Psychology Lecture Notes
What is Stress?
Stress: Tension, discomfort, or physical symptoms arising from a situation that strains our ability to cope effectively.
Example: Feeling overwhelmed before an important exam.
Scenario: A student juggling multiple assignments and extracurricular activities experiences increased anxiety and difficulty concentrating.
Stressors: Situations that cause stress can be negative or positive events.
Example: Getting married or losing a job.
Scenario: Planning a wedding can be a stressful but positive event, while job loss can lead to financial and emotional stress.
Major life events
Example: Death of a loved one, divorce, or serious illness.
Scenario: Dealing with the death of a family member requires significant emotional and practical adjustments.
Daily hassles
Example: Traffic jams, disagreements with family members, or work-related stress.
Scenario: A long commute in heavy traffic can cause daily frustration and stress.
Three approaches to stress:
Stress as a stimulus
Stress as a response
Stress as a transaction
Stress as a Stimulus
Focuses on measuring stressors and identifying who is most susceptible following certain events.
Views stress as a significant life event or change that demands a response, adjustment, or adaptation.
Study: Social Readjustment Rating Scale
List of 42 life events scored by the estimated degree of adjustment they require (e.g., marriage).
Example: A high score indicates a greater likelihood of experiencing stress-related health problems.
Scenario: Someone who recently experienced a divorce, job loss, and relocation may have a high score and is at risk for health issues.
Stress as a Response
Focuses on the psychological and physical reactions to stressors.
Measures different outcomes in response to stress.
Example: Increased heart rate, sweating, and muscle tension.
Scenario: During a presentation, a person experiences a racing heart and sweaty palms due to anxiety.
Study: General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye)
The body responds to stress by "kicking into high gear."
Three stages:
Alarm
Example: Feeling anxious and tense when facing an immediate threat.
Scenario: A sudden loud noise causes an immediate startle response and increased alertness.
Resistance
Example: Attempting to cope with ongoing stressors, such as a demanding job or relationship issues.
Scenario: A person working long hours tries to maintain their performance by improving time management skills.
Exhaustion
Example: Experiencing burnout and health problems due to prolonged stress.
Scenario: Chronic stress from overwork leads to fatigue, weakened immunity, and depression.
Three Stages of General Adaptation Syndrome
Alarm:
Activates the autonomic nervous system and releases adrenaline, causing a physical experience of anxiety.
Example: Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and heightened senses.
Scenario: Facing a dangerous situation triggers an immediate "fight or flight" response.
Emotion brain = amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus
HPA-axis triggers "fight or flight" response.
Resistance:
Focuses on adaptation and coping.
Example: Implementing time management strategies to handle a heavy workload.
Scenario: A student uses organizational skills and study techniques to manage academic stress.
Thinking brain = cerebral cortex involved in problem-solving.
Exhaustion:
Resistance breaks down after too long.
Example: Experiencing chronic fatigue, depression, and weakened immunity after prolonged stress.
Scenario: Continuous high-pressure work leads to burnout and health issues.
Leads to burnout and mental and physical illness.
Eustress:
Sometimes stress can be a good thing, leading to better focus and performance.
Example: Feeling energized and motivated before an important presentation.
Scenario: A deadline for a project motivates a person to work efficiently and creatively.
Stress as a Transaction
Focuses on how people interpret and cope with stressors.
Emphasizes that our evaluations of an event determine stress.
Study: Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping
When faced with a challenge:
Primary Appraisal: Assess the situation as harmful or non-threatening.
Example: Deciding whether a job interview is a major threat or a manageable challenge.
Scenario: A person evaluates a job interview as an opportunity for growth rather than a source of anxiety.
Secondary Appraisal: Decide how well we can cope with the situation.
Example: Evaluating whether you have the skills and resources to handle the job interview effectively.
Scenario: Assessing your qualifications and preparation level before an interview.
Our appraisals determine how we respond.
