Week 12 PSY10007 Lecture and Module Videos - Psychological Disorders And Treatment

Flashcards to help review for a psychology exam.

Psychopathology

Maladaptive, disruptive, or uncomfortable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that affect both the individual and those around them.

Medical Model

Suggests that disorders stem primarily from an underlying illness that can be diagnosed, treated, and cured, focusing on biological factors like chemical imbalances.

Psychopathology

Maladaptive, disruptive, or uncomfortable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that affect both the individual and those around them.

Medical Model

Suggests that disorders stem primarily from an underlying illness that can be diagnosed, treated, and cured, focusing on biological factors like chemical imbalances.

Biopsychosocial Model

Looks at the interaction between biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors that contribute to the emergence and maintenance of psychological disorders.

Diathesis Stress Model

Suggests that biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors can predispose individuals to a disorder, but stress is needed to trigger it.

To help determine the nature of a problem, choose the most appropriate treatment, study the causes of mental disorders, and provide an economy of language.

What is the purpose of classifying psychological disorders?

Taxonomy of Disorders

A system for grouping disorders together based on similarities, aiding in diagnosis and treatment.

Provides us with an economy of language, allowing clinicians and researchers to convey a lot of information with one label.

What is one of the main reasons for diagnostic systems?

DSM

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, used in the US and Australia.

Social Phobia

Fear of social interaction or aspects of social interaction.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Characterized by excessive, long-lasting, unfocused anxiety, often involving worry about worry itself.

Panic Disorder

Recurrent panic attacks without warning or obvious cues, leading individuals to avoid situations that trigger panic.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Characterized by obsessions (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (ritualistic behaviors), often involving both 'doing' and 'undoing'.

Genetic influences, neurotransmitter abnormalities, cognitive processes, learning, and traumatic experiences.

What are potential causes of anxiety disorders?

Conversion Disorder

Experiencing apparent blindness, deafness, paralysis, or insensitivity to pain.

Hypochondriasis

An anxiety disorder specifically related to health concerns, with individuals believing they are sick all the time.

Dissociative Fugue

Sudden wandering and loss of memory or confusion about personal identity, potentially adopting an entirely new identity.

Dissociative Amnesia

Sudden loss of memory about personal information.

Major Depression

Involves feeling sad, losing interest in activities, changes in eating habits, sleep disturbances, and potentially suicidal ideation.

Bipolar I Disorder

Mania alternates with deep depression.

Bipolar II Disorder

Hypomania (less severe mania) alternates with deep depression.

Biological influences (genetics, brain malfunctions, neurotransmitter imbalances), inflammation, and psychological/social factors (environmental stresses, thinking styles).

What are potential causes for mood disorders?

Schizophrenia Symptoms

Disorganized language, disturbed thought content (delusions), perceptual abnormalities (hallucinations), and emotional disturbances.

Mainly biological, but is impacted by the individual's environment. Stressful environments could be a factor.

What factors are related to the vulnerability to schizophrenia?

A therapist who is accepted as able to help and a special therapist-client relationship.

What are the common elements of treatment?

Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Therapy that assumes personality and behavior reflect the ego's attempts to resolve conflicts, aiming to understand unconscious conflicts using free association and dream analysis.

Conceptualizes treatment as a human encounter between equals, assumes clients will improve on their own, and that clients are responsible for choosing how they will think and behave.

What are some of the assumptions of humanistic therapy?

Unconditional positive regard/acceptance, empathy, active listening/reflection, and congruence/genuineness.

What elements are important in client-centered therapy?

Focused on changing both thoughts and behaviors

What is the focus of cognitive behavior therapy?

Psychosurgery, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychoactive drugs (neuroleptics, antidepressants, lithium, tranquilizers).

What falls into the categories of biological treatments for psychological disorders?

Bipolar disorder

What is useful to combine psychotherapy and drugs