8 C

Question 0

what is insanity?

Answer 0

-mainly a legal concept
-just refers to whether or not people realize the consequences of their actions and cant see that what they are doing is wrong
-

Question 1

Abnormal (in relation to clinical psychology)

Answer 1

statistical statement referring to relatively rare patterns of thought or behaviour (great thinkers, violent criminals, etc.)
-not reffering to dissorders

Question 2

what is a mental disorder?: violation of cultural rules of conduct

Answer 2

you might have a dissorder if your culture thinks that you have a dissorder

• problem is that cultures vary on whether a behaviour is considered deviant or not
• talking to the dead is either ok or not depending on where you are

Question 3

what is a mental disorder?: maladaptive or harmful behaviour

Answer 3

• behaviour that is either harmful for you or others

- the problem is that there are many things that we do that are harmful to ourselves (smoking, boxing, etc.)

Question 4

what is a mental disorder?: the need to experience personal suffering

Answer 4

if you are suffering from your behaviour

• problem is that there are some people that should be considered mentally ill, but dont get distress from their problems (psychopath)
• also if you are going through personal suffering there are many times that it is not a dissorder (grief over loss, stress over coping with poverty)

Question 5

what is the actual accurate definition of a mental dissorder?

Answer 5

its a complicated concept that is probably a combination of:
deviating from cultural standards
harmful behaviour
intense personal suffering
-so its like each is on a scale of normal to abnormal

Question 6

diagnosing types of mental disorders

Answer 6

• the main tool for this is “the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition (or DSM-IV)
• the main function is to show consistency in the label assigned to specific psychological problems (about 400 dissorders currently listed)
• it tells about the symptoms and lots of information about each dissorder

Question 7

the five different axes that the DSM provides in order to evaluate clients

Answer 7

1. the primary diagnosis
2. personality traits that may be relevant to treatment
3. relevant medical conditions or prescription medications (may have side effects)
4. pressence of social and environmental stressors
5. assesment of hte client’sof social and occupational functionign

Question 8

Problems with the use of DSM:overdiagnosis

Answer 8

one you give something a label, psychologists may apply it more than it is appropriate
-this is common for ADHD, cause if you are lookign for adhd, there are many kids that may fit the criteria, also the fastest growing dissorder in NA, so maybe an overdiagnosis

Question 9

problems with the use of DSM: self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 9

assigning a person a mental disorder which can enchourace them to act in ways that fit the label

• the person that was diagnosed can intensify the problem that they already have, because they use that to define who they are
• the label that you give someone can stick in the minds of the people around them and even if they overcome it, they are still seen that may possibly

Question 10

problems with the use of DSM: normal life concerns seen as mental dissorders

Answer 10

there is an increase of adding of dissorders to the manual

-people think that maybe there are things that are actually just difficult parts of life

Question 11

problems with DSM: it makes diagnosis seem more objective and scientific than it is

Answer 11

• it is actually a manual that has dissorders that arent based on evidence, but by the opinion of members of the American Psychiatric Association
• so some mental dissorders may just reflect cultural prejudice rather than scientific research
• in the past there have been some cultural ones (urge to escape slavery, homosexuality, nymphomania, PMS, etc)

Question 12

the process of Diagnosis during a mental dissorder

Answer 12

initial diagnosis is done based on an interview and behaviour during the interview
-there are projective tests, and objective tests

Question 13

projective tests

Answer 13

involves getting clients to perform some action (describe ambigious picture, draw a house)

• and using this to infer aspects of personality
• the problem with this is that the way that people respond to these tests is reliably related to anything EXCEPT: the biased perspective of the clinician (the clinician may already have a predisposed idea about what they will see), the clinicians instructions and personality, momentary concerns of the client (sleepiness, worry, hunger, etc.)
• so basically these tests are kind of useless cause a lot of the outcome is based on the clinician

Question 14

Objective tests

Answer 14

standrdized questionares

• some measure for specific emotional problems (measure of depression)
• others measure various aspects of mental disorder and personality: Minnesota multiphastic personality inventory (MMPI), the reliability and validity are ok, but can sometimes indicate that healthy ppl have mental dissorder

Question 15

Anxiety dissorders

Answer 15

anxiety: the state of fear and apprehension
-often occurs for a good reason
-it is a problem when it is caused by no rational source of danger
-basically the aviod many situations that are not really that bad (or shouldnt be)
-

