C15 - Psychological Disorders

Question 1

Disordered

Answer 1

Psychological disorder

Different does not mean disordered.

Could pose a risk to others(pedos) or themselves(suicide). Cultures play a role in the expression and diagnosis of a mental disorder

Question 2

Deviant

Answer 2

Deviant means “different from the norm”. One might be a deviant in one culture but not the other. If you are BOTH(not one or the other) distressing and dsyfunction, then you can classify behaviors as deviant

Albert Einstein was deviant in his intellect and creativity, but he was not disordered or suffering from a psychological disorder

Question 3

Distressing ; dysfunctional

Answer 3

distressing behavior - leads to real discomfort or anguish, either in person or to others

dysfunctional - prevents one from participating in everyday social relationships, holding a job, or being productive in other ways.

Question 4

How do mental health professionals determine when someone is suffering from a psychological disorder?

Answer 4

The U.S. uses The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual(DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association(APA)

The DSM has editions, and they place disorders in one of two diagnostic classifications or axes, Axis I disorders and Axis II Disorders

Question 5

Axis I disorders

Answer 5

Includes the major clinical syndromes that cause significant impairment to life functioning such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. These disorders develop after adolescence and can wax-and-wane(alternate increase and decrease) and are not always permanent

Question 6

Syndromes

Answer 6

Groups or clusters of related symptoms that are characteristic of a disorder

Question 7

Axis II disorders

Answer 7

Include personality disorder and mental retardation, tend to appear in childhood or adolescence and usually last a lifetime

Question 8

Difference between Axis I and Axis II disorders

Answer 8

Axis I is seen as when people suffer from them, it is different or inconsistent from their personality and they cause a degree of subjective stress.

Whereas Axis II is seen as consistent of an individual’s personality and do not cause as much as subjective stress as Axis I. It is simply part of the person

Question 9

DSM influence on Chinese culture

Answer 9

anorexia nervosa was non-existent in China as a disorder. Once a teenager in hong kong died because of his fear of becoming fat, it became more popular. People covering the story started using American DSM to describe the disorder which led to a change of symptoms which made their disorder more Americanized, since before anorexia was considered just the fear of having your stomach bloated in china

Question 10

The DSM includes three other Axis as well which list medical conditions and environmental factors that contributes to an individual’s psychological state

Answer 10

Axis I - Clinical disorders (syndromes, comorbidity) >250
Axis II - Personality disorders, mental retardation > 100
Axis III - General medical conditions
Axis IV - Psychological and environmental problems
Axis V - Global Assessment of functioning

(Questions for test. Axis I disorder - all other disorders. Axis II - mental retardation, personality disorders, anxiety, panic, phobias, PTSD, and OCD.

Question 11

Psychological disorders %`s

Answer 11

Psychological disorders are not uncommon.

26% of the population suffers from a diagnosable disorder. Of the course of an entire lifetime, almost half 46% of the adults in the United States will suffer from at least one psychological disorder and more than half of those will suffer from one or two disorders known as comorbidity. About 50% will suffer from an Axis I or II disorder

Question 12

Comorbidity

Answer 12

Occurrence of two or more disorders at the the same time

Question 13

Types of overall main disorders

Answer 13

Anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, dissociative disorders, somatoform disorders, personality disorders, and childhood disorders

Question 14

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Answer 14

A common anxiety disorder, characterized by a pervasive and excessive state of anxiety lasting at least 6 months

More common in women than men. Most people would refer to people with this as ‘worrymarts’, those who worry about anything and everything often out of proportion to the actual threat.

This specific anxiety GAD can be debilitating and prevent many people who suffer from it from being able to even work

Question 15

Panic attacks

Answer 15

Episodes of anxiety associated with perceptions of threat and occurring because of fear of danger, inability to escape, fear of embarrassment, or fear of a specific category of objects. Because of its psychological affects, people experiencing think they are having a heart attack or going crazy

Usually lasts 10 minutes but sometimes it can come and go over a period of an hour or more.

