Psychological Disorders Flashcards

Abnormal Behavior

• Definition: Actions, thoughts, and feelings that are distressing or harmful, hindering the formation of meaningful relationships.

The Concept of Insanity

• Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A legal defense.
• Competence to Stand Trial: Assessing a defendant's ability to understand legal proceedings.
• Involuntary Commitment: Legal process for people with mental illness who pose a danger to themselves or others.

Disorders Interfere with Our Lives

• Psychopathology: Sickness or disorder of the mind.
• Drawing the Line: Distinguishing between normal emotions, thoughts, and behaviors versus a psychological disorder can be challenging.
• Disruption and Distress: A psychological problem is considered a disorder when it significantly disrupts a person’s life and causes distress over a long period.

Limitations of the Criteria for Disordered Emotions, Thoughts, and/or Behaviors

• Cultural Norms: Deviation from cultural norms varies based on individual beliefs.
  • Example: Eccentric behavior may be more tolerated in wealthy communities.
• Maladaptive Behavior: Not every maladaptive behavior is a disorder.
  • Example: Talking on a cell phone while driving.
• Personal Distress: Distress does not always indicate a psychological disorder.
  • Example: Distress about reactions to sexual orientation.
• Discomfort to Others: Causing discomfort to others does not necessarily equate to a disorder.
  • Example: Cyberbullying.

The Biopsychosocial Model

• Diathesis-Stress Model:
  • Diathesis: An inherited predisposition or vulnerability.
  • Stress: Environmental stressors.
  • Development of Disorder: The stronger the diathesis, the less stress is needed to trigger the disorder.
• Factors Contributing to Psychological Disorders:
  • Prenatal trauma.
  • Childhood sexual or physical abuse.
  • Family conflict.
  • Significant life changes.

The Diathesis-Stress Model

• Definition: A disorder develops when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event.
• Onset of Mental Disorders: Occurs due to both vulnerability and stressful events.

Assessment and Categorization of Disordered Thoughts, Emotions, and/or Behaviors

• Assessment:
  • Categorize thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to make a diagnosis.
  • Provide appropriate treatment.
  • Understand the condition's course and probable outcome (prognosis).
• Methods of Assessment:
  • Interviews.
  • Self-reports.
  • Observations.
  • Psychological testing.
• Process: Assessment → Diagnosis → Treatment → Ongoing assessment.

DSM-5-TR

• DSM-5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition.
• Growing List of Mental Illnesses: The number of disorders described has increased since the first edition in 1952.

Categorizing Disordered Thoughts and Behavior

• Comorbidity: Many mental disorders occur together (e.g., depression and anxiety, depression and substance abuse).
• DSM-5 Categories: Describes 19 major categories of disorders, each with variations.

Understanding Normal and Abnormal Behavior

• Continuum: Behavior can be viewed on a continuum from normal to psychological disorder.

Anxiety Disorders

• Phobia: Intense, unrealistic fear focused on an object or situation, leading to avoidance.

Social Phobia

• Definition: Extreme and persistent fear or anxiety and avoidance of social situations where negative evaluation is possible.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Definition: Vague, uneasy sense of tension and apprehension; free-floating anxiety.

Panic Anxiety Disorder

• Definition: Sharp, intensely uncomfortable attacks of anxiety.
• Characteristics: Recurrent abrupt experiences of unexpected intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Definition: Results from traumatic exposure to death, threats of death, or sexual violation.
• Symptoms:
  • Re-experiencing the event in nightmares, flashbacks, or intrusive thoughts.
  • Numbing.
  • Changes in physiological arousal resulting in sleep problems, anger bursts, or exaggerated startle response.
• Stressors: Combat-related stress, physical assault, automobile accidents, witnessing violence and disasters, rape and sexual molestation, and terrorism.

Rape Trauma Syndrome

• Burgess & Holmstrom:
  • Acute phase.
  • Underground phase.
  • Reorganization phase.
  • Development phase.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

• Obsessions: Anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away.
• Compulsions: Irresistible urges to engage in behaviors.
  • Examples: Repeatedly touching a spot, washing hands, checking locks.

Hoarding Disorder

• Definition: Persistent difficulty discarding possessions, even those useless or of limited value.
• Characteristics: Cluttering living areas, preventing normal use of space, causing clinically significant distress or impairment.

