Core disorders Flashcards
Psychological features of anxiety disorders
- Spectrum of feelings from mild unease to terror
- Anticipatory anxiety—- worries or foreboding of events
- Situational or exposure anxiety—— worries in response to a current situation
- Panic attack—– seemingly random trigger, sensation of imminent death
- Can be linked to specific stimuli—— phobias (fear of dying common)
- Derealisation—— “what’s going on can’t be real, this can’t be happening”
- Depersonalisation—– “what’s going on isn’t happening to me” feeling of disconnection
- May be experienced as as repetitive intrusive thoughts- obsessions
- May feel compelled to carry out certain actions to ease obsessions- compulsions
Somatic features of anxiety disorders
Autonomic hyperreactivity- fight or flight out of control
- Muscular tension
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Palpitations
- Chest or abdominal pain
- Choking sensation, difficulty to breathe
Functional impairment of anxiety disorder?
yes, to be diagnosed it must have some funcitonal impact on you
e.g., takes u 4 hours to clean your desk
Unipolar depression
affect doesn’t rise above base hedonic point, only dips into sadness or depression
no mania, recurrent depression
Unipolar depression psychological features
- low mood
- anedonia (loss of interest and enjoyment)
- reduced energy or loack of motivation
- poor concentration
- low self esteem/self confidence
- guilt
- feelings of worthlessness
- pessimistic view of the future
- thoughts or acts of self harm / suicide
Behavioural features of depression
- irritibility
- indeciseveness
- increased worries or anxieties
- social isolation
- reckless behaviours
- disruption to normal functioning
Physiological features of depression
- disturbed sleep (initial insomnia- early morning waking)
- poor appetite
- motor retardation (smaller and less of them)
- constipation
- heightened experience of pain
- loss of libido
- menstrual cycle changes
functional impairment of depression
disruption yes
are suicide rates higher in bipolar or unipolar depression
more likely to attempt suicide w bipolar as the manic energy gives you the drive to kill yourself when before you lacked the motivation.
Physiological reatures of mania
- Increased energy
- Increased libido
- Decreased need for sleep
- Impairmenmt of concentration and attention
- Pressure of speech
- Delusions ( beliefs that are obviously false. They’re symptoms of a disturbance in thinkin) ( a) grandiose b) persecutory)
- Hallucinations (sensory experiences perceived to be real)
Psychological features of mania
- Elevated mood
- Feelings of well being
- Inflated self esteem- grandiosity (better than you are)
- Over-optimism
- Irritibility
- Flight of ideas
- Disinhibition
Behavioural features of mania
- Increased sociability
- Overfamiliarity
- Conceit and boorish behaviour
- Reckless behaviour- financial, sexual, physical risk
- Diruption to normal levels of funcioning
skitzophrenia
what is it
type of psychosis
disorder of possession of thought
disorder of form or process of thought
what 4 aspects can thought be disordered in shizophrenia
(idea that you’re not the only one who controls your thoughts)
- thought echo
- thought insertion (focussing on something and then a random unrelated thought may enter your stream of thought. these thoughts can be belived to have been sent or just acquired)
- thought withdrawal (feels like your thoughts are taken away unexpectedly e.g., mid convo)
- thought broadcasting (feel like you can send/ leak your thoughts to others)
Components of disorders of form or process of thinking (7)
- Loosening of associations- dreailment- knights move of thought
- Circumstantiality- can’t order thoughts, waffle then make way back to inital thought
- Conreteness- literal interpretation- also seen in autism
- Incoherence- word salad
- Flight of ideas-
- Thought block- all thoughts suddenly disappear
- Neologisms- made up words
Psychosis- disorder of content of thought
disorder of perception
delusions- “unusual/ bizarre beliefs not in keeping w religion/ culture”
- many different forms- persecutory, grandiose, external, control/ influence
Hallucinations- “perception of stimulus in the abscence of a stimulus” often come from objective 3rd person space e.g., a book, a lamp, a monkey
motor abnormalities of schizophrenia (5)
catatonic behaviours:
- negativism
- posturing
- waxy flexibility
- stupor
- mutism
emotional and social behaviour abnormalities of schizophrenia
- apathy
- blunting of emotional responses (Affect)
- social withdrawal
- poor concentration
disruption to normal levels of functioning
diagnostic criteria for depression
- depressed mood or irritable most of the day - nearly every day
- anhedonia (decreased pleasure or interest in previously enjoyable things)
- significant weight change or change in appetite
- change in sleep
- fatigue
- feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- concentration
- suicidality
if 5/9 of these features are seen and are present nearly every day for 2 weeks or longer then a diagnosis of depression can be made
what is mania?
must have at least 3 of the following:
“distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive irritable mood”
mood must have at least 3 of the following:
- elevated self esteem
- reduced need for sleep
- increased rate of speech
- flight of ideas
- easily distracted
- an increased interest in goals or activities
- psychomotor agitation (pacing, hand wringing)
- increased pursuit of activities with a high risk of danger
how to differentiate between mania and hypomania
in hypomania the episode should not be severe enough to cause marked impairment in social or occupational functioning or to necessitate hospitalisation