Question 16

Panic disorder

Answer 16

People who get panic attacks and experience persistent worry, embarrassment, and concern about having more attacks

Panic disorder creates a positive feedback cycle, where anxiety about future attacks hijacks the body’s emergency response system and catapults it out of control. Many people with the disorder has preoccupation and anxiety over having another attack, which creates an anxious mood, then increases the likelihood of worrisome thoughts and ironically another panic attack

People who do not have intense anxiety or fear over another panic attack do not qualify for panic disorder. 10% of the u.s. population have experienced a panic attack in the past 12 months, and only about 2 to 5% of the population has panic disorder

Question 17

Agoraphobia

Answer 17

An anxiety disorder involving fear of being in places from which escape might be difficult or in which help might not be available should a panic attack occur

Question 18

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) [hippocampus]

Answer 18

Triggered by exposure to a catastrophic or horrifying event that poses serious harm or threat

3 Symptoms of PSD :

• Re-experiencing the trauma
• Avoid thoughts, feelings, and activities associated with the trauma ; emotional numbing or distancing from loved ones
• Increased arousal, such as irritability, sleeping, or exaggerated startle response. This is often seen in combat veterans, 24% of veterans from Iraq have developed PTSD

People from all ages can develop this. Children can develop this who suffered serious trauhma like extreme domestic abuse. Children with PSTD show reduced brain activity in the hippocampus when doing a verbal memory task. Since that area of the brain controls learning and memory, PSTD can interfere with learning

Question 19

Phobia

Answer 19

An anxiety disorder: an ongoing/persistent and irrational/unreasonable fear of a particular object, situation, or activity

Question 20

Social phobia/social anxiety disorder

Answer 20

Fear of humiliation in the presence of others, characterized by intense self-consciousness about appearance or behavior or both.

The fear embarrassing themselves in front of others. They often realize their fears are irrational. It makes it difficult to go out in public situations. lead the person to act nervous and exhibit behaviors that attract people’s attention

Question 21

Specific phobias

Answer 21

Specific phobia for a particular object or situation such as spiders(arachnophobia), heights, flying, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), doctors/dentists, or snakes

Characterized by intense and immediate fear, even panic, when confronted with very particular situations or objects. Even thinking about those situations or objects may set off the fear reaction

People with specific phobia’s aren’t generally anxious people, but do almost anything to avoid coming into contact with the feared object or experiencing the feared event

Question 22

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Answer 22

An anxiety disorder in which obsessive thoughts lead to compulsive behaviors

Question 23

Obsession

Answer 23

an unwanted thought, word, phrase, or image that persistently and repeatedly comes into a person’s mind and causes distress

Question 24

Compulsion

Answer 24

A repetitive behavior performed in response to uncontrollable urges or according to a ritual set of rules

Some compulsive behaviors stem from superstitions. You may need to tap the wall 65 times so your parents don’t die. You know rationally there is connection but still does the ritual nonetheless

Question 25

OCD issues

Answer 25

Often involves cleaning, checking, or counting behaviors that interfere with everyday functioning. A man who is obsessed with security will check if his front door is locked 20 times a day. People who suffer from OCD know their thoughts are irrational but cant stop themselves.

Question 26

Impulse Control Disorder

Answer 26

anxiety order related to OCD. involves behavior that people cannot control and the person feels an intense, repetitive desire to preform certain behaviors.

The behavior seems pleasurable but has unpleasant repercussions or creates impairments. These behaviors include gambling, hair pulling, shopping, or fire setting.

Question 27

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 27

Explanation for the origin of psychological disorders(not just anxiety!) as a combination of biological predisposition(diathesis) plus stress or an abusive environment

diathesis greek word for ‘predisposition’

More developed and refined in the areas of research like behavioral genetics, epigenetics, and brain plasticity.

Question 28

The three biological contributions to anxiety

Answer 28

1. Deficiencies in GABA - GABA is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Deficiencies in GABA lead to excessive activation in certain brain regions such as the limbic structures associated with fear. Medications for anxiety disorders work on GABA receptors, which also shows proof in GABA’s role in anxiety
2. Genetic Heritage - Having a genetic predisposition to anxiety is possible. Genetic heritage estimates for generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and agoraphobia, range from 30 to 40%
3. high in neuroticism AND who experience chronic stress/abuse ; personality factors like neuroticism or extraversion/introversion - People who are neurotic are prone to worry, anxiety, and nervousness, which makes them more than likely to develop anxiety disorders compared to those who are low in neuroticism. People who are more introverted are more likely to avoid being in public situations to avoid panic attacks compared to extraverted people

Question 29

People’s cognitive, conscious thoughts in relation with OCD

Answer 29

In OCD people’s thoughts are held in awareness, and too much importance is attributed to all irrational or rational thoughts, and thinking about one’s thoughts is excessive. People with OCD reveals a preoccupation with conscious thinking, its hard to keep ideas/info our of awareness.

