Quiz #2 Flashcards
(92 cards)
Stressor
-Event that creates demands
-Causes fear when viewed as threatening
Stress response
Person’s reactions to demands
Extraordinary stress and trauma
Can play a central role in certain psychological disorders
Where are features of arousal and fear set?
The hypothalamus
What 2 important systems are activated when arousal and/or fear set in?
- Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
An extensive network of nerve fibers that connect to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to all other organs of the body - Endocrine system
A network of glands throughout the body that release hormones
Sympathetic nervous system
The nerve fibers of the ANS that quicken the heartbeat and produce other changes experienced as arousal
Parasympathetic nervous system
The nerve fibers of the ANS that help return bodily processes to normal
Two pathways by which ANS and endocrine system produce arousal/fear reactions
- Sympathetic nervous system pathway
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal pathway (hypo. signals the pituitary gland, which stimulates the adrenal cortex to release corticosteroids (stress hormones) into the bloodstream
DSM-5 lists trauma and stressor-related disorders as:
- Acute stress disorder
- PTSD
- Dissociate disorders
-Dissociative amnesia
-Dissociative fugue
-DID
Acute stress disorder
Symptoms begin within 4 weeks of event, last for less than one month
PTSD
Symptoms may begin either shortly after event, or months or years afterward (80% of all cases for acute stress disorder develop into PTSD)
Both acute and PTSD checklist
-Person is exposed to a traumatic event—death or threatened death, severe injury, or sexual violation
A person experiences at least one of the following intrusive symptoms:
Repeated, uncontrolled, and distressing memories
Repeated and upsetting trauma-linked dreams
Dissociative experiences such as flashbacks
Significant upset when exposed to trauma-linked cues
Pronounced physical reactions when reminded of the event
What triggers acute disorder and PTSD?
Combat
Shell shock; combat fatigue
Psychological distress after combat
Disasters, accidents, and illnesses
Natural and accidental disasters; medical illnesses; epidemics
Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, fires, airplane crashes, and serious car accidents
Victimization
Sexual assault and rape
Treatment for acute and PTSD
General goals
End lingering stress reactions
Gain perspective on painful experiences
Return to constructive living
Treatments
Antidepressant drugs
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Mindfulness-based techniques
Exposure techniques; prolonged exposure: VIRTUAL REALITY
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Couple or family therapy
Group therapy
Dissociative amnesia
Inability to recall important information, usually of an upsetting nature, about one’s life
Memory loss much more extensive than normal forgetting and is not caused by physical factors
Often the amnesia episode is directly triggered by a specific upsetting event
Checklist
Person cannot recall important life-related information, typically traumatic or stressful information. Memory problem is more than simple forgetting.
Leads to significant distress or impairment
Symptoms are not caused by a substance or medical condition
Types of dissociative amnesia
Localized: Most common type; loss of all memory of events occurring within a limited period
Selective: Loss of memory for some, but not all, events occurring within a period
Generalized: Loss of memory beginning with an event, but extending back in time; may lose sense of identity; may fail to recognize family and friends
Continuous: Forgetting continues into the future; quite rare in cases of dissociative amnesia
Dissociative Fugue
Extreme version of dissociative amnesia
People not only forget their personal identities and details of their past, but also flee to an entirely different location
May be brief or more severe
For some, fugue is brief—a matter of hours or days—and ends suddenly.
For others, the fugue is more severe: People may travel far from home, take a new name and establish new relationships, and even enter a new line of work; some display new personality characteristics.
The majority of people regain most or all of their memories and never have a recurrence.
DID
Two or more distinct personalities (subpersonalities) develop
Each has unique set of memories, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions
Sudden movement from one subpersonality to another (switching) : triggered by stress
Women diagnosed three times more often than men
At any given time, one of the subpersonalities dominates the person’s functioning.
Usually one of these subpersonalities—called the primary, or host, personality—appears more often than the others.
The transition from one subpersonality to the next (“switching”) is usually sudden and may be dramatic.
Most cases are first diagnosed in late adolescence or early adulthood.
Symptoms generally begin in childhood after episodes of abuse.
Typical onset is before age 5.
Checklist for DID
Person experiences a disruption to his or her identity, as reflected by at least two separate personality states or experiences of possession
Person repeatedly experiences memory gaps regarding daily events, key personal information, or traumatic events, beyond ordinary forgetting
Leads to significant distress or impairment
Symptoms are not caused by a substance or medical condition
DID: Mutually amnesic relationships
Subpersonalities have no awareness of one another.
DID: Mutually cognizant patterns
Each subpersonality is well aware of the rest.
DID: One-way amnesic relationships
Most common pattern; some personalities are aware of others, but the awareness is not mutual. Those who are aware (“co-conscious subpersonalities”) are “quiet observers.”
DID: How do subpersonalities differ?
Subpersonalities may differ in features as basic as age, sex, race, and family history.
It is not uncommon for different subpersonalities to have different abilities, including being able to drive, speak a foreign language, or play an instrument.
Subpersonalities may have physiological differences, such as differences in autonomic nervous system activity, blood pressure levels, and allergies.
Depersonalization-derealization disorder
DSM-5 categorizes this as a dissociative disorder, but not as one characterized by the memory difficulties found in the other dissociative disorders
Central symptom is persistent and recurrent episodes of depersonalization and/or derealization
