unit 8 - active learning

Question 1

how are disorders clinically diagnosed in a standardized way?

Answer 1

the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders dsm-5, which lists symptoms, descriptions, and criteria for making correct diagnoses.

Question 2

how does the apa define disorders?

Answer 2

disorders are dysfunctional behaviors that are often maladaptive, distressful, and/or irrational

Question 3

how do the legal system and mental health intersect?

Answer 3

sanity is a strictly legal designation, which uses the mcnaughton rule to determine culpability; was the individual capable of determining right and wrong at the time of the action?

Question 4

how do different psychological perspectives view disorder etiology?

Answer 4

behavioralists: environmental, based on history of punishments and reward
psychoanalytic: unresolved, unconscious conflicts that create anxiety/emotional disruption
cognitive: troubling thoughts create dysfunction
biological: also the medical model, the physical aspects of illness like genetics, anatomy, and biochemistry.

the modern perspective is eclectic, borrowing and bolstering praxis.

Question 5

why is labeling problematic?

Answer 5

pro: helpful in understanding, treating, and researching
con: attaching stigma to conditions, creating preconceptions, and instilling hopelessness.

David Rosenhant et. al falsely complained of hearing voices and clinicians still found reason in their behavior and medical histories to support diagnosis and treatment for 19 days.

Question 6

what are neurodevelopmental disorders?

Answer 6

a category of illnesses that emerge from childhood into adolescence: dysfunction in all areas of life, intellectual disabilities, communication disorders, autism, adhd, and motor disorders are included.

Question 7

what are some characteristics of autism spectrum disorder?

Answer 7

> affects communication and behavior with symptoms appearing by age two
difficulties in communications and interactions
hyper-fixations and repetitive words or phrases

Question 8

what are some characteristics of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Answer 8

> persistent patterns of attention difficulties, hyperactivity, impulsivity. a > individual loses focus/off task, h > fidgety behaviors. i > instant gratification, bad judgement

Question 9

what are some characteristics of schizophrenic disorders?

Answer 9

> extremely dysfunctional, resulting in the loss of touch with reality
delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, abnormal motor behavior, reduced expression and initiative

Question 10

what are some characteristics of major depressive disorder?

Answer 10

> depressed mood, anhedonia, weight changes, insomnia/hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation/retardation
mdd requires 5 symptoms with depressed mood and anhedonia as the qualifiers and then secondary characteristics of fatigue, feeling worthless, concentration issues, and suicidal ideation

Question 11

what is bipolar disorder?

Answer 11

> one moves between periods of mania and depressive disorders

Question 12

what are some characteristics of anxiety disorders?

Answer 12

> while anxiety is a normal reaction to stress involving fear, worry, apprehension, uneasiness, headaches, and tension, anxiety disorders occur when normal anxiety doesn’t go away and becomes dysfunctional

Question 13

the dsm-5 identifies more than 10 anxiety disorders but relevant ones include:

Answer 13

• specific phobias > out of proportion fear of situation with significant distress and aversion
• social anxiety disorder > fear/anxiety of social contexts
• panic disorder > sudden intense episodes of fear
• agoraphobia > fear of areas where escape and help is unavailable
• generalized anxiety disorder > excessive worry and anxiety that is chronic

Question 14

what are some common obsessive-compulsive disorders?

Answer 14

ocd > obsessions and compulsions that are intrusive and disturbing that are neutralized after action
body dysmorphic disorder > self-view impaired by socialization
hoarding disorder > compulsion to gather and store with aversion to loss of possesions
trichotillomania > hair pulling
excoriation > skin picking

Question 15

what is the difference between post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder?

Answer 15

PTSD and ASD are both the result of overwhelmingly stressful or traumatic events, but ASD occurs for less than 1 month whereas PTSD occurs for months or years.

symptoms include: reliving events, avoidance of triggers, cognitive and mood changes, arousal issues.

therapies include: psychotherapy and medication, if left untreated, can lead to self injury and permanent brain damage due to chronically hyper-aroused state

Question 16

what occurs in dissociative disorders? what are some of them?

