Psychological Disorders: Abnormality and Anxiety Disorders

Question 1

Abnormality

Answer 1

any pattern of behavior that causes people significant distress, causes them to harm themselves or others, or interferes with their ability to function in daily life

Overall looking for something that is different from a bad day/rough patch of life, vs something that needs a closer look to help day to day mentally

Question 2

Four Characteristics of Abnormality

Answer 2

Statistically Rare, Deviance from Social Norms, Personal Distress, and Interference with Normal Functioning

Question 3

Statistically Rare

Answer 3

Not many people that behave that way, outlier; Just because it is rare, does not mean you need treatment; Cannot always be used as guide

Question 4

Deviance from Social Norms

Answer 4

Cannot be used as a guide, since norms change, sometimes only relative to the time period

Question 5

Interference with Normal Functioning

Answer 5

• Interferes with day-to-day activities
• Enjoying events are interfered
• Learning things
• Holding a job
• Maintaining relationships with others

Question 6

Name three statistical facts about mental health disorders

Answer 6

About 22% of adults suffer from mental disorder per year; About 44 million people in the US

Four out of top 10 causes of disability in the US is from Psychological Disorders

Most prevalent of psychological disorders is depression

Question 7

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)

Answer 7

contains each known disorder, a description symptom, checklist of criteria and other relevant facts

Question 8

models of Abnormality

Answer 8

approach to studying abnormal behavior, can have biological and psychological models

Question 9

Biological Models

Answer 9

psychological disorders have a biological cause; also known as the medical model; Behaving in this way because of biology

Question 10

Psychological Models

Answer 10

includes psychoanalysis, cognitive perspective, and behaviorism

Question 11

Psychoanalysis

Answer 11

behavioral abnormality is the result of repressing undesirable thoughts, memories, and concerns

Suppressing undesirable memories from childhood that shows through anxiety, depression

Although based on Sigmund Freud and he had very sketched out thoughts in detail going towards this, the overall general statement about it is true

Chemical makeup can be determined/affected in subconscious

Question 12

Behaviorism

Answer 12

abnormal behaviors are learned through a series of rewards and punishments; Can just look at behavior and how it changes with environmental variables; “learning”; Look at punishing or not reinforcing behavior to extinguish it

Question 13

Cognitive Perspective

Answer 13

abnormal behavior results from illogical thinking patterns

Example: negative thoughts one after the other that results in negative behavior, repeats/spirals; Not getting anything done for a day, spirals/horrible person

Question 14

Psychological Disorders

Answer 14

Includes anxiety disorders and mood disorders

Question 15

Describe Anxiety disorders

Answer 15

unrealistic or excessive anxiety; sometime can be tied to something specific(fear), but other time it cannot (free-floating anxiety)

Question 16

Types of Anxiety Disorders

Answer 16

Phobias, OCD, Panic disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, PTSD

Question 17

Phobias

Answer 17

irrational fear that causes undue personal distress and/or interferes with normal functioning

Social phobias: fear of interacting with others or being in a social situation

Specific phobias: fear of something in particular

Question 18

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Answer 18

Obsessions: intruding thoughts that occur again and again

Compulsions: ritualistic behavior that reduces anxiety

Question 19

Panic Disorder

Answer 19

sudden onset of extreme panic; impending sense of doom

Symptoms: Racing heart rate, rapid breathing, out of body experience, sweating, dry mouth

Question 20

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Answer 20

excessive anxiety and worry occur more days than not for at least six months that interferes with normal functioning and causes personal distress; Can often lead to depression and other disorders

Question 21

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Answer 21

anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a traumatic event, oppressive situation, abuse or disaster

Characteristics: flashbacks, emotionally avoidant, desensitization, exaggerated startle response, difficulty concentrating, apprehensive and nervous, impulsive outbursts (sometimes aggressive)

Question 22

Not everyone develops PTSD after a traumatic event. Why is that?

Answer 22

Some people may have a biological predisposition to develop PTSD after trauma

Question 23

What causes anxiety disorders?

Answer 23

Psychologists approach anxiety disorders using the model of their choice

Psychoanalytical Approach, Behavioral Approach, Cognitive Approach

Question 24

Psychoanalytical Approach for Anxiety Disorders

Answer 24

anxiety disorders are the result of repressed feelings and thoughts

Question 25

Behavioral Approach for Anxiety Disorders

Answer 25

anxiety disorders are learned over time

Question 26

Cognitive Approach

Answer 26

anxiety disorders are the result of illogical irrational thinking patterns, such as Magnification, All-or-Nothing thinking, Overgeneralization, and Minimization

Question 27

Magnification

Answer 27

exaggeration of events, ideas, feelings

Question 28

All-or-nothing thinking

Answer 28

must be perfect or it’s completely ruined

Question 29

Overgeneralization

Answer 29

single negative event interpreted as a pattern

Question 30

Minimization

Answer 30

only look at the bad, minimizing the positive