PSY-P 324 Exam 2

Emotion

The state of arousal that is defined by subjective states of feeling, like sadness, anger, and disgust

Affect

Pattern of observable behaviors, like facial expression, that are associated with these subjective feelings

Mood

Pervasive and sustained emotional response that can color the person’s perception of the world

Clinical Syndrome

Combination of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms

Depressed Mood

Feelings that include disappointment and despair

Fatigue, loss of energy, difficulty sleeping, and a change in appetite; variety of changes in thinking/overt behavior

What Accompanies Depressed Mood

Mania

Disturbance in mood that is accompanied by persistently elevated or irritated mood that lasts for at least one week

Euphoria (Elated mood)

Opposite emotional state from depressed mood; Characterized by an exaggerated feeling of physical and emotional well-being

inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractability, pressure to keep talking, and subjective feeling of thoughts racing through the person’s head

Manic symptoms

Mood Disorders

Disorders defined in terms of episodes

Episodes

Discrete periods of time in which the person’s behavior is dominated by either a depressed or manic mood

Depressive Disorder

When a person only experiences episodes of depression

Dysphoric (unpleasant) mood

Most common and obvious symptom of depression - feeling utterly gloomy, dejected, or despondent

Depressive Triad

When depressed patients focus on the most negative features of themselves, their environments, and the future

Sped-Up Thoughts

Patients with bipolar disorder report that ideas flash through their mind faster than they can articulate their thoughts and they are easily deistractable

Self-Destructive Ideas

When people gain interest in suicide, have an increase in feelings of guilt and failure

Somatic Symptoms

Symptoms that relate to physiological or bodily functions - include fatigue, aches, pains, changes in appetite and sleep patterns

Psychomotor Retardation

Features of behavior that may accompany the onset of serious depression - includes slowed movement, talking in slow motion, stop speaking altogether, taking long pauses when speaking

Emotional, cognitive, somatic, and behavioral symptoms

The Four symptoms of Major Depression and Mania

Narrow Approach to Defining Mood Disorders

Focusing on the most severely disturbed people

Broad approach to Defining Mood Disorders

Choosing to include milder forms of depression

Heterogeneity

The debate about whether people experiencing different symptoms is a result of distinct forms of mood disorders or different expressions of the same problem

Major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Three types of depressive disorders

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder

Children with chronic, severe irritability

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

When women experience premenstrual symptoms that have more severe and an increased amount of emotional and physical complaints

The Three Types of Bipolar disorders

Bipolar I, Bipolar II, Cyclothymia

Bipolar I Disorder

Someone who has experience at least one manic episode; the mood disturbance must be severe enough to interfere with occupational or social functioning

Bipolar II Disorder

When patients experience episodes of increased energy that are not sufficiently severe to qualify as full-blown mania; must experience at least one major depressive, one hypomanic, and no full-blown manic episode

Hypomania

When an episode has increased energy but is not severe enough to be considered mania

Melancholia

A particularly severe type of depression - suggests that patient is likely to have good response to antidepressant medication or electro-convulsive therapy

Psychotic Features

Either hallucinations or delusions experienced during the most recent episode of depression or mania - can be consistent or inconsistent with patient’s mood

Postpartum Onset

Women who became depressed or manic following pregnancy

Rapid Cycling

When a patient experiences at least four episodes within a 12-month period - more likely to show a poor response to treatment

Seasonal Affective Disorder

When there is a regular relationship between the onset of a person’s episodes and particular times of year

5 or 6

Average lifetime depression episodes

An increased probability that someone will become depressed

What the experience of stressful life events is associated with in terms of depression

Stress generation

What happens when some depressed people create difficult circumstances that actually increase the stress levels in their life

Cognitive Perspective on the onset of depression

Pervasive and persistent negative thoughts about the self and pessimistic views of the environment play a central role in the onset of depression

Distortion

The tendency to overgeneralize conclusions about the self based on negative experiences

Maladaptive Schemas

General patterns of thought that guide the ways in which people perceive and interpret events in their environment

Hopelessness

The person’s negative expectations about future events and the associated belief that these events cannot be controlled

Ruminative Style

Choosing to respond to feelings of depression by turning their attention inwards

Distracting Style

Choosing to divert themselves from their unpleasant mood by working on hobbies, playing sports, etc

Twin Studies

Comparing the concordance rates of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs

Genetics

What plays an important role in the development of mood disorders

Endocrine System

The system that plays an important role in regulating a person’s response to stress

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

An important pathway that is closely related to the etiology of mood disorders

Prefrontal Cortex

The region of the brain in which abnormal patterns of activation are found in association with depression

