Mental Health Disorders Vocabulary Flashcards

Key Anxiety Disorders

• Agoraphobia

  • Fear of places and situations that may cause panic attacks.
  • Essentially, it's a fear of being outside in situations where escape might be difficult.

• Panic Attack

  • Symptoms include restricted chest, dizziness, nausea, and trouble breathing.

• Specific Phobia

  • Intense fears of specific objects or situations (e.g., heights, cats, elevators).

• Social Anxiety Disorder

  • Intense, persistent fear of social situations leading to avoidance.
  • In Japan, often centers around concern of offending others.

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

  • Constant anxiety symptoms: on edge, tense, excessive worry.
  • Often co-morbid with depression and panic disorders.

• Factitious Disorder

  • Intentionally producing illness for medical care (e.g., injecting bacteria).

• Animal Hoarding

  • A unique subtype of hoarding behavior.

• Social Phobia

  • Fear of social situations leading to embarrassment; e.g., fear of public restrooms is common.

• Trichotillomania

  • Compulsive hair pulling.

• Adjustment Disorder

  • Symptoms arise within three months of an event, typically resolves on its own (e.g., divorce, college transition).

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Characterized by increased arousal and hyper-vigilance to environment (e.g., soldier in a restaurant wants to scan the surroundings).

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Individuals must accept uncertainty; involves intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
  • Key brain areas involved include:
  • Cingulate Gyrus: Emotion and pain regulation
  • Occipital Lobe: Visual processing
  • Supraorbital Cortex: Emotion regulation and social behavior.

• Depersonalization

  • Feeling detached from one's body.

• Cluster Symptoms

  • Emotional numbing, strange body experiences, alienation from surroundings.

• Dissociation

  • Complete detachment from experiences; often leads to memory loss (e.g., forgetting specific life events).

• Dissociative Fugue

  • Sudden inability to recall past life after trauma, often adopting a new identity (e.g., example of Maria).

• Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

  • Characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identities; has increased incidence reported since the 1970s.

• Somatic Concerns

  • Preoccupation with possessing a disorder after learning about it.

• Conversion Disorder

  • Experiencing pain without identifiable physical source.

• Body Dysmorphic Disorder

  • Preoccupation with perceived physical flaws, often leads to distress.
  • La Belle Indifference: Lack of concern regarding their disability (e.g., paralysis).

• Secondary Gain

  • Benefits derived from a disability (e.g., avoidance, attention).

• Third Wave Psychotherapy

  • Focus on acceptance and mindfulness techniques.

Psychological Perspectives & Treatments

• Psychoanalytic Perspective

  • Focuses on identifying and releasing unconscious feelings, memories, and desires affecting life negatively.

• Preparedness Theory of Phobias

  • Humans are biologically predisposed to fear specific objects or scenarios (e.g., snakes, heights).

• Benzodiazepines

  • Medications that can be addictive; often prescribed for anxiety.

• Iatrogenic Disorders

  • Disorders thought to be caused by medical providers' suggestions.

• Modeling (Observational Learning)

  • Learning behaviors by observing others, such as parents.

• Excoriation Disorder

  • Involves habitual skin picking or hair pulling, leading to impairment.
  • Habit Reversal Training is the most effective CBT for such behaviors.

• SSRI's

  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors used for treating depression and OCD.

• Obsessions vs. Compulsions

  • Obsessions: Intrusive thoughts.
  • Compulsions: Behaviors aimed at reducing the anxiety brought on by obsessions.

• Ego Dystonic vs. Ego Syntonic

  • Ego Dystonic: Awareness that beliefs are irrational.
  • Ego Syntonic: The person believes their thoughts are true.

• Hysteria

  • Reference to disorders from the early 1900s.

• Two-Factor Learning Model

  • Combines classical conditioning (learning through association) with operant conditioning (reinforcement).

• PTSD Statistics

  • Approximately 30% of individuals experiencing trauma develop PTSD.

• EMDR

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Therapy that combines recalling traumatic memories while engaging in structured eye movements.

• In-Vivo Exposure

  • Technique used to treat phobias (e.g., exposure to fear-inducing situations like snakes).

Neurobiology of Fear and Therapy

• Fear Response

  • Involves the amygdala, frontal lobe, and limbic system.

• Somatic Disorders Misconception

  • There is a belief that modern medicine can explain all disorders and pains.

• Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy

  • Exposure: Therapists identify fears and gradually expose the patient.
  • Response Prevention: Patients refrain from engaging in compulsive behaviors after exposure.