Clinical Test Flashcards
(40 cards)
Disordered/abnormal behavior
Atypical → Doesn’t happen often
Disturbing → Violates social norms - bothersome to self or others
Maladaptive → Prevents you from living a happy and healthy life
Unjustifiable → No reason to engage in the behavior
Medical model
The concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.
Generalized anxiety disorder
WHAT: When a person finds it difficult to control worry on more days than one for at least six months and shows three or more symptoms of GAD. Other symptoms include feeling nervous and irritable, having a sense of impending danger, having an increased heart rate, etc. TRIGGERS: Anticipating disaster, overly concerned about money, health, family, work, or other life issues, social situations, travel, and/or promotions. TREATMENT: Supportive and interpersonal therapy, cognitive behavioral treatment, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, SSRI medication alone or in combination with therapy, and relaxation techniques, including yoga, meditation, and exercise.
Panic disorder
WHAT: Results in spontaneous panic attacks that can happen even during sleep. People may miss a lot of work and avoid certain situations where they might experience an attack. Other symptoms include heart palpitations, Sweating, Shaking, Shortness of breath, Feelings of choking, Chest pain, Nausea, Fear of losing control. TRIGGERS: Stress or anxiety, phobias, sensitivity to stimuli, trauma, changes in routine, social situations, violence, and/or caffeine or alcohol. TREATMENT: Therapy and medication are two highly effective methods of treating this disorder. Treatment can take just months to start working, and it can even take years.
Panic attack
A symptom of panic disorder where a person experiences a sudden episode of intense fear, often accompanied by physical symptoms like a rapid heartbeat, sweating, and shortness of breath, even though there is no real danger.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
WHAT: Engaging in compulsions out of fear and anxiety that there will be terrible consequences if they do not. Having obsessions, compulsions, and both of them are time-consuming or cause significant distress in various areas of life. Symptoms include Intrusive thoughts paired with a compulsion to ease the thoughts. TRIGGERS: Exposure to germs or dirty environments, specific objects or patterns, certain places or social situations, stressful experiences, life changes, illness, body-related concerns, intrusive thoughts, and/or perfection. TREATMENT: Exposure and Response Prevention (exposure to a trigger without engaging in any rituals), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (targeting dysfunctional thinking), mindfulness, and/or medication.
Obsessions vs. compulsions
Obsessions are persistent, unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that cause distress. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts a person feels driven to perform to neutralize the anxiety associated with the obsessions.
PTSD
PTSD → WHAT: Presentation of PTSD is getting upset easily, being super alert, having a hard time focusing or sleeping. Other common symptoms are intrusive distressing memories and ambitions, flashbacks, feelings of detachment, fear, anger, and guilt. TRIGGERS: A trigger for PTSD is getting reminders from your past traumas (flashbacks). TREATMENT: The most common forms of treatment are short-term psychotherapies. There are cognitive behavior therapies, exposure therapies, cognitive restructuring, and many more. Medication could also be used such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines.
Social anxiety
WHAT: Having a fear of social interactions, ex. Talking with people, being overstimulated easily. Other common symptoms are intense fear of being scrutinized and negatively evaluated by others in social situations, feeling sick, blushing, sweating, nausea, rapid heartbeat, lightheadedness, and detachment of self-control. TRIGGERS: Being around huge crowds can trigger the fear of not wanting to be judged, negatively evaluated, or rejected in their social lives. TREATMENT: Forms of treatment could include a health professional creating a treatment plan and therapies such as cognitive behavior therapy and medication would be involved. A common medication for social anxiety is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Dissociative identity disorder
A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct alternating identities. This is caused by traumatic childhood abuse. The child dissociates to make it seem like the abuse is happening to someone else. Often misdiagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and conduct problems around 6 years old. The person will expereince amnesia, encountering people they don’t know, suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviors. Many patients hear voices in their heads. There are 1-10 alters on average. It is a very rare diagnosis, found mostly in western cultures. Unsure whether or not it’s real, but it has been proven that different alters have different physical characteristics. No medication is available to treat this, so almost always, psychotherapy and hypnosis are used. The goal is gto integrate the separate personalities. They will also uncover and work through traumatic childhood memories.
Schizoid personality disorder
(ODD-ECCENTRIC) These people prefer to be alone or are unsure how to act with others. They are not bothered by their disorder, and they come across as cold or emotionally flat. They do not experience or express a lot of drive or motivation.
Borderline personality disorder
(DRAMATIC-EMOTIONAL) On the border of psychosis. The person has instability in their mood and interpersonal relationships. There are more rapid mood changes than those of a mood disorder, and they desperately try to avoid real or imagined abandonment. It is disproportionately found in women, and they will often display self-harm and/or impulsive behavior.
Antisocial personality disorder
(DRAMATIC-EMOTIONAL) When a person has behavior that goes against social norms and displays no remorse for their actions. They will lie, steal, harm, etc. This is disproportionately found in men and is often co-morbid with drug and alcohol abuse.
Avoidant personality disorder
(AVOIDANT) When a person has long-standing feelings of inadequacy and therefore doesn’t interact with others for fear of being judged. They are reluctant to take personal risks or try something new for fear of embarrassing themselves.
Schizophrenia
A disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished, inappropriate expression. Treatment is usually most effective in reducing positive symptoms. Anti-psychotics can diminish delusions and hallucinations. Medication works in ~70% of patients. It is much harder to treat negative symptoms. Sometimes, anti-psychotics have side effects very similar to negative symptoms. Psychotherapy increases the chance of recovery when also taking medication.
Positive symptoms (schizophrenia)
Inappropriate behaviors are present
Delusions
False beliefs about reality which are strongly held despite evidence to the contrary. Paranoia delusions make it feel like someone is out to get you. Delusions of reference are things about the environment that seem directly related to you (ex. Messages through the TV to you). Delusions of grandeur are false bheleifs about your body (ex. Implants in your arm).
Hallucinations
sensory experiences, such as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that are not actually there. These experiences can be vivid and clear, and the person experiencing them may believe they are real.
Negative symptoms (schizophrenia)
Inappropriate behaviors are absent.
Alogia
“Poverty of speech” - answering with one word, bland answers.
Avolition
The inability to initiate and/or persist in goal-directed behavior.
Affective flattening
Without range of emotional expression
Catatonia
Exhibits total lack of movement and in rate cases some may experience waxy flexibility where they are literally stuck in one position
Cognitive symptoms (scizophrenia)
Disorganzied thinking, disorganied speaking, difficulry unserstanding others, and poor concentration or memory.