People with OCD have trouble with implicit learning but not with explicit learning

Question 30

How is hyperactivity in the brain related to OCD?

Answer 30

? just know that fact lol

Question 31

Studies found in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)

Answer 31

A study that is changing the way psychologists view interaction between biology and environment with psychological disorders including anxiety disorders

Thousands of participants in hospital were interviews about 8 adverse childhood experiences (abuse, domestic violence, household dysfunction). Reseachers found a correlation between their adverse childhood experiences with their health and mental disorders in adulthood which is in their medical files in the hospital. The more adverse childhood experiences, the worse the psychological outcomes. 2,5 times more likely to suffer from anxiety disorder when reporting four or more adverse experiences compared to those who dont

Question 32

Neglect and neglectful environment with children’s brain sizes

Answer 32

Children who are removed from neglectful home environments at age 1 or 2 and placed in caring foster homes, the size of their brains increased dramatically. If they were removed from the neglectful environment after age 4, however, there was little increase in brain size circumference. After age 5, there was almost no increase. So there is a critical period for brain growth. For a child’s brain size to be anywhere near normal, a child needs regular environmental stimulation by about age 4

Question 33

Mood disorders (Axis I)

Answer 33

A category of psychological disorder that is characterized by disturbances in emotional behavior that inhibit normal everyday functioning. The two major forms of mood disorder is depression and bipolar disorder

Almost half of individuals who suffer from anxiety order also suffer from a mood disorder

Question 34

Major depressive disorder (depression)

Answer 34

Mood disorder characterized by pervasive low mood, lack of motivation, low energy, and feelings of worthlessness and guilt that last for at least two consecutive weeks.

Feeling sad is normal, but clinical form of depression is different and occurs in about 10% of adults in the U.S. at some point in their life.

Sleep is often disturbed in depression with insomnia(inability to sleep) or hypersomnia (excessive sleep). sometimes its a single event but most often it is recurring. its not just ‘the blues’, its a life altering change in behavior accompanied by a lack of desire to do much of anything. there is a suicide risk as well

Question 35

Dysthymia

Answer 35

A form of depression that is milder in intensity, but longer in duration, than major depressive disorder

Question 36

Symptoms of behavior in depression

Answer 36

Eating behavior, sometimes eating less or eating more ; alternate between intense anxiety and intense sadness, others feel flat and have no sense of connection to other people. feeling of being disconnected. cant take pleasure in enjoyable experiences many people exhibit cominbation of these symptoms

Question 37

Depression & suicide with /gender/race/age

Answer 37

Men are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than women, but women attempt more suicide.

European Americans are twice as likely to commit suicide than Asian, African, and Hispanic Americans.

For suicide, it used to be 5 times more likely for those aged 65+ to commit suicide than 20-24 y/o. But by 1980, they both have the same rates and by 2000 they still have the same rates of suicide. Since 1950 For 20-24 y/o it has doubled and for 65+ it has halved, which makes the rates the same

Question 38

Depression’s causes

Answer 38

It is not solely caused by a single external life event like physical or sexual abuse. For some people, depression just comes on, like a switch to turn on right. The reason why some people, not others, develop depression stems from a combination of brain chemistry and lie circumstances issues which the diathesis-stress model research looks into if u remember

Question 39

Diathesis-stress model and causes of depression

Answer 39

1. Stressful events, abusive environments, adverse childhood experiences - Abusive and extremely stressful environments increase risk for depression later in life. Ppl who reported the most adverse childhood experiences were more likely to be depressed. The role of stress in the development of depression is HUGE. Animal research also shows that stress kills neurons in the hippocampus, which can lead to symptoms of depression.

In humans, stressful events like social rejection start a host of biological reaction including activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system which increases likelihood of developing depression.

stressful environments, trauma, abuse, then impact some biological dispositions and personality traits to produce depression. The personality traits of neuroticism(anxiety, worry, sad, etc) are most vulnerable with depression.

2. serotonin gene. People with deficiencies in neurotransmitter serotonin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are most susceptible to depression if exposed to stressful situations. medications that make serotonin available in the brain stimulate neural growth, which lessens symptoms of depression

deficiencies in serotonin genes AND adverse, stressful experiences plays a role in the development of depression. Not one or the other

Question 40

Bipolar disorder

Answer 40

A mood disorder characterized by substantial mood fluctuations, cycling between very low (depressive) and very high (manic) episodes

Used to be called ‘manic depression. Affects men and women equally.

