Clinical Psychology

  • Psychological Disorders: Syndromes that cause significant disturbance in one’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.

    • -Dysfunctional or Maladaptive

    • -Definitions change over time (ex: homosexuality first considered a disorder, not any more

    Models of Thought

  • Middle Ages: illness caused by demon possessions.

    • Treatments consisted of genital mutilation, beatings, teeth removal

  • Deinstitutionalization: Late 20th cent. movement advocating for the release of asylum patients to integrate them into the community

    • Philippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix

    • The introduction of Thorazine (1st antipsychotic drug) contributed to the start of this

  • Medical Model: Psych disorders have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and possibly cured (often through hospitals)

    • Reflected in today’s terms: mentalHEALTH, mental ILLNESSES, psychopathology

  • Biopsychosocial Model

    • Some disorders are worldwide (depression) but some others depend on the country/culture (Susto-Latinx, Taijn-Kyofush - Japan, Eating Disorders in Western Cultures, etc)

  • Stress-Diathesis / Vulnerability-Stress Model: Individual characteristics combine with environment. Stressors determine the likelihood of developing a disorder

    • Epigenetics: study of environmental influences on gene expression that occurs without a DNA change. Supports this model.

    Classifying Disorders

  • first, name and describe the disorder in order to study it

  • helps to predict its future course, suggesting treatment, search for causes

  • Concerns: subjectivity of diagnostic labels, diagnostic labels change, controversial within the field. Maybe pathologizing everyday behaviors

  • DSM-V is a widely used system to classify disorders

    Do Disorders = Danger? / miscellaneous

  • Disorders do not increase the risk of violence, rather people with disorders more likely to be victims

  • “insanity” is a law term

  • 1/5 of Adult Americans have a metal disorder (US has the highest rates of disorders)

  • immigrant paradox: immigrants that come to US averaged better mental health than other Americans with the same ethnicity

  • disorders occur by early adulthood, usually

    ANXIETY DISORDERS

  • Anxiety disorders: characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety and/or maladaptive behaviors that reduce that anxiety

    • Social Anxiety: Intense fear and avoidance of social situations.

    • Generalized Anxiety disorder: Excessive and uncontrollable worry that persists for 6+ months.

      >Free-floating, no identifiable source.

      >Often accompanied with depressive moods and health issues

      >2/3 are women, decreases with age (rare at 50 years of age)

    • Panic Disorders: Unpredictable minute-long episodes of intense dread (terror, chest pain, choking, etc) followed with fear and worry over a possible next attack.

      > People may avoid the places in which several attacks take place

      >Agoraphobia: fear/avoidance of situations (crowds, open spaces), one feels loss of control and panic

    • Phobias: persistent irrational fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations.

    • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): unwarranted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and action in response to those thoughts (compulsions)

      >2% affected. more common with teens and young adults.

      >Hoarding disorder, Body dysmorphia, trichotillomania, excoriation disorder

    • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness, and/or insomnia that lingers 4 weeks after a traumatic event.

      >5-10% develop this after a traumatic event

    Understanding Anxiety Disorders

    • Conditioning: fear responses can be linked with formerly neutral objects and events.

    • Cognition: by observing others, we can learn to fear what they fear.

      >past experiences shape expectations, interpretations, and reactions

    • those with anxiety disorders tend to have more hypervigilance, attend more to threatening stimuli, and interpret unclear stimuli as threatening

    MOOD DISORDERS

  • Major Depressive Disorder: 5+ of the following symptoms:

    • depressed mood*

    • loss of interests/pleasure*

    • Significant challenges in regulating appetite/weight

    • Significant challenges in regulating sleep

    • physical agitation or lethargy

    • feeling listless or w/much less energy

      feeling of unworthlessness or unwarranted guilt

    • problems In thinking/concentrating/decision making

    • thoughts of death and suicide repetitively

  • Dysthymia (Persistent Depressive Disorder): Mildly depressed mood for 2+ years. Display at least 2 symptoms:

    • Difficulty concentrating/making decisions

    • feeling hopeless

    • poor self esteem

    • reduced energy levels

    • problems regulating sleep, appetite

  • Extra Depression Info:

    • is number one reason people seek mental health services

    • x2 of women are impacted

    • it can be seasonal

  • Bipolar Disorder: personal alternates between hopelessness and lethargy of depressive and an overexcited state of mania.

    • mania: hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is common.

  • Bipolar 1: manic episodes that last for a week, typically alternating with episodes lasting 2 weeks

  • Bipolar 2: A pattern of depressive episodes with some hypomanic episodes (milder mania)

    • less common than MDD, but it'‘s usually more dysfunctional

    • predictor of suicide

    • men and women have similar prevalence rates

    • Americans are 2x more likely to be diagnosed

Understanding Depressions and Bipolar Disorder