Problem-Focused Coping:
Focus on tackling the problem "head-on."
Example: Creating a study schedule and seeking help from a tutor to improve academic performance.
Scenario: A person struggling with a course creates a detailed study plan and seeks tutoring.
Use when confident we can cope with the stressor.
Emotional-Focused Coping:
Focus on changing perspective to lower stress.
Example: Practicing mindfulness and meditation to reduce anxiety and increase relaxation.
Scenario: Using meditation to calm anxiety before a stressful event.
Used when stressors feel out of our control or cannot be changed.
Examples: emphasizing the positive, distancing, etc.
Coping: Mental and behavioral efforts we use to deal with problems related to stress.
Locus of Control
Internal Locus of Control: Achievements/outcomes are determined by our own decisions and efforts.
Example: Believing that your success in a project depends on your hard work and dedication.
Scenario: A student attributes their good grades to consistent studying and hard work.
External Locus: Achievements/outcomes are determined by luck or other factors outside our control.
Example: Thinking that winning a game is solely due to luck, rather than skill and effort.
Scenario: A person blames their failure on a test entirely on bad luck.
Perceived Self-Efficacy: Belief in our own ability to complete tasks and reach our goals.
Example: Confidently taking on a challenging task because you believe in your ability to succeed.
Scenario: A person accepts a difficult project because they are confident in their skills.
Stress-Related Growth: A dispositional response that focuses on opportunities for growth rather than threats or debilitation.
Example: Viewing a job loss as an opportunity to explore new career paths and develop new skills.
Scenario: After being laid off, someone decides to learn new skills and start their own business.
Coping Strategies
Social Support:
Relationships with others (individuals, groups, communities).
Example: Seeking emotional comfort and advice from friends and family during a difficult time.
Scenario: Leaning on friends and family for support after experiencing a breakup.
Can provide emotional comfort, advice, resources, etc.
Gaining Control:
Increasing one's sense of agency and ability to influence their environments and experiences.
Behavioral Control: Taking action to prevent stressors; active problem-solving.
Example: Implementing a regular exercise routine to improve physical health and reduce stress.
Scenario: Starting a daily exercise routine to manage stress and improve overall health.
Cognitive Control: Thinking differently about stressors; involves emotional-focused coping.
Example: Reframing a negative thought into a more positive and constructive one.
Scenario: Changing a negative thought about a mistake into an opportunity to learn and grow.
Reframing stressors can lead to less distress.
Decisional Control: Ability to choose between different options.
Example: Empowering yourself to make good choices by seeking advice and gathering information.
Scenario: Researching different treatment options for a medical condition to make an informed decision.
Advice-seeking, empowering ourselves to make good choices.
Informational Control: Ability to acquire information about a stressor.
Example: Learning about the causes, symptoms, and treatments for a medical condition to better manage your health.
Scenario: Finding information about a diagnosis to better understand and manage the condition.
Proactive coping: anticipating stressors, taking actions to prevent or minimize them in advance.
Example: Preparing for a job interview by practicing common questions and researching the company.
Scenario: Preparing and planning ahead to reduce potential stressors.
Emotional Control: Ability to express or suppress emotions.
Example: "Opening up" about traumatic/emotional experiences by talking to a therapist or support group.
Scenario: Talking to a therapist about traumatic experiences.
Social Psychology
What is Social Psychology?
Social Psychology: The study of how people influence our thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes.
Humans are highly social.
Example: Joining clubs, attending religious services, and participating in community events.
Scenario: A person joins a hiking club to meet new people and share their love for the outdoors.
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
Attribution: The process by which we assign causes to behavior.
Example: When your roommate slams the door, we assume it’s because they are mad at you, in a rush, a "door-slammer," or it was an accident.
Scenario: A driver cutting someone off in traffic is immediately labeled as rude without considering they may be rushing to the hospital.
Tendency to overestimate dispositional influences on behavior and underestimate situational influences on others’ behavior.