Answer 16

DD’s involve the disruption or separation of memory, consciousness, identity, motor control, behavior, emotion, or perception.

dissociative identity disorder > separation of self from reality
dissociative amnesia > memory loss of personal info/events/time. those afflicted may lack significant memories
depersonalization disorder > the detachment of yourself from your mind. derealization is similar feelings of unreality but this time from the world around you

Question 17

what occurs in somatic symptom disorders?

Answer 17

whereby intense focus on physical bodily symptoms causes distress and dysfunction

conversion disorder > when individual response is similar to nervous system condition
illness anxiety disorder > when cognition of the worry of getting a disorder results in physiological change
somatic symptom disorder > cognitive distress about a physically present symptom
factitious disorder > pretending to have symptoms for no obvious gain

Question 18

what are the diagnostic criteria of personality disorders? what are the clusters of disorders?

Answer 18

personality is an indi vidual’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving whereas personality disorders are when an enduring pattern of inner behavior deviates markedly from societal norms.

• cluster A: schizoid, schizoypal, paranoid; par > distrust, sch > lack of emotionality and detachment, sct > discomfort of intimacy
• cluster B: antisocial, histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, antisocial; ant > contempt for others and lack of remorse, hist > excessive emotion for attention, narc > grandiosity, bd > instability of self and relations
• cluster C: avoidant, dependent, ocd; dependent (scare of abandonment and submissiveness), avoidant (inadequacy and hypersensitive to criticism)

A > disruptions in relations due to peculiar, suspicious, detached behaviors
B > dramatic, erratic behaviors, intense emotions, impulsive, theatrical, promiscuous
C > pervasive anxiety as a personality trait,

Question 19

what are some feeding and eating disorders?

Answer 19

anorexia nervosa > nervous inability to eat, persistent energy restrictions, intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, body dysmorphia (underweight)
bulimia nervosa > ravenous hunger, binge eating and purging (normal weight)
binge eating > lots of food without purging (overweight)

Question 20

what is the biopsychosocial model of eating disorders?

Answer 20

psych > cognition/emotions due to anxiety, perfectionism, obsession –> social > coping with cognitions and emotions by restriction, binging, purging –> biol > changes in neurological function, depression, body and hormone changes.

*25% are male 75% are female, 12-25 yo

Question 21

what is the DSM-5’s diagnostic criteria for addiction and substance abuse?

Answer 21

1. taking larger than normal quantities of drugs
2. inability to stop
3. time spent procuring drugs or recovering from use
4. cravings to use
5. dysfunctions in previously “normal” behaviors
6. continued use even when detrimental
7. giving up important activities to use and recover
8. using even when dangerous
9. use even when physiology is made worse
10. tolerance
11. withdrawl

Question 22

how are psychological disorders treated?

Answer 22

1. psychotherapy is concerned with treating psych/emotional disorders via psychological rather than physiological means: talk therapy and counseling
2. psychopharmacology is concerned with biomedical therapy
3. the different theoretical perspectives:
   - psychodynamic: Freudian, unpeeling the unconscious mind
   - humanistic: Rogers, client-centered therapy
   - behavioral: Mary Jones, Joseph Wolpe, B.F. Skinner, via conditioning
   - cognitive: Aaron Beck
   - biological: psychopharmacology, physiology, genetics

Question 23

what is the psychoanalytic approach to therapy?

Answer 23

• our psychological problems are represeed inner conflicts from childhood
• patient uses free association and proceeds slowly, therapist works through resistance (where it is clear the patient is censoring free association) and when resistance occurs, so may transference.
• via transference, the therapist can begin to interpret the patient’s thoughts and feelings; the therapist may suggest latent meanings for emotions and possible motives
• psychodynamic therapy explores the ways we avoid painful and threatening feelings/thoughts to save the immense amount of time traditional psychoanalysis takes

Question 24

what is the humanistic approach to therapy?