Deficit of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

Where this deficit in the brain will cause motivational problems

Overactivity of Orbital and Ventromedial Cortex

Where overactivity might be associated with prolonged experience of negative emotion

Decreased Activation of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Where decreased activation can reflect in a failure to appreciate the maladaptive nature of prolonged negative emotions and a reduced ability to engage in more adaptive behaviors

What the Cognitive Model Assumes

This model assumes that emotional dysfunction is influenced by the negative ways in which people interpret events in their environments and the things that they say to themselves about those experiences

Cognitive Therapist Approach to Depression

Helping their patients replace self-defeating thoughts with more rational self-statements

Interpersonal Therapist Approach to Depression

Helping their patients develop a better understanding of interpersonal problems that might give rise to depression and attempts to improve the patient’s relationships with others

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and ‘other’

Four categories of medications to treat depression

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Most frequently used form of antidepressant medication; inhibits reuptake of serotonin into the presynaptic nerve ending and increases the amount of serotonin in the synaptic cleft

Tricyclic Antidepressants

Medication that blocks the uptake of neurotransmitters from the synapse

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors

Least used medication for depression because it can cause high blood-pressure when consuming cheese and chocolate, and not as effective as tricyclics - now widely used for agoraphobia and panic attacks

Lithium Carbonate

An effective form of treatment in alleviation of manic episodes - but up to 40% do not improve taking this

Four Types of Suicide

Egoistic, Altruistic, Anomic, and Fatalistic

Egoistic Suicide

Suicide that occurs when people become relatively detached from society and feel that their existence is meaningless

Altruistic Suicide

Suicide that occurs when the rules of the social group dictate that the person must sacrifice their own life for the sake of others

Anomic Suicide

Suicide that occurs following a breakdown in social order or disruption of the norms

Fatalistic Suicide

Suicide that occurs when the circumstances under which a person lives become unbearable

Heart pounding, dry mouth, faster breathing

Physical signs of anxiety

Agoraphobia

An exaggerated fear of being in situations from which escape might be difficult

In the face of real, immediate danger

Where fear is experienced

The anticipation of future problems

What anxiety is associated with

High levels of diffuse negative emotion, a sense of uncontrollability, a shift in attention to a primary self-focus or a state of self-preoccupation

Anxious Apprehension

Cognitive activity associated with anxiety

Worrying

A relatively uncontrollable sequence of negative, emotional thoughts that are concerned with possible future threats or danger

Worry

Sudden, overwhelming experience of terror/fright

Panic attack

Anxiety

A blend of several negative emotions

More intense and has a sudden onset

What distinguishes panic from anxiety

Heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, nausea, dizziness, and chills

Physical/somatic symptoms of a panic attack

Feeling like they are about to die, lose control, or go crazy

Cognitive symptoms of a panic attack

Phobias

Persistent, irrational, narrowly defined fears that are associated with a specific object or situation

Social anxiety disorder

People who are afraid of (and avoid) social situations in which they may be scrutinized

Agoraphobia

Fear of the marketplace (places of assembly); fear of public spaces

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Excessive anxiety and worry; person must have trouble controlling these worries and the worries must lead to significant distress/impairment in occupational/social functioning

Chronic

Anxiety disorder course type

The First Pathway

A direct connection between the thalamus and amygdala

The Second Pathway

A connection in which the thalamus goes to the cortex then sent to the amygdala

Serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA, and dopamine

Neurotransmitters associated with anxiety disorder

Situational Exposure

Exposure that is used to treat agoraphobic avoidance; person repeatedly confronts the situations that have previously been avoided (e.g. crowded spaces)

Interoceptive Exposure

Exposure that is aimed at reducing the person’s fear of internal, bodily sensations that are associated with the onset of a panic attack; have them complete physical exercises (e.g. running place)

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders

The presence of unwanted intrusive thoughts and/or habitual behaviors

Obsessions

Repetitive, unwanted, intrusive cognitive events that may take the form of thoughts/images/urges

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that are used to reduce anxiety

Cleaning

An irrational fear of contamination

Checking

An attempt to ensure the person’s safety or the safety and health of a friend/family member

Hoarding

Being unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value

Trichotillomania

Recurrent hair pulling

Excoriation

Repeated skin-picking which produces skin lesions

Chronic Disorder

Course length of OCD

Thought suppression

An active attempt to stop thinking about something

Basal ganglia, orbital prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex

Parts of the brain associated with obsessions and compulsions

Prolonged Exposure

The most effective form of psychological treatment for OCD

Diffuse emotional reaction that is associated with the anticipation of future problems and is out of proportion to threats from the environment

Anxiety

dissociation

the disruption of the normally integrated mental processes involved in memory, consciousness, identity, or perception