Example: Believing that someone is inherently lazy, rather than considering external factors that may affect their performance.
Scenario: Assuming a coworker who is late is irresponsible, without knowing they had a family emergency.
When reasoning about ourselves, we do the opposite: overestimate situational factors and underestimate dispositional factors.
Example: Attributing a failure to external circumstances rather than acknowledging personal shortcomings.
Scenario: Blaming a poor test score on the difficulty of the exam rather than insufficient studying.
Study: Jones and Harris (1967): The Castro Study
Debaters: Students were randomly assigned to defend pro- or anti-Castro positions in a debate, regardless of their actual feelings.
Raters: Subjects were asked to rate how actually pro-Castro they thought the debaters were.
Raters thought pro-Castro debaters were actually pro-Castro, despite knowing topics were assigned.
Attributed behavior to internal rather than external causes.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Cognitive Dissonance: The unpleasant feeling of tension resulting from conflicting thoughts or beliefs.
Example: Feeling uneasy when you know that smoking is bad for your health but continue to smoke.
Scenario: A person who values environmental conservation drives a gas-guzzling car.
Humans don’t like to feel this way, so we use clever strategies for getting around it.
Dissonance Reduction Strategies:
Avoid dissonant information
Example: Ignoring articles or studies that show the harmful effects of smoking.
Scenario: Avoiding news stories about climate change to reduce anxiety about one's carbon footprint.
Firm up beliefs to justify an action
Example: Convincing yourself that smoking helps you relax and cope with stress.
Scenario: Justifying eating meat by believing that humans are naturally carnivorous.
Generate a new belief to reconcile the conflict
Example: Believing that the negative effects of smoking are exaggerated or do not apply to you.
Scenario: Claiming that the effects of plastic pollution are overblown by the media.
Change a belief to justify an action
Example: Minimizing the importance of health risks associated with smoking.
Scenario: Downplaying the ethical concerns of fast fashion in order to continue purchasing cheap clothing.
Insufficient-Justification Effect
Study: Festinger and Carlsmith (1959):
Participants completed an extremely boring task and were paid to lie about the experiment to the next subject (either 1 or 20).
Then, were asked to rate study’s enjoyableness. People offered 1 to lie rated the study as more enjoyable.
Social Influence
When the presence of others influences our behaviors.
Example: Adopting the same fashion trends as your peers to fit in.
Scenario: Starting to use slang or jargon common in a new social group.
Conformity: The tendency to alter behavior as a result of group pressure.
Example: Changing your opinion to agree with a group, even if you initially disagreed.
Scenario: Laughing at a joke that isn't funny because everyone else is laughing.
Example: Following the rules, may impact the clothes you wear in each occasion
Why Do We Conform?
Informational Influence: Others might know better.
Example: Believing that the majority opinion in a group is more informed than your own.
Scenario: Deferring to the expertise of a group of doctors when making a medical decision.
Normative Influence: We want to fit in.
Example: Changing your behavior to avoid being excluded or ridiculed by a group.
Scenario: Agreeing with a group's opinion on a movie to avoid being seen as different.
Experiments: Asch Experiments
Test whether people conform and why
Subjects seated in a group of 6-8 people
Asked to perform a simple visual perception task
BUT- all other people are confederates (in on the experiment)
Confederates instructed to give the wrong answer
Actual subject seated second-to-last
Results of Asch Experiments
75% of subjects conformed at least once.
On average, subjects conformed about 40% of the time.
But why did subjects conform?
In another version, subjects were asked to write down their answers, instead of saying them out loud.
Much less conformity in written answers.
Suggests normative influence is responsible.
Factors That Influence Conformity:
Unanimity: If another person gave the correct answer, conformity dropped.
Example: If one person in the group disagrees with the majority, the subject is less likely to conform.
Scenario: In a group discussion, if one person voices a different opinion, others are more likely to deviate from the majority.
Difference in Wrong Answer: If another differed from the majority, conformity dropped.