Question 41

Manic episodes

Answer 41

One mood cycle in bipolar disorder that typically involves increased energy, sleeplessness, euphoria, irritability, delusions of grandeur, increased sex drive, and ‘racing’ thoughts.

Manic episodes are less frequent than depressive episodes, and the nature/frequency of manic episodes vary

Question 42

Symptoms of behavior of manic episodes in acronym

Answer 42

DIGFAST

D - Distractibility
I - Indiscretion (speech inappropriate, involved in promiscuous sexual relationships)
G - Grandiosity (believe they have relationships with important ppl or expertise in areas where they really have none)
F - Flight of Ideas
A - Activity increased
S - Sleep (decreased need for)
T - Talkativeness

Question 43

Cyclothymia

Answer 43

Relatively mild but long lasting form of bipolar disorder

Question 44

Causes of bipolar disorder

Answer 44

Just like other psychological disorders, caused by biological and environmental factors (diathesis-stress model looks into this).

1. Fetal exposure to alcohol - Could suffer permanent affects, including risk to bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, alcoholism, mental retardation, and drug abuse
2. Genetic component - Twin studies show there is a 40-70% chance the other twin will develop bipolar disorder if one twin already developed it. However, even if theres a 70 percent chance this still shows life events like stress and trauma play a big role.
3. Brain abnormalities - Biochemical, genetic, and environmental elements contribute to the disorder. The prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and basal ganglia all could play a role. Over activity in these regions is shown in PET scan images. Problems in connectivity between regions involved in emotional processing, like prefrontal cortex and amygdala play a role
4. Neurochemistry - In both manic and depressed phases, serotonin levels are low. There is high levels of norepinephrine in manic phase and low levels of norepinephrine in the depressed phase. Also, abnormally high or low levels of thyroid hormones (that control metabolism) are found in people with bipolar disorder
5. Stress and Trauma - obvious

Question 45

Psychotic disorders

Answer 45

Primarily disorders of thought and perception, and are characterized by an inability to distinguish real from imagined perceptions.

Question 46

Schizophrenia (Axis I)

Answer 46

Psychotic disorder characterized by significant disturbances in thought and emotion, specifically problems with perception including hallucinations.

Not common, only 1% population has it. However if first degree relative like sibling, parent, or child has it, the chances of getting it increases to 10%. Disorder is seen as “split from reality” (As opposed to mistakenly assumed as split attitude or personality). Sometimes coined as ‘split mind’ too

In order to be diagnosed at least one symptom has to persist for 6 months and at least two have to present sometime within the 6 months

Question 47

Positive symptoms (positive = presence of abnormality, not “good”)

Answer 47

the perceptual experiences associated with schizophrenia:
bizarre, poorly integrated perception (think of the watch picture, they cant put it together and perceive it as a watch)
hallucinations
delusional thinking
disorganized thought and speech

Question 48

Hallucinations

Answer 48

Convincing sensory experiences that occur in the absence of an external stimulus. The Brain receives false sensory input.

Auditory hallucinations are the most common. Its when you hear voices in your own head, and you think its real. I.e. someone think they’re under attack by the voices taunting them, feeling trapped as if someone living inside them

Question 49

Delusions

Answer 49

One of the symptoms of schizophrenia, a false belief or exaggeration held despite evidence to the contrary i.e someone believes they’re Jesus Christ

Question 50

Negative symptoms (negative = absence of normality not ‘bad’)

Answer 50

Symptoms of schizophrenia that include

• non-responsiveness
• Emotional flatness
• Immobility
• Catatonia - immobility or striking strange poses
• Problems with speech
• Inability to complete tasks

They are harder to diagnose and treat than negative symptoms

Question 51

Cognitive symptoms

Answer 51

symptoms of schizophrenia that include

• problems with working memory
• attention problems
• verbal and visual learning and memory
• reasoning and problem solving
• speed of processing
• disordered speech - they follow grammatical rules but the content make little sense, sometimes developing new words

Question 52

Word salad

Answer 52

Term for the speech of people with schizophrenia, which may follow grammatical rules but be nonsensical in terms of content, could even make up new words

Question 53

Causes of schizophrenia

Answer 53

1. There is a strong heritable component - 80 to 85%, suggesting genetics play a large influence. However, genetics alone do not make it inevitable. The fact that in twin studies, one twin can develop it and not the other despite the same genetics, shows that genes alone do not cause schizophrenia. Instead genes are turned off and on by environmental experiences during brain development to develop the disorder
2. The more abuse, neglect, and adverse experiences children experiences in their early home life, the more likely they are to suffer from schizophrenia later in life

Can lead to changes in brain development. In the ACE research, children who suffered extreme neglect had smaller brain size and enlarged ventricles in the middle of the brain. People with schizophrenia have enlarged ventricles.

