abnormal psycology exam one

Psycho psychology

Study of the mind body connections

Psychopathology

Study of mental heath conditions and illness

DSM-5 definition of Abnormal

Significant disturbance in an individuals behavior, cognition, or emotion regulation, that reflects their phycological, biological, or developmental processes

Seven indicators of abnormality

Subjected distress

Maladaptiveness

Emotion regulation

Dangerousness

Increased irritability

Statistical deviancy

Variations of societal standards

Advantages of classification

• professionals share a common language

• Promotes research

• Helps to structure

Disadvantages of classification

• stigma can deter patients from going to get treatment

• Stereotyping

• Oversimplifying

Development and reduction of stigma

Ppl are labeled as crazy/dangerous by media or culture

To help this the person is not the diagnosis

Epidemiology

Study of the distribution of disorders in a population

Incidence

Number if disorders that emerge during a specific time (usually one year)

Comorbidty

When two or more disorders are present in a patient

Prevalence

Number of active cases of a disorder in a population at a given moment

Point prevalence

Proportion of people with a given disorder at a specific moment

1 yr prevalence

Number of cases present at any point during the year

Lifetime prevalence

Proportion of people who have ever had the disorder in their lifetime in the population

Most common individual DSM-5 disorders

Generalized anxiety disorder

major depressive disorder

Specific phobias

Ancient explanations of psychopathology

Demon possession

• exorcism

• Trephination

Punishment of angry gods or spirits

Hippocrates

Abnormal behavior is a result of imbalance in

Yellow Bile - agitated

Black Bile- thoughtful

Blood- optimistic

Phlegm - calm

Plato and Aristotle

Individuals with mental disorders are not in control of their actions so they are not responsible for their actions

Middle Ages

Return of demonology

→ abnormal behavior is conflict between good and evil

• witch accusations

• Lycanthropy

• Mass madness

Humanism movement

Took in the importance of human interests and concerns.

Early asylums

Institutions where patients were treated inhumanely with aggressive treatment techniques → blistering, electric shock, restraints etc.

York retreat

Mental illness patients lived, worked, and rested

Psychopathology in the 1800’s and 1900’s

Increasing role of psychiatrists

Mental illness explanations were liked to nerves

Chaining of patients and abandoning of mental health patients after deinstitutionalization.

Somatogenic perspective

Rebirth of the idea that abnormal behavior came from brain disease

Discovery of organic and genetic factors

Kraeplin

Created a classification system that liked symptoms with outcomes

Psychoanalysis

Focused on inner dynamics and unconscious motives

Mesmerism

You can produce psychological symptoms through hypnosis

Distressing stress

Predisposition and response to taxing demands

Additive model

Diathesis and stress add up they both don’t have to be 100% present for something to occur

Interactive model

Some amount of diathesis must be present so that stress can have an impact

Genotype

Set of traits passes down from parents to offspring

• fixed

Phenotype

Characteristics of a person that develop form interaction between the genotype and environment

• shaped by environment

Abnormal neurotransmitters

Excessive production of neurotransmitters

Dysfunction in deactivating neurotransmitters

Problems with receiving information

Abnormal chemical activity in endocrine system

Stress increases production of cortisol so when stress stops the depletion an lead to depression

Temperament

A child’s reactivity and ways of self regulation

• believed to be biological

• Effects developmental processes

Freud psychodynamic perspective

Id - instinct

Ego - control

Super Ego - unconscious

Psychosexual stages of development

Oral

Anal

Phallic

Latency

Genital

Ego psychopathy

If the ego is not fully developed it can lead to psychopathythy

Object relations

Focus on the relationship between a person and other people and objects

Interpersonal

Psychopathy is rooted in tendencies we develop when we interact with others

Attachment theory

Emphasizes early experience with attachment relationships in laying a foundation for later functioning

Humanistic perspective

Views human nature as basically “good” emphasizes present self direction, meaningful and fulfilling lives

Existential perspective

Emphasis on irrational tendencies and self fulfillment difficulties

• deepest human problems

Classical conditioning

Disorders occur by temporal association

• phobias, substance abuse

Instrumental conditioning

If a response is reinforced i becomes more likely to be repeated on similar occasions

Observational learning

Learning through observation alone without a stimulus or reinforcement

Cognitive behavioral perspective

How thoughts and info processing can become distorted leading to maladaptive emotions and behavior

Schema

Underlying representation of knowledge that guides current processing of info

Self schema

How we view ourselves and what we might become

Attributions

Assigning causes to events

This caused that to happen

Predicts behaviors

Assimilation

Reinterpreting new information

We are likely to cling to our pre-existing knowledge and distort new information to fit that

Accommodation

Changing our existing cognitive framework to incorporate new information that doesn’t go along with our existing way of thinking

Early deprivation or trauma

Children raised in institutions show a significant reduction in grey and white matter

• abused children are more aggressive

• Neglected children struggle with anxiety and emotional and behavioral functioning

Authoritative parenting

Warm and moderate control

Secure attachment

Authoritarian

High control and low warmth

• more moody and irritable

Permissive/ indulgent

High warmth and low discipline/ control

• impulsive and selfish

Neglect

Low warmth and control

• low esteem and conduct problems

Divorce

Children of high conflict show Lower life satisfaction, elevated conflict/ aggression

Parents have an increase in happiness and most negative effects are temporary

Low SES

Higher mental disorders and more emotional distress/stress

Unemployment

Enhanced vulnerability to psychopathology and high depression

Discrimination

High stress levels, increase in anger

Barrier for proper treatment

Assesment

Diagnosis of a client based on their major symptoms and behavior

Cultural competency

Ability to understand, appreciate, and engage with people who have backgrounds, culture, or belief systems that differ from ones own

Clinical interview

Face to face encounters to Solent detailed information on a client

Structured intervire

Asks only specific questions in a better way

• increased reliability on answers

Unstructured interview

Conducted with no preexisting plan

• less bias and defensiveness leading to more truthful answers

• Poor reliability and driven by clients understanding of themselves

Semi-structured interview

Asks questions in a specific order in a specific way then ask follow up questions tailored to the client

• greater validity

Projective personality test

Unstructured tests that rely on vague ambiguous stimuli and patients project their underlying conflicts onto it

• Rosach(blobs) and thematic apperception test (cards and make up story)

Objective personality test

Structured tests

• questionnaires and self report

• MMPI-3

Purpose of neuropsychological assessment

Standard measures to categorize the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional changes associated with disorders

Ways of assessing neuropsychological disorders

CT

MRI

EEG

PET

FMRI

CT Scan

Assesses the amount of radiation not absorbed by brain structures and tissues

MRI

Detects protons that respond to magnetic fields

PET Scan

Evaluated brain by measuring the brains blood flow, oxygen consumption

FMRI

Detects magnetic changes to the blood due to the concentration of oxygen

Categorical classification

Seeks to classify behavior into distinct categories

• behavior can be sorted

• But how many categories?

Dimensional classification

A persons behavior in the product of differing strengths or intensities of dimensions

Prototypical

Provides a standard which and individual can be compared to in order to assign them to a particular category

• using DSM- 5

Symptoms

Patient’s subjective description about what is wrong

• pain

Signs

Objective and visible indicators of a problem

• broken leg

Limits of diagnosis

• can lead to wrong conclusions

• Classifying individuals can lead to self fulfilling prophesies

• Society attaches stigma to abnormalities

• Diagnosis and the person become interchangeable