Example: The subject is less likely to conform if the dissenter's answer is different from the group's incorrect answer.
Scenario: If someone gives a wildly different wrong answer, conformity decreases more than if they give a similar wrong answer.
Group Size: A larger group resulted in greater conformity, up to ~5-6 people.
Example: Conformity increases as the group size increases, but only up to a certain point.
Scenario: The effect of group size on conformity diminishes after a certain number of people.
Kitty Genovese:
37 people saw through the window but not even 1 person called the police while watching her getting assaulted by a man.
Bystander Nonintervention: The presence of others makes us likely to act in an emergency
Why? Two Reasons:
Pluralistic Ignorance: Error of assuming no one in a group perceives things as we do.
Example: Everyone assumes that someone else will call for help, so no one takes action.
Scenario: In an ambiguous emergency, people look to others for cues and assume that inaction means the situation is not critical.
When something strange happens:
Social referencing: Look to others for cues.
Example: If others appear calm, you assume that the situation is not an emergency.
Scenario: Checking the reactions of people around you before reacting to a potential threat.
We tend to act in accordance with others.
Diffusion of Responsibility: The presence of others makes each of us feel less personally responsible.
Example: Feeling less obligated to help when there are many other people present.
Scenario: In a crowded area, people feel less personally responsible to assist someone in need.
Obedience
Obedience: Adherence to instructions from those of higher authority.
Example: Following the orders of a police officer or a supervisor at work.
Scenario: An employee follows their manager's instructions, even if they disagree with them.
STUDY: The Milgram Experiment
Subjects responded to a newspaper ad for a memory experiment.
Were assigned roles as "teacher" or "learner."
The learner's job was to memorize word pairs; for each mistake, the teacher administered a shock.
Shocks increased in voltage with each mistake (15-450 volts).
The learner makes frequent mistakes.
As shocks increase, the learner begins to cry out objections.
If the teacher hesitates, the Experiment replies with script responses such as “the experiment must go on."
Measured how far subjects would go when instructed by an authority figure.
Milgram Experiment Results:
Experts at the time predicted most people would not pass 150 volts.
The learner is a confederate and was not actually shocked.
The experiment is rigged so that the subject is always the Teacher.
Results:
Approximately 2/3 of subjects administered the highest shock.
Some factors influencing obedience:
Proximity:
Closer to learner: decrease in obedience
Closer to experimenter: increase in obedience
Legitimacy of authority:
college campus
presence of lab coat
Other teachers:
Other people dissenting decreased obedience.
Example: When other people refuse to administer shocks, the subject is more likely to disobey.
Scenario: If other participants refuse to continue in the Milgram experiment, the subject is more likely to resist authority.
Obedient others increased obedience.
Example: When other people continue to administer shocks, the subject is more likely to obey.
Scenario: If other participants continue administering shocks, the subject is more likely to follow suit.
Lessons:
Obedience is an extremely powerful force.
We all fall victim to obedience, not just the "pathological fringe."
Deindividuation
Deindividuation: The tendency for people to engage in uncharacteristic behavior when stripped of their usual identity.
Example: Rioting, looting, or engaging in other forms of mob behavior.
Scenario: A group of protestors engaging in vandalism and violence during a demonstration.
People behave more like a group, less like an individual, feeling of anonymity and lacking individual responsibility.
Example: Online anonymity can lead to more aggressive and disrespectful behavior in forums and comment sections.
Scenario: Trolling and cyberbullying behavior behind an anonymous online profile.
Stanford Prison Study
Philip Zimbardo
Advertised for 2-week "prison life" study.
Randomly assigned people to be either prisoners or guards.
Brought a basement of psychology building - designed as a "prison"
Each was given role signifiers:
Guards wore uniforms and mirrored glasses
Prisoners were referred to by numbers and wore prison garb with their numbers.
Results of Stanford Prison Study:
By the second day, subjects had internalized their roles and acted accordingly.
