psych disorders and treatment

Medical model

Abnormal behavior as disease

Diagnosis

Distinguishing one illness from another

Etiology

Apparent causation and developmental history of an illness

Prognosis

Forecast about probable cause of illness

Deviance

Behavior different from from societal norms; criteria of disorder

Maladaptive behavior

Behavior interferes with social or occupational functioning; criteria of disorder

Personal distress

Individual’s report of great distress; criteria of disorder

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)

Book that compiles a list of all known mental disordered

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Chronic, high level of anxiety that is not tied to a specific threat

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Enduring psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major traumatic event

Panic Disorder

Recurrent attacks of overwhelming anxiety that occur suddenly and unexpectedly

Agoraphobia

Fear of going out to public places

Specific Phobia

Persistent and irrational fear of something that presents no realistic danger

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Persistent uncontrollable intrusions of unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and urges to engage in senseless rituals (compulsions)

Biological Factors (Cause of Anxiety)

Genetic predisposition to anxiety disorders AND abnormal neurotransmitter activity leads to disorders (GABA and anxiety; serotonin and OCD)

Conditioning and Learning (cause of anxiety)

Anxiety response acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning (eg. traumatic event + snow (classical), avoid snow → less anxiety (negative reinforcement))

Cognitive Factors (cause of anxiety)

Certain styles of thinking make people vulnerable to anxiety disorders

Stress (cause of anxiety)

High stress often helps to precipitate or aggravate anxiety disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Disruption of identity marked by two or more largely complete and usually very different personalities

Dissociative Amnesia

Sudden loss of memory for important personal information that is too extensive to be due to normal forgetting

Major Depression Disorder

Persistent feelings of sadness and despair and a loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure

Anhedonia

Diminished ability to experience pleasure

Bipolar Disorder

People who experience both depressed and manic periods

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Mild depression in autumn/winter months

Dysthymic Disorder

Mild depression, not severe enough for MDD

Brain Chemistry—Neurotransmitters (cause of mood disorder)

Low serotonin & depression, abnormal norepinephrine correlated with mood disorders, suppressed neurogenesis & depression hypothesis

Genetics

Heredity creates predisposition to mood dysfunction, environment determines if it is converted to a disorder

Learned Helplessness

Passive “giving up” behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events

Schizophrenia

Disorder marked by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech, and deterioration of adaptive behavior.

Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Delusions, hallucinations, incoherent thought, agitation, bizarre behavior, wild flights of ideas.

Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Flattened emotions, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention, poor grooming, lack of persistence, poverty of speech

Delusions

False beliefs that are maintained even though they are clearly out of touch with reality

Hallucinations

Sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of a real, external stimulus OR gross distortions of perceptual input

Word Salad

Confused/unintelligible jumble of words and phrases, describes confused language evident in schizophrenia

Waxy Flexibility

Limbs can be moved, will stay put until moved again

Catatonic Schizophrenia

Characterized by striking motor disturbances, ranging from muscular rigidity to random motor activity

Paranoid Schizophrenia

Dominated by delusions of persecution & grandeur

Disorganized Schizophrenia

Particularly severe; frequent incoherence, obvious deterioration in adaptive behavior, complete social withdrawal

Undifferentiated Schizophrenia

Idiosyncratic mixtures of schizophrenic symptoms, not in any other category

Dopamine Hypothesis (cause of schizophrenia)

Excess dopamine activity is the neurochemical basis for schizophrenia

Birth Complications (cause of schizophrenia)

“Insults” to brain during sensitive phases of prenatal development or during birth cause subtle neurological damage, makes people more vulnerable to schizophrenia

Expressed Emotion (cause of schizophrenia)

degree to which a relative of schizophrenic patient displays highly critical or emotionally over-involved attitudes towards patient; correlates with schizophrenia (family cause of stress not support)

Stress (cause of schizophrenia)

High stress precipitates schizophrenic disorder or triggers relapses

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Grandiosely self-important; preoccupied with success fantasies; expecting special treatment; lacking interpersonal empathy

Borderline Personality Disorder

Unstable in self-image, mood, and interpersonal relationships; impulsive and unpredictable, swings between extreme emotions

Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)

Chronically violating others’ rights; not accepting social norms, forming attachments, or sustaining consistent work behavior; exploitive and reckless

Anorexia Nervosa

Intense fear of gaining weight, disturbed body image, refusal to maintain normal weight, use of dangerous measures to lose weight. Incl. starving themselves or binge/purging.

Bulimia Nervosa

Habit of out-of-control overeating followed by unhealthy compensation e.g. self-induced vomiting, fasting, abuse of laxatives, excessive exercise.

Binge-Eating Disorder

Distress-induced eating binges that are not accompanied by purging/fasting/excessive exercise

Etiology of Eating Disorders

genetic vulnerability; personality factors (anorexia - obsessive, rigid, emotionally restrained, perfectionistic; bulimia - impulsive, overly sensitive, low self-esteem); cultural values (skinny = attractive); family (bad modeling + childhood SA or physical abuse = elevated risk for ED); cognitive factors (“I must be thin to be accepted”)

Psychoanalysis

Insight therapy (enhance clients’ self-knowledge); emphasizes recovery of unconscious conflicts, motives, and defenses

Free Association

Clients spontaneously express their thoughts and feelings exactly as they occur, with as little censorship as possible

Dream Analysis

Therapist interprets symbolic meaning of client’s dreams

Resistance

Largely unconscious defensive maneuvers intended to hinder the progress of therapy (denial of problems, etc)

Transference

client relates to therapist in ways that mimics critical relationships in their lives

Modern Psychodynamic Treatments

Set tangible goals & is more flexible

Client-Centered Therapy

Insight therapy, provides supportive emotional climate for clients, who play a major role in determining pace & direction

Group Therapy

Simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group

Couple and Family Therapies

Treatment of partners/family as a whole, main focus being relationship issues and communication

Systematic Desensitization

Behavior therapy (applying learning and conditioning to change client’s maladaptive behaviors) used to reduce clients’ phobic responses

Flooding

Overwhelming exposure to stimulus, causes desensitaization

Social-Skills Training

Behavior therapy to improve interpersonal skills, emphasizes modeling, behavioral rehearsal, and shaping

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Combinations of verbal interventions and behavior modifications to change clients’ maladaptive patterns of thinking

Antianxiety Drugs

Drugs that reduce tension, apprehension, nervousness

Antipsychotic Drugs

Gradually reduce psychotic symptoms, incl. hyperactivity, mental confusion, hallucinations, and delusions

Tardive Dyskinesia

Neurological disorder marked by involuntary writhing and tic-like movements of mouth, tongue, face, hands, or feet

Antidepressant Drugs

Drugs that gradually elevate mood and help bring people out of a depression

Mood Stabilizers

Drugs used to control mood swings in patients with bipolar mood disorders

ECT

Biomedical treatment, electric shock used to produce cortical seizure accompanied by convulsions (current through brain)

Multicultural Sensitivity in Treatment

Lack of understanding of cultural norms can lead to misunderstandings, etc

Therapeutic Alliance

People with close supportive friendships less likely to need therapy

Eclecticism

Drawing ideas from two or more systems of therapy instead of just one

Lifestyle Change

Aerobic exercise, adequate sleep, light exposure, social connection, anti-rumination, nutrition = good lifestyle, likely to have no disorders