/oscillations (cycles)

What are types of bipolar disorders?

Bipolar I disorder (manic-depressive)

Bipolar II disorder (less severe)

What are characteristics of schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders?

2% of US

0.29% of world

Delusions, hallucinations, and/or disorganized speech

May involve “negative” symptoms

What are types of schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders?

Schizophreniform disorder (brief)

Schizophrenia (lifelong)

Schizoaffective disorder (psychotic and mood)

Delusional disorder

Brief psychotic disorder

What are characteristics of trauma and stressor related disorders?

Exposure to trauma/stressful event

Exhibit any of a wide range of symptoms

What are types of trauma and stressor related disorder?

PTSD (specific event, flashbacks)

Acute stress disorder (PTSD for only a few days/months)

Adjustment disorders

What are characteristics of personality disorders?

6% of US

Enduring (lifetime) pattern of socially deviant feelings/behaviors

Pattern is inflexible and occurs across range of settings/relationships

Begins in adolescence/early adulthood

Not diagnosed in children

Three clusters

What are types of personality disorders?

Cluster A (odd/eccentric): paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorder

Cluster B (dramatic/erratic): antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders → resistant to psychotherapy

Cluster C (anxious/fearful): avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders

What are characteristics of somatic symptom disorders?

3% of US

Excessive and/or medically unexplainable symptoms

Commonly encountered in primary care

What are types of somatic symptom disorders?

Somatic symptom disorder

Illness anxiety disorder

Conversion disorder

Factitious disorder

What are characteristics of dissociative disorders?

10% of US

Disruptions and/or discontinuities

Abnormal integration of consciousness, identity, emotion, etc.

What are types of dissociative disorders?

Dissociative identity disorder

Dissociative amnesia (lack of awareness of amnesia)

Depersonalization/derealization disorder (weird dreamlike feeling)

What percent of the population has eating disorders?

6% of US

0.14% of world

What are characteristics of obsessive-compulsive disorders?

Obsessions (thoughts, urges, intrusions0

Compulsions (repetitive behaviors)

What are types of obsessive-compulsive disorders?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder

Hoarding disorder

Trichotillomania (hair pulling)

What are characteristics of neurodevelopmental disorders?

Manifest early in development

Appear as deficits

Difficult to treat

Intellectual disability, communication disorders

What are types of neurodevelopmental disorders?

ASD

ADHD

Down syndrome

Trisomy 21

Intellectual disability

Tourette’s syndrome

What are characteristics of ASD?

Range of disorders

1 in 88 children age 8

Males 4x more likely

What are characteristics of ADHD?

2-4% school aged children

Motor restlessness, difficulty paying attention, distractibility, impulsivity

Unknown cause

What characterizes neurocognitive disorders?

Cognitive decline from previous level (complex attention, executive function, learning, memory, language, perceptual-motor, social cognition)

Major greatly impact everyday life, mild do not

What are types of neurocognitive disorders?

Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimers

Major or mild neurocognitive disorder due to Parkinsons

Traumatic brain injury

Huntington’s disease

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Amyloid plaques: clumps of protein fragments outside cells

Neurofibrillary tangles: clumps of altered proteins inside cells

Causes destruction/death of nerve cells → symptoms

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra of basal ganglia die off → hard to control movement

Dopamine levels drop progressively (involved in sending messages in brain areas controlling coordination/movement)

Lewy bodies: inside neurons, abnormal protein aggregates

What are characteristics of substance-related and addictive disorders?

10 classes of drugs

Involve brain’s reward system

Tolerance and withdrawal

What are types of substance-related and addictive disorders?

1.37% of world (alcohol)

0.85% of world (drug)

Substance use disorder

Alcohol related disorder

Caffeine, cannabis, hallucinogen, etc. related disorders

Gambling disorder

What are characteristics of disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders?

Problems in self-control and emotion

Behaviors violate rights of others and/or cause legal trouble

What are types of disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders?

Oppositional defiant disorder: diagnosed young, confusion over consequences, lack of control

Intermittent explosive disorder: recurring bursts of aggression not in line with situation, lack of control

Conduct disorder: most severe, pattern of behavior, lack of remorse frequently

Pyromania: impulsive fire starting

Kleptomania: impulsive thievery

Impulses may involve same rewards systems as substance-abuse, same lack of control felt, same withdrawal felt

What are characteristics of feeding/eating disorders?

Disturbed eating behavior

Consumption and or absorption of food may be affected

What are type of feeding/eating disorders?

Pica: consumption of non-foods like plastic

Anorexia nervosa: restriction of food intake, distorted view of body, fear of gaining weight

Bulimia nervosa: binge-eating then purging, laxatives, exercise, etc.

