Chapter 10 - Somatic Symptom Disorders Flashcards
(37 cards)
What are the traditional psychophysiological disorders?
- Ulcers
- Asthma
- Headaches
- Hypertension
- Coronary heart disease
What are characteristics of ulcers?
- Strong relationship between ulcers and stress
- H-pylori bacteria, but also some people without bacteria get ulcers
- Genetic vulnerability - some people inherit a thin mucosal lining
What are characteristics of asthma?
- Constriction of airways –> wheezing
- Strong links with anxiety
- Not just because of medication
What are the two different types of headaches?
- Tension headaches - most common, appear to have heightened sensitivity to pain/stress (linked to proximal stressors)
- Migraine headaches - constriction/dilation of blood vessels (linked to distal stressors)
What are the characteristics of hypertension?
- Chronic high BP
- Most commonly diagnosed: essential hypertension
- Combo of physical factors along with stress and emotions
- Genetic vulnerability
Characteristics of coronary heart disease
- # 1 cause of death - coronary artery blockage
- Temporary and partial –> angina - chest pain
- Complete blockage –> myocardial infarction
How does personality type factor into risk of coronary heart disease?
- Type A: competitive, hurried/impatient lifestyle, cynical hostility is “toxic” factor most strongly predicts CHD
- Type B: opposite of type A, more laid back, less likely to get CHD
What are the types of sleep disorder?
- Insomnia
- Hypersomnia
- Narcolepsy
- Sleep apnea
Subtypes of insomnia
- Primary (difficulty falling asleep)
- Maintenance (difficulty staying asleep)
- Termination (waking too early and can’t go back to sleep)
What is hypersomnia?
Strong urge to sleep most of the day
What is narcolepsy?
Sudden episodes of sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)
Characteristics of narcolepsy
- Cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone, 70% show, related to REM cycle?)
- Could be caused by deficiency of hypocretin (promotes wakefulness)
- May be autoimmune disorder
- May be genetic (dogs stronger link than humans)
Subtypes of sleep apnea
- Obstructive (most common, block airways)
* Central (lack of signals during sleep to breathe)
What are factitious disorders?
Reporting of symptoms that are voluntarily induced - main purpose is to get attention and care, they know nothing is wrong
What is Munchausen’s syndrome?
Extreme factitious disorder - deliberately stimulates or fakes symptoms
What is Munchausen’s by proxy syndrome?
Deliberately invoking or over-reporting symptoms in someone under their care to receive attention (legal issues - possible child abuse)
What is malingering?
Purposeful faking of symptoms - occurs for purpose of obtaining secondary gains
What are somatic symptom disorders?
Set of disorders characterized by physical problem with no apparent organic cause, or symptoms in excess of documented pathology (medically unexplained symptoms)
*KEY: patient honestly believes there is a physical cause
What are key factors in the biopsychosocial model of bodily preoccupation?
- Increased emotional arousal and associated symptoms
- Schema and attributions - maladaptive schemas
- Communication of bodily concerns to family members and responses - can either increase or decrease bodily symptoms
What is conversion disorder?
Reported loss of part or all of some basic body function (usually pseudo-neurological) that doesn’t make anatomical sense
Onset of conversion disorder
Late childhood or early adolescence - often first occurs after some trauma or major stressor
Symptoms of conversion disorder
May be related to source of trauma or stress
Prevalence of conversion disorder
Higher rates in people of lower SES status, also people with less knowledge of medical concepts, more females
What is illness anxiety disorder?
Persistent belief that one has serious illness in spite of medical reassurance, lack of physical evidence, failure to fully develop illness