Question 54

Biological brain abnormalities of schizophrenia

Answer 54

Maternal infection, dysfunctional prefrontal and hippocampus activity, enlarged ventricles, an excess of dopamine activity in the basal ganglia, and a deficiency in the neurotransmitter glutamate.

Question 55

Maternal infections and schizophrenia

Answer 55

Neural growth in babies occur at a rate of hundreds and thousands to even 3 million neurons per minute. If any disease or toxic substance experienced by the mother may dramatically affect neural growth in the fetus. If the pregnant woman contacts any infection during pregnancy, the risk of schizophrenia later in life increases dramatically.

Prenatal exposure to infections and diseases such as influenza, rubella, toxoplasmosis, and herpes. all linked to increase risk of schizophrenia

Question 56

Schizophrenia and the brain

Answer 56

• Abnormal brain development before birth responsible for brain dysfunctions with schizophrenia
• Dysfunctional prefrontal cortex - most recognized brain abnormality. Evidence of both reduced and excessive activity in that area.
• Hippocampus is smaller in people with schizophrenia compared to those without the disorder
• Difficulties in communications between neurons. The networks in ppl with schizophrenia are less clustered, less efficient, and more disorderedly especially in the frontal lobes. The process of neuron communication affects learning and memory
• During hallucination, lack of activity in the frontal lobes showing the person is unable to monitor or determine the images/sounds they are hearing in their head

Question 57

Neurochemistry of schizophrenia

Answer 57

Dopamine hypothesis, people with schizophrenia have an excess of dopamine activity in certain areas of the brain

Question 58

Low levels of glutamate in people with schizophrenia

Answer 58

Deficiencies in the neurotransmitter glutamate explains why people with schizophrenia struggle with selective attention, cognitive control, and working memory.

Glutamate regulates the release of a dopamine. It is crucial in learning, memory, neural processing, and brain development.

Question 59

Dissociative disorders

Answer 59

Psychological disorders characterized by extreme splits or gaps in memory, identity, or consciousness.

Lacks a clear physical cause but often stem from extreme stress or abusive experiences.

Question 60

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

Answer 60

Dissociative disorder in which a person develops at least two distinct personalities, each with its own memories, thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Some psychiatrists question the legitimacy of this disorder

used to be called multiple personality disorder. Often develops in childhood, may not be diagnosed until adolescence. Women are 3 times more likely to suffer from DID than men.

Question 61

Symptoms of DID

Answer 61

• Amnesia : may not remember anything about a particular period in their life
• Self-destructive behaviors : cut themselves or attempt suicide
• Auditory hallucinations : hear voices in their heads given them orders to obey

Question 62

Causes of DID

Answer 62

All people who suffer from DID have one thing in common: they lived through a highly traumatic experience. They may have suffered sexual or physical abuse or survived a terrible accident or natural disaster where a loved one was killed. People with DID kinda dissociate themselves from the event, as a way of saying it happened to ‘him’ or ‘her’ or someone else.

Not everyone who experiences traumatic events develops DID. People with particular personality traits like susceptibility to hypnotism, makes someone more likely to develop DID.

Question 63

Somatoform disorders

Answer 63

Psychological disorder that take bodily or physical form and mimic physical diseases, but have no known physical cause or medical basis.

Question 64

Somatization disorder

Answer 64

Occurs when a person complains of multiple physical disorders that have no known medical or physical basis

The following criteria:

• Involves complaints of pain in in at least four different sites on the body like head/joints/back
• History of complaints prior to 30 that occur over several years
• Two gastrointestinal problems like vomiting/diarrhea. One sexual symptom like erectile dysfunction. One pseudo-neurological symptom like fainting or blindness.