But the situation rapidly spiraled out of control.
Guards behaved cruelly, demanding prisoners to perform humiliating tasks.
Prisoners waged rebellions, held hunger strikes, became depressed and hopeless.
The 2 weeks experiment had to be terminated after just 6 days.
Subjects internalized their roles and deindividuated.
Were no longer individuals but "prisoners" and "guards."
Lost themselves in their social roles.
Lessons:
The "power of the situation" can cause us to be less self-aware, especially when acting as part of a group.
Chapter 14 Personality
What is Personality?
Personality = characteristics, traits, and behaviors that are consistent across time and situations.
Example: Being consistently outgoing and sociable in different settings.
Scenario: A student who is generally introverted might act extroverted only in social situations, it would mean it wouldn’t count as one of their personality’s traits, but someone who is always like that is
How we are as individuals
Psychoanalytic Theory
Sigmund Freud
Psychogenic causes of illness: Caused by the mind, not the body.
Example: Physical symptoms with no identifiable medical cause.
Scenario: Someone experiencing unexplained pain that is later attributed to emotional stress.
Freud believed in the unconscious mind, and his theory is based on tapping into the unconscious mind.
Id: Controls primitive urges
Example: Seeking immediate gratification without considering the consequences.
Scenario: Grabbing the last slice of pizza without thinking about others.
Superego: Sense of morality
Example: Guilt and self-criticism when violating moral standards.
Scenario: Feeling guilty after lying to a friend.
Ego: Main decision-maker
Example: Balancing the desires of the id and the moral constraints of the superego.
Scenario: Deciding whether to spend money on a new gadget or save it for a future goal.
Defense Mechanisms:
Repression: Memory is driven into the unconscious
Example: Forgetting a traumatic event.
Scenario: A person cannot recall details of a childhood accident.
Denial: Refusal to admit or remember
Example: Refusing to acknowledge a serious illness or addiction.
Scenario: Ignoring the warning signs of a developing alcohol problem.
Regression: Acting out qualities of a younger age
Example: Throwing a temper tantrum when frustrated.
Scenario: An adult sulking and refusing to talk when they don't get their way.
Reaction Formation: Reversing anxiety-causing emotion
Example: Expressing excessive affection towards someone you dislike.
Scenario: Being overly nice to someone you secretly resent.
Projection: Attribution of negative qualities onto others
Example: Accusing someone else of being dishonest when you are the one who is being dishonest.
Scenario: Accusing a colleague of being lazy when you are procrastinating.
Rationalization: Twist unreasonable to sound reasonable
Example: Justifying cheating on a test by saying that everyone else does it.
Scenario: Saying that stealing office supplies is acceptable because the company can afford it.
Intellectualization: Focus on facts or impersonal thoughts
Example: Analyzing a painful experience in a detached, academic manner.
Scenario: Discussing the statistics of a disease rather than dealing with the emotional impact.
Displacement: Redirecting emotions to a safer outlet
Example: Yelling at your family after having a bad day at work.
Scenario: Taking out frustration on a punching bag after a stressful argument.
Sublimation: Transforming socially unacceptable impulse into an admired goal
Example: Channeling aggressive impulses into competitive sports.
Scenario: Turning anger into a passion for social justice advocacy.
Identification of, or sympathizing with, a threatening person
Example: Aligning with an abuser in order to cope with the abuse.
Scenario: A child adopting the behaviors and beliefs of an abusive parent.
Psychosexual Stages
Oral Stage (0-1 years): Children start sucking and tasting, putting things in their mouth
Anal Stage (2-3 years): Children begin potty training
Phallic Stage (3-6 years): Children are attracted to opposite-sex parents.
Example: A child becoming infatuated with their opposite-sex parent.
Oedipus Complex: Identification with the aggressor
Electra Complex: Penis envy
Latency Stage (6-12 years): Sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious, and there is no sexual interest.