Binge-eating disorder: bulimia without purging, normal//overweight

What are the therapeutic methods of the psychoanalytic approach?

Assumed problem: unconscious forces and childhood

Therapy goal: reduce anxiety through insight

Methods/examples: analysis/interpretation (thoughts, dreams, feelings, etc.)

AKA talk therapy

What are the therapeutic methods of the humanistic approach?

Assumed problem: barriers to self-understanding and self-acceptance

Therapy goal: personal growth through self-insight

Methods/examples: active listening and unconditional positive regard

What are the therapeutic methods of the behavioral approach?

Assumed problem: learned maladaptive behaviors

Therapy goals: extinguish maladaptive behaviors/learn adaptive ones

Methods/examples: systematic desensitization, flooding, aversion therapy

What are the therapeutic methods of the cognitive-behavioral approach?

Assumed problem: maladaptive behaviors and/or self-defeating thoughts

Therapy goals: extinction of undesired thoughts/behaviors, learning adaptive thoughts/behaviors, healthier thinking and self-talk

Methods/examples: reconditioning, desensitization, reversal

What is consciousness?

Awareness of selves, internal state, and environment

Always needed to complete novel/complex tasks

States: alertness (awake), sleep

What is the reticular activating system?

Controls alertness and arousal (consciousness)

Nuclei in brainstem that project to cortex

What is the circadian rhythm?

Biological clock

Increase/decrease alertness in predictable ways

What are three indicators of circadian rhythms?

Melatonin released by pineal gland

Body temperature

Serum cortisol (controls metabolization of glucose)

What are the two types of sleep disorders?

Dyssomnias: abnormality in amount, quality, or timing of sleep

Parasomnias: abnormal behavior during sleep

What are the three types of dyssomnia?

Insomnia: inability to fall/remain asleep; persistent; can stem from chronic stress; most commonly reported

Narcolepsy: periodic, overwhelming sleepiness during waking periods; last less than 5 mins, but are dangerous

Sleep apnea: intermittent cessation of breathing during sleep, results in awakening after about a minute without air; can repeat hundreds of times per night → deep sleep deprivation

What are the two types of parasomnias?

Somnambulism: sleep-walking; usually during slow wave (stage 3) sleep in first third of night; common in children

Night terrors: occur during stage 3 sleep (as opposed to nightmares during REM); not remembered

What is polysomnography?

Measuring of sleep

Uses EEG (brain), EOG (eyes), EMG (muscles)

What is characteristic of stage 1 sleep?

Between sleep and awake

EEG: theta waves

EOG: slow rolling eye movement

EMG: moderate

Fleeting thoughts experienced, non-REM

What are characteristics of stage 2 sleep?

EEG: sleep spindle and K complex

EOG: no movement

EMG: moderate

Increased relaxation

Decreased temp, heart rate, and respiration

What is characteristic of stage 3 and 4 sleep?

EEG: delta waves

EOG: no eye movement

EMG: moderate

Heart rate and digestion slow, growth hormones secreted

Deepest level of sleep

What is characteristic of REM sleep?

EEG: beta waves (awake kind), but more jagged

EOG: rapid eye movement

EMG: almost none

Where dreams occur

What are three classes of consciousness altering drugs?

Depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens

What are examples of depressants? Mechanisms of action? Effects?

Ex: alcohol, barbiturates, opiates

MoA: depresses CNS and stimulation of brain; upregulation of GABA or inhibition of glutamate

Effects: impaired motor control, eventual addiction, overdoses can lead to death

What are examples of stimulants? Mechanisms of action? Effects?

Examples: caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine

MoA: increased neurotransmitter release, inhibited reuptake of neurotransmitters, or both; increased norepinephrine or dopamine or acetylcholine agonist

Effects: increased alertness, euphoria, sped up body functions, pupil dilation, high followed by crash

What are examples of hallucinogens? Mechanisms of action? Effects?

Examples: LSD, THC

MoA: distorts perceptions in absence of sensory input (not well understood)

Effects: hallucinations, impaired judgement, slow reaction time

What is physical dependence? What is psychological dependence?

Physical: withdrawal symptoms when drug is not consumed; body adapts to the drug (tolerance); person depends on the drug to avoid withdrawal and function normally; only some drugs can cause this; can have this even without addiction

Psychological: drug is central to thoughts, emotions, behaviors, motivation; strong urge to use despite harmful effects; any drugs can lead to it and some non-drugs (ex: gambling)

What is addiction?

Compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences

Inability to stop using a drug and failure to meet work, family, or social obligations

Can include tolerance and withdrawal depending on the drug

Biologically based in pleasure centers of the brain (dopamine released in nucleus accumbens)