Much more common in women (2%) than men (0.2%). doctors in the early 1900s used the word “hysteria” to describe this disorder, which meant ‘wandering womb’, further thinking that only women could have this

Question 65

Hypochondriasis

Answer 65

The pervasive and debilitating fear of suffering from some kind of serious physical illness when none can be found by a medical professional. A person suffering from hypochondriasis misperceives, exaggerates, and becomes obsessively concerned with physical symptoms of the disease. The exaggeration of the perceived illness must continue for 6 months

Hypochondriasis is a long term, persistent problem taking on a personality-trait like quality because it can involve self-diagnosis with the sufferer and extreme skepticism with doctors diagnoses. Affects between 1 and 5% of the population.

Question 66

Cyberchondriacs

Answer 66

People who self-diagnose primarily from information found on the internet. More and more people are self diagnosing without evidence of real symptoms of professional evaluation because of the internet.

Question 67

Similarities and Differences between somatization disorder and hypochondriasis (both somatoform disorderS btw)

Answer 67

similarity: excessive concern in health in absence of actual medical symptoms occurs in both
difference: Somatization disorder involves recurrent and frequently changing symptoms. Hypochondriasis involves excessive and irrational worry about one particular disease.

Somatization disorder involves worry about minor to moderate symptoms like back pain or excessive gas. Whereas hypochondriasis involves belief one has a serious disease like cancer or brain tumors.

Question 68

Personality disorders

Answer 68

Patterns of cognition, emotion, and behavior that develop in late childhood or adolescence and are maladaptive and inflexible(dsnt change); they are more consistent than clinical disorders like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder

most people from personality disorders suffer other clinical disorders as well. it is in Axis II of the DSM, meaning its relatively permanent and viewed by the person as being consistent with their personality thus not causing a lot of stress.

The clusters of personality disorders: odd-eccentric, dramatic-emotional, and anxious-fearful.

Almost 10% of general adult population 18+ and 20-25% of young adults 18-25 suffer from some form of personality disorders

Question 69

The three odd-eccentric personality disorders

Answer 69

1. schizoid personality disorder - characterized by desire to avoid close relationships; emotionally aloof, reclusive(avoiding company of others), and humorless; wants to live a solitary(alone) life.
2. schizotypal personality disorder - Also isolated and asocial. But has very odd beliefs and thoughts. They may believe stories written on tv or the newspapaer are written about them
3. paranoid personality disorder - characterized by extreme suspicions and mistrust of others in unwarranted and maladaptive ways. i.e often test the loyalty of their friends, holds a grudge for a long time, believes others are out to get them if don’t get promotion on job, assume ppl are talking about her cause she didn’t get the job

Question 70

4 dramatic-emotional disorders

Answer 70

1. Histrionic personality disorder - The desire to be the center of attention and often behave in very dramatic, seductive, flamboyant, and exaggerated ways. They can be very emotional, intense, self-centered, and shallow in their emotions and relationships.
2. Borderline personality disorders - Out of control emotions, are very afraid of being abandoned by others, and alternate between idealizing and despising those who are close to them. More likely to hurt themselves, have eating disorders, or substance abuse
3. Narcissistic personality disorder - Having an extremely positive and arrogant self-image, and most of their time and attention is self-focused. Exaggerated sense of self-importance and are grandiose. They make unreasonable demands of others and ignore others needs. They usually are successful and climb up quickly, but their narcissism often isolates them from others
4. Antisocial personality disorder - Extremely impulsive, deceptive, violent, ruthless, and callous(cruel) behaviors. More likely to engage in criminal, deceptive, and violent behavior. Only 3% of population have this but between 45% and 75% of male prison inmates are diagnosed. Only 20% of female prisoners are diagnosed.

Do not confuse antisocial with asocial.

Question 71

Anxious-Fearful Personality Disorders

Answer 71

1. Avoidant personality disorder - Extreme fear of being criticized that they avoid interacting with orders and become socially isolated. They feel inadequate and have low self-esteem. Choose professions where they are alone.
2. Dependent personality disorder - Fear of being rejected and having a strong need to be cared for that they form clingy and dependent relationships with others. They feel safe only in relationships, however they tend to drive others away because they’re so demanding.
3. obsessive-compulsive personality disorder - Very rigid in their habits and extremely perfectionistic. Compared to OCD, this is more general. OCD is usually focused with cleanliness or checking where as OC-personality-D focuses more on the aspects of an entire person’s life.