Genital Stage (12 years and up): Sexual impulses reawaken, and if no fixation has occurred, the person engages in healthy romantic relationships.
Criticism of Freud’s Theory:
Unfalsifiability
Failed predictions
Lack of evidence
Questionable conception of unconscious
Unrepresentative samples
Modern Personality Research
Traits: Relatively consistent predispositions that influence our behavior across situations.
Example: Being consistently optimistic or pessimistic.
Scenario: A student who is generally introverted might act extroverted only in social situations, it would mean it wouldn’t count as one of their personality’s traits, but someone who is always like that is
How do we develop traits?
Interplay between genes and the environment
Genetic Factors: Genetic influence on personality
Example: Inheriting a predisposition for certain temperaments or personality traits.
Scenario: A child inheriting a risk for anxiety from their parents.
Shared Environment Factors: Experiences individuals share (and make us more alike)
Example: Growing up in the same household with the same parents and siblings.
Scenario: Siblings growing up in the same home may develop similar political beliefs.
Non-Shared Environment Factors: Experiences individuals do not share (and make us less alike)
Example: Having different friends, teachers, or life experiences.
Scenario: Siblings attending different schools and having separate friend groups.
Birth Order: Does it matter? YES (lots of mixed results)
Early Born: Achievement-driven, tend toward the status quo
Middle Born: Diplomacy (mediate conflict) driven
Late Born: More likely to take risks, rebel, support radical ideas
Twin Studies
Fraternal (Dizygotic) Twins: Share 50% genetic information
Identical (Monozygotic) Twins: Share 100% genetic information
Allows for the study of genetic contributions to personality and can test how traits vary when genes don’t vary.
Minnesota Twin Studies: A set of studies investigating genetic and environmental influences on the development of psychological traits.
Put together registries of twins for study
How Much of Personality is Genetic?
How well do the traits of identical twins correlate?
Very well, roughly 50%.
This means both genes and the environment play a role.
Does a Shared Environment Influence Personality?
Do traits of identical twins raised apart differ more than traits of identical twins raised together? NO.
Shared environment has very little influence on personality.
Adoption Studies
Children adopted at birth are compared to adopted parents and birth parents.
Adopted children’s personalities are more similar to their biological parents.
Separate biological siblings are more alike than adopted siblings raised in the same home.
Genes appear to influence personality but do not determine it!
Causes of personality are not simple.
There is no evidence for single "trait genes."
Many different genes and factors are involved.
Chapter 15 Psychological Disorders
Definition and Diagnoses
What is a Psychological Disorder?
Difficult to define, even for professionals.
Psychological disorders are complex and diverse.
What we consider “abnormal” isn’t stable - Varies across time and culture
Example: What the americans may consider abnormal, other countries may consider normal.
Scenario:
Family-Resemblance View: Members of a category share some, but not necessarily all, features (looks similar but not the same).
Some Criteria to Consider a Condition as a Psychological Disorder.
Statistical Rarity: Disorders that are uncommon in the population
Example, Schizophrenia is statistically rare because only 1% of the population lives with it while anxiety is fairly common in the US.
Scenario: A disorder affecting 1 in 10,000 people
Subjective Distress: Cause the person distress
Example, If someone is constantly worried about germs, they can cause distress such as the need to constantly was their hands.
Scenario: A person consistently not being able to control their emotions whether it be sadness or anger
Impairment: Interfere with daily functioning (stops you from doing the things you would normally do)
Example, someone who is so anxious that they cannot leave their house is considered to have a disorder because they cannot function properly.
Scenario: Being unable to maintain relationships or hold a job
Societal Disapproval: Is socially unacceptable
Example, something that is not approved by the general public. An example of something like that is, people who suffer from hallucinations would be considered to have a disorder.
Scenario: A behavior violating cultural norms
Biological Dysfunction: Involves brain impairments
Example, Someone is hearing sounds, when it actually isn't they might have a disorder.