Answer 24

• client-centered therapies, where the therapists is actively listening.
• unconditional positive regard - > active listening + genuineness/empathy -> resolution to help become fully functioning or self-actualized
• provides insight/caring environment and clients are empowered by feeling trusted and cared for, BUT it is hard for the therapists to be nondirective, genuine, empathetic, and active

Question 25

what is the behavioral approach to therapy?

Answer 25

• assumes that both normal and abnormal behaviors result from learning. this approach identifies problematic behaviors and uses techniques of conditioning and social learning to change.
• exposure therapies > learning new conditioned responses to some UCS called counter-conditioning via Mary Jones
• systematic desensitization > conditioning a relaxation response with fearful stimulus via Joseph Volpe
• flooding > exposing a person to a fear invoking object intensely/rapidly/unavoidably
• aversive conditioning > pairing undesirable behavior with aversive stimulus to create a negative association
• operant conditioning > token economies
• social learning > observing correct behaviors and imitating them via Albert Bandura
• limit is that it does not acknowledge cognitive factors into maintaining behavioral treatments

Question 26

what is the cognitive approach to therapy?

Answer 26

• assumes that abnormal behaviors are a result of faulty/irrational thought
• therapist helps identify irrational, self-defeating and destructive thoughts and develops more adaptive ways of thinking
• cog-behav therapy combines the refusal of self-def. thinking with new behaviors and associations
• the ABC model of rational emotive behavioral therapy model: A- activating event -> B - beliefs - > C - consequences
• the therapist identifies catastrophizing beliefs and challenges them by being confrontational, blunt, honest, and rational (Albert Ellis).
• REBT teaches to reform thoughts, thought stoppage, and disputing beliefs.

Question 27

what is Beck’s Cognitive Therapy?

Answer 27

a revision of Ellis’ abrasive approach

• thoughts create feelings and feelings create behaviors and behaviors create thoughts and so on
• practices new ways of interpreting events to build a more positive self-schema, begin application in daily life, warmer approach

Question 28

what is Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?

Answer 28

• comes from the recognition that CBT was not helpful for BPD or EDs
• based on dialectics: everything is composed of opposites, emotional regulations, and mindfulness, challenging Cognitive dissonance

Question 29

what is biomedical therapy?

Answer 29

• based on the medical model from organic and physical origins.
  electroconvulsive therapy > sedated patient has controlled electrical currents to create brief, controlled seizures; often used in cases of severe depression where other forms of treatment fail
  transcranial magnetic stimulation > treats depression in a far more controlled way than etc; activates neurons in the prefrontal cortex

Question 30

how do different drugs treat disorders?

Answer 30

anti-anxiety > Xanax, Valium, Ativan; depresses sympathetic nervous system but results in drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, and fatigue

anti-depressants > Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil; ssri or alters norepinephrine but may result in weight gain, headaches, drowsiness

anti-psychotics > Haldol, Thorazine, Risperdal, Clorrazil; targets dop/ser to treat pos/neg symptoms BUT may result in tardive dyskinesia (parkinsonsesque), obesity, distress

mood stabilizers > Lithium, Tegretol, Lamictal; stabilizes mania and depression but results in thirst, swelling, rash, nausea, appetite issues

stimulants > Adderal, Ritalin; focus and attention but results in decreased appetite, insomnia, upset stomachs

Question 31

what did Hans Eyesneck’s 1952 meta-analysis find?

Answer 31

• psychotherapy is effective in individuals identified as neurotic/emotionally unstable
• current data supports that psychotherapy is beneficial but that those who do not seek treatment often improve BUT those people are more likely to face spontaneous remission
• but those that undergo therapy are more likely to improve more quickly and 80% of untreated people have poor outcomes