Question 72

Causes of personality disorders

Answer 72

Not much known about the others, so focus is on antisocial personality disorder

Most individuals that commit crimes have antisocial personality disorder. These violent criminals are usually male, coming from abusive and neglectful households, having at least one psychological disorder such as antisocial personality disorder, and having suffered from some kind of injury to the head or brain. One of these symptoms is NOT enough, a person has to experience ALL of these symptoms to be antisocial and violent

Murderers always have moderate to severe problems of impulse control, social intelligence, working memory, and attention. Living under constant threat of abuse and stress changes the neural connectivity in the brain, making it less likely to develop many complex synaptic connections, especially in the frontal lobes. Being in a constant state of dear often leads to neural systems that are in high levels of anxiety, impulsive behavior, and a state of constant alertness which may lead to violent or criminal behaviors.

Genetics interact with abusive experience to create psychological disorders. Different forms of one particular gene, for example, when coupled with being abused as a child make violent and antisocial behavior

Question 73

Chilhood disorders

Answer 73

Most clinical diagnoses are reserved for adults older than 18 but a number of disorders show up in childhood. The two main ones are ADHD and autism

Question 74

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Answer 74

An inability to focus attention for more than a few minutes, to remain still and quiet, or to do careful work.

To receive diagnosis, child must display these symptoms before age 7. Child could be disruptive in class, homework has careless mistakes even if he knows answers, blurts out whatever they’re thinking, constantly fidgets in chair

Question 75

Autistic syndrome disorder or autism

Answer 75

Severe language and social impairment along with repetitive habits and inward-focused behaviors

shows preoccupation and repetitive interest or behaviors like finger and hand flapping. has impaired speech, often could say ‘you’ instead of ‘i’. very interested in the details and sensory experience of inanimate objects and things instead of people and social interaction/peer relationships. doesn’t make eye contact

Some say its over-diagnosed disease but maybe its because more people are aware

Question 76

Joint attention

Answer 76

The ability to make eye contact with others and to look in the same direction that someone else is looking. People with autism have deficits in this area

If a mother points at a direction at something, a child with autism will typically not look in that direction because they have difficulty with joint attention

Question 77

Asperger’s syndrome

Answer 77

A childhood disorder, that is on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. Is characterized by impaired social interest and skills and restricted interests; intelligence is usually above average and not delayed or deficient in language, their speech is advanced.

Other terms being considered is “high-functioning autism” or “being on the spectrum”.

These kids have above average intelligence and may engage adults in long-winded and ‘professorial’ discussions on a narrow topic. Hans Asperger refer to these kids as ‘little professors’

Children with Asperger’s syndrome are more than twice as likely as normal children to have a father or grandfather who was an engineer.

Question 78

Causes of Childhood disorders

Answer 78

Stem from genetic factors but often remain latent(not developed yet) unless triggered by some environmental condition. In ADHD, its the combination its smoking by the pregnant mother and consuming excessive amounts of sugar.

The brain has low levels of activation in those with ADHD.

In autism, the brain growth is much faster in the first few years life than the brain of a child without autism. A 5 year old could have the size of a 13 year old’s brain. The frontal lobes are less connected in children with autism. The amygdala in children with autism is 13% larger.

Also there are mirror neurons malfunction in austic children. Those mirror neurons are responsible for observation learning, imitation, social behaviors, etc.

Question 79

Creativity and psychological disorders

Answer 79

Creativity and psychological disorders are related, especially in the arts. Disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, substance abuse, and suicide occur at higher rates in creative artists than in members of other professions and in the general population.

Question 80

Which psychotic disorder to be most strongly associated with creativity?

Answer 80

Schizotypal

Question 81

Between bipolar disorder and creativity

Answer 81

The manic phase is more likely to produce creative behavior than the depressive phase

Question 82

Langley and Homer Collyer were among the first widely publicized cases of

Answer 82

compulsive hoarders.

Question 83

Mood and anxiety disorders are mainly impairments of _____; the psychotic disorders are primarily disorders of _____ and perception.

Answer 83

affect ; thought

Question 84

Ted Bundy was one of the worst serial killers in U.S. history. His murder spree took place in the

Answer 84

1970s, he suffered from antisocial personality disorder

Question 85

Some people who have autism or Asperger’s syndrome are extremely gifted in one domain (such as music or math), a phenomenon known as

Answer 85

savant syndrome.