Scenario: Abnormal brain activity
How Do We Define and Diagnose?
DSM-S: Manual outlining a standard system for labeling and diagnosing mental disorders.
Bio-psychosocial Approach: Recognizes the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors
Classifying Individuals
Classifying individuals can be harmful.
We do not classify individuals by their diagnosis but say "individual with schizophrenia" NOT "schizophrenic."
Comorbidity: Co-occurrence of 2 or more diagnoses
Ex: Panic disorder and agoraphobia - These disorders are “comorbid”
Cultural Variations in Psychological Disorders
What we consider a mental disorder is culturally determined.
Homosexuality.
Some mental disorders are culture-specific.
Anorexia
Koro
Taijin Kyofusho
Rates of disorders vary across cultures.
ADHD
Anxiety Disorders
Disorders in which the most common symptom is fear or anxiety.
Example: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder.
Scenario: Someone consistently avoiding social interactions
29% of people will meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.
Panic Disorder:
Panic: Feeling of helpless terror
Panic Attack: Brief/intense episode of extreme fear and feeling of pending death or insanity
May feel heart racing, shortness of breath, dizziness
Characteristics: Anxiety related to having panic attacks.
Diagnosis:
Experienced at least two panic attacks.
Each followed by at least 1 month of anxiety over the occurrence of another attack.
2-5% of the US population meet the criteria
20-25% of college students report at least 1 panic attack
Characteristics of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD):
Constant, undifferentiated worry
Worry about common things, but much more.
Example: Worrying about the house, or the safety of loved ones.
Scenario: A person worrying extensively about minor details
Muscle tension
Difficulty sleeping
Diagnosis
At least 6 months of self-disrupting worry, independent of any other disorder.
3-6% of the US population meet the criteria
Phobias
Specific, irrational fears.
Example: Needles, blood, and heights.
Scenario: A person avoiding elevators due to a fear of enclosed spaces.
Types of Phobias:
Specific Phobia:
arachnophobia = spiders
acrophobia = heights
claustrophobia = close spaces
gynophobia = women
Agoraphobia: "Fear of the marketplace."
Fear situations where escape may be difficult, or help may not be available if needed.
Example: Leaving the house, being in open spaces or crowds.
Scenario: A person avoiding concerts, and sporting events
Diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder:
Fear must be long-standing and disrupt normal functioning.
Example: Fear of eating, and speaking in front of others.
Scenario: Someone who does not go to social events because fear is too high
7-13% of the US population meet the criteria
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Characteristics
Repeated lengthy immersion in obsessions and/or compulsions.
Example: Spending a significant amount of time doing certain things and constantly thinking about it.
Scenario: A person constantly going back home to check if their stove is off.
Obsessions: Persistent ideas, thoughts, or impulses that are unwanted, inappropriate, and cause distress.
Example: Fear of germs or contamination.
Scenario: A person is constantly worried and thinking about germs and contamination.
Compulsions: Repetitive behaviors or mental acts to reduce or prevent distress.
Example: Excessive hand washing, and constantly checking if the door is locked.
Scenario: A person locks and unlocks the door 15 times before they are able to leave their house.
Diagnosis:
Obsessions and/or compulsions must consume at least one hour each day and seriously interfere with daily function.
1-2% of the US population meet criteria
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Characteristics:
Marked emotional disturbance after an extremely traumatic event.
Example: Being in a car accident, war, or natural disaster.
Scenario: Military Veterans.
Common in soldiers
Flashbacks and/or nightmares
Loss of sleep
Startling easily
Diagnosis:
Prevalent distress stemming from a dangerous or life-threatening event.
Up to 7% of the US population may meet criteria
Rates vary with culture and world events
Mood Disorders
Disorders which involve a disturbance in mood or emotions (too high or too low).
Example: Major Depressive Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder.
Scenario: Someone who is feeling really high, and happy one minute, but really low and sad the next.
20% of people will meet the criteria for a mood