Mood Disorders

• Major Depression:
  • Symptoms (5 or more during a 2-week period, including depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure):
    • Depressed mood.
    • Loss of interest or pleasure.
    • Weight loss or gain/appetite changes.
    • Disturbed sleep patterns.
    • Lethargy/agitation.
    • Fatigue or loss of energy.
    • Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
    • Difficulty concentrating or making decisions.
    • Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

Bipolar Disorder

• Definition: Periods of mania alternate irregularly with periods of severe depression.
• Formerly Known As: Manic-depressive psychosis.
• Characteristics of Mania:
  • Intense euphoria.
  • Racing thoughts.
  • Little sleep needed.
  • Psychotic distortions.
  • Buying sprees.
  • Sexual promiscuity.

Types of Bipolar Disorder

• Bipolar I Disorder: Extremely elevated moods during manic episodes.
• Bipolar II Disorder: Alternating periods of extremely depressed and mildly elevated moods.

Gender Differences in Depression

• Women Have Higher Rates of Depression:
  • Biological: Genetic risk, ovarian hormones may influence serotonin levels.
  • Psychological: Tendency to ruminate, relationships are key to self-worth.
  • Sociocultural: Lower social status, gender role encourages dependence and passivity.

How Depression Arises

• Genetic Vulnerability
• Chemical Imbalance:?
• Cognitive Vulnerabilities
  • Hopelessness Theory
  • Negative Cognitive Triad (Aaron Beck):
    • The Self ("I'm just a loser")
    • The World ("It's dog eat dog everywhere I go")
    • The Future ("Things are just going to get worse")
  • Irrational Negative Beliefs ("Cognitive errors")

Depression and Suicide

• Prevalence of Depression: Approximately twice as high in women as in men.
• Suicide Rates: Men are 4 to 5 times more likely to commit suicide than women.
• Ethnic Differences: Exist in suicide rates.

Schizophrenia

• Definition: Psychological disorder characterized by extreme alterations in thought, perceptions, and/or consciousness, resulting in a break from reality (psychosis).
• Prevalence: Around 1 in 200 persons globally.
• Gender: Rates are similar for men and women.
• Characteristics: Combination of motor, cognitive, behavioral, and perceptual abnormalities.
• Impact: Impaired social, personal, or vocational functioning.
• Diagnosis: Continuous signs of disturbances for at least 6 months.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia (DSM-5)

• Five Major Symptoms:
  • Delusions.
  • Hallucinations.
  • Disorganized speech.
  • Disorganized behavior.
  • Negative symptoms.
• Diagnostic Criteria: Requires two or more of these symptoms, including at least one of the first three.

Categorization of Schizophrenia Symptoms

• Positive Symptoms: Excesses in functioning (e.g., delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior).
• Negative Symptoms: Deficits in functioning (e.g., apathy, lack of emotion, slowed speech and movement).

Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia

• Delusions: False beliefs based on incorrect inferences about reality.
• Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions without an external source.
  • Types: Frequently auditory but can also be visual, olfactory, or bodily.

Disorganized Speech

• Definition: Speaking incoherently by frequently changing topics and saying strange or inappropriate things.
  • Loosening of associations.
  • Clang associations.

Disorganized Behavior

• Definition: Acting in strange or unusual ways, including strange movement of limbs and inappropriate self-care.

Negative Symptoms

• Characteristics: Reductions in typical behavior.
  • Avoid eye contact.
  • Seem apathetic.
  • May not express emotion.
  • Slowed speech.
  • Monotonous tone of voice.
  • Long pauses before answering.
  • Failure to respond or complete sentences.
• Prevalence: More common in men.

Causes of Schizophrenia

• Biological Factors: Genetics, brain disorder (abnormalities in neurotransmitters).
• Onset: Most often diagnosed in the 20s or 30s.
• Environmental Factors: Stressful environments can trigger the onset of the disorder.

Genetic Risk of Schizophrenia

• Relationship and Lifetime Risk (percentage):
  • Identical twin: 55-0
  • Offspring of two parents with schizophrenia: 40
  • Fraternal twin: 20
  • Offspring of one parent with schizophrenia: 10
  • Sibling
  • Nephew or niece
  • Spouse
  • Unrelated person

Environmental Impact on Schizophrenia

• Diathesis-Stress Model: People genetically at risk are more vulnerable to environmental stress.
• Urban Environments: Increased stress in urban environments can trigger the onset.

Personality Disorders

• Definition: Personalities that have developed improperly.
• Axis II Disorders:
  • Begin early in life.
  • Disturbing to the person or others.
  • Very difficult to treat.

Personality Disorders Clusters

• **Cluster A (