Question 16

Types of maladaptive anxiety responses

Answer 16

chronic anxiety: feelings of apprehension are constant for long periods of time (can lead to health problems, the same as stress)

• panic attacks: brief but intense bursts of anxiety (can happen anytime you do something specific, like going outside)
• phobias: irrational fear of specific objects or situations (like a garder snake)
• OCD: intense anxiety response to NOT performing some action (needing to check if you locked the door like 5 times)

Question 17

generalized anxiety dissorder

Answer 17

constant worry

• like something bad might happen at all times
• must occor on the majority of days for the past 6 months, and cant be caused by drugs or coffe

Question 18

PTSD

Answer 18

when someone has constant anxiety after a traumatic event

• must last longer than 6 months
  symptoms: reliving event, detachment from others, no happiness, anxiety with high physiological arousal which can cause insomnia and such

Question 19

panic dissorder

Answer 19

recurring attacks of INTENSE fear and anxeity (can last minutes or hours)
symptoms: shaking, dizziness, chest pain, heart palpitations, sweating

Question 20

cause of panic dissorder

Question 21

phobias

Answer 21

intense fear of something that is irrational
common examples: small spaces, purple, thunder, etc.
-the fear generated by something is way out of proportion to the threat that it imposses

Question 22

what is the cause of phobias

Answer 22

evolution: we have developed an intense fear to something because they may have been threats to survival in the past
classical conditioning: negative experiences with something or activities could cause an intense fear response

Question 23

agoraphobia

Answer 23

intense fear of being trapped in a crowded public place

• often starts with a panic attack in a crowded place, then they fear having another attack in a public place, so they avoid public places and become reclusive
• sometimes this is referred to as a fear of fear
• many people have minor forms of this, it is only a mental dissorder in great intensity

Question 24

OCD

Answer 24

involves constant uncontrollable thoughts or images - the obsession can be "obsessions", can be horrible such as imagining killing someone, and the person will think that it is horrible too, or an obsession with catching a disease (germaphobe) - can be "compulsions": when people have to perform actions in a certain way and they get very anxious if they dont

Question 25

Mood dissorders

Answer 25

disturbances in emotional experiences

Question 26

Major depression

Answer 26

chronic sense of despair and hoplessness - thoughts of death and suicide are common - lack of energy to do anything, cause they cant see the point - they feel worthless - this mood is supported by the way that people interpret events: people think that good things are just luck, and bad things are exaggerated, so the thought process helps to maintain the sad state

Question 27

Bipolar dissorder

Answer 27

episodes of mania, mixed in with states of major depression - this is common with people who are overachievers and people that are really creative (mark twain) - the cause is probably genetic

Question 28

unipolar vs bipolar

Answer 28

unipolar: only one extreme, mania or depression, and the other side is normal bipolar: goes to both extremes

Question 29

theories of major depression: biological factors

Answer 29

-some evidence for genetic influence on developing major depression -it is thought to occur from imbalances in neurotransmitters and hormones that are important for mood and arousam (there may be a defficiency: lack of serotonin and/or norepinipherine, overproduction of cortisol) -

Question 30

thoeries of major depression: the role of life experience

Answer 30

- unsatisfying or stressfull circumstances could be an important cause of major depression (if you just lost your job or soething) - it is more likely in women than men (because they generally have less satisfying jobs and family lives, or are more likely to experience discrimination or abuse) - the more kids the more depression haha

Question 31

theories of major depression: the role of social relationships

Answer 31

depression can be a reaction to the end of relationships - or raction to people that have difficulty forming secure relationships - the link for this is unclear whether it leads to depression, or if depression is what leads to this

Question 32

theories of major depression: poor social skills

Answer 32

this can lead to: aquiring fewer rienforcers (good friends, top job), can encounter lots of rejection, gravitate towards people with negative self views -this can all lead to mare vulnerability to becoming depressed

Question 33

theories of major depression: cognitive habits

Answer 33

- their thinkign habits - if you think that things are uncontrollable and permenant, you will have a sonse of hoplessness - people may be protected from depression if you think that you can change events and control them (internal locus of control) - people who ruminate on negative events (if they cant move past it) - there is a pretty strong correlation for it

Question 34

theories of major depression: vulnerability-stress model

Answer 34

it is usually combined forces that contribute to the onset of major depression (all the theories) -pre-existing factors (genetics, thinking habits, etc.) can predispose people to become depressed in reaction to stressful life experiences