Week 13 Flashcards
(42 cards)
Who is William Stanley Milligan
Arrested for kidnapping, aggravated robbery, sexual assault (while on parole)
* Entered a plea of insanity – claiming “other personalities” had committed the crime
* 1st time defense was raised due to DID, and 1st to be acquitted
* DID is controversial
multiple personalities
What are the four criteria used to define psychological abnormality?
Deviant – Does not conform to accepted social standards (e.g., hallucinations).
Maladaptive – Interferes with functioning (e.g., agoraphobia).
Personal Discomfort – Behavior causes distress (e.g., unreasonable anxiety).
Inability to Function – Impairs daily life.
(Bonus: Legal Concept – Insanity as a legal definition, e.g., Jeffrey Dahmer.)
medical model
historical conceptions
- During the Renaissance, the medical model emerged
- Mental illness as a physical disorder needing treatment
- People housed in asylums – but institutions were overcrowded and understaffed
- Treatments: bloodletting and snake pits
moral treatment
historical conceptions
Reformers like Phillippe Pinel and
Dorothea Dix pushed for moral
treatment (around 1700- 1800s)
* Treat patients with dignity, kindness
and respective
* Free to roam the halls, interact with
staff & patients
* Still no effective treatments – many
continued to suffer with no relief
What were the key developments in the treatment of psychological disorders during the Modern Era (1950s-1970s)?
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) – First antipsychotic drug (1950s), moderately reduced schizophrenia symptoms.
Deinstitutionalization (1960s-70s) – Policy of releasing patients and closing mental hospitals, with mixed results.
Optional Additions:
Side Effects: Thorazine often caused tardive dyskinesia (involuntary movements).
Consequence of Deinstitutionalization: Many homeless populations included untreated mentally ill individuals.
What were the causes and consequences of deinstitutionalization in the 1960s-70s?
Abysmal asylum conditions – Overcrowding, abuse, neglect.
Psychotropic medications (e.g., Thorazine) made outpatient care seem viable.
Consequences:
Lack of community support – Insufficient housing, therapy, or rehab services.
Transinstitutionalization – Many ended up in hospitals, jails, or prisons instead.
What are culture-bound syndromes, and how do they differ from universal psychological disorders?
Culture-bound syndromes = Disorders specific to certain cultures, shaped by local beliefs/traditions.
Universal disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, alcoholism) appear globally.
Examples:
Koro
Culture: Malaysia/Asia.
Symptoms: Extreme anxiety that genitals are shrinking/retracting.
Amok
Culture: Malaysia/Philippines/Africa.
Symptoms: Brooding → violent outbursts.
Taijin Kyofusho
Japanese form of soocial anxiety
- Fear of interpersonal relations– intense fear that one’s body parts of functions displease, embarrass or are offensive to others
- NA social anxiety more commonly generated by fear of public embarrassment
- Culture influences how people express interpersonal anxiety
- Collectivist culture – more concerned about impact on others
What is the DSM-5
- Official system for classifying individuals with mental disorders according to APA - 5 editions since 1952
- Contains diagnostic criteria and decision rules for each condition
- “think organic” (rule out physical causes of symptoms first)
- E.g., substance use or medical disorders can mimic psychological disorders
(e.g., hypothyroidism) - Biopsychosocial perspective
- E.g., hormonal abnormalities, irrational thoughts, interpersonal interactions – consider life stressors, medical conditions, level of functioning
How has the number of mental disorder diagnoses in the DSM changed over time, and what are the key debates surrounding this expansion?
DSM Growth (1952–2013):
DSM-I (1952): 106 diagnoses → DSM-5 (2013): 400+ diagnoses.
Supporters Argue:
✔ Improves diagnostic precision & clinician communication.
Critics Argue:
✖ Overmedicalization: Driven by insurance needs, risks over-treating healthy people.
✖ Resource Misallocation: May divert services from severe cases to milder ones.
how do Biological perspectives view psychological disorders
View psychological disorders as linked to biological phenomena: genetic factors, chemical imabalnces, brain abnormality
Supported by evidence that most psychological disorders have a genetic component
perspectives on mental illness
psychosocial perspective, Diatthesis-stress model
**Psychosocial perspective
*** Emphasizes importance of learning, stress, faulty and self-defeating thinking patterns, and environmental factors
* Views the cause of psych disorders as a combination of biological and psychosocial factors
**Diathesis-stress model:
*** DIATHESIS + STRESS = DEVELOPMENT OF DISORDER
* Diathesis = Diathesis refers to an innate, underlying vulnerability (either biological or psychological) that increases the risk of developing a disorder.
Anxiety related disorders
Characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maldaptive behaviours tht reduce anxiety
MOSt anxieties are transient and can be adapative BUT can become excessive and innapropriate
GAD
Panic disorder
Specific phobias
OCD
PTSD
Generalized anxiety disorder
Continual feelings of worry, anxiety, physical tension and irritability about many areas
Can develop after major stressor of life change
More prevalent in females and caucasians
Panic disorder
+ panic attacks
Repeated unexpected panic attacks along with persistent concerns about future attacks and a change in personality in an attempt to avoid them.
Panic attacks are brief intense episodes of extreme fear characterized by sweating, diziness, lighteadeedness, racing heartbeat, and feelings of imoending death
Phobia + agoraphobia
Unrealistic fear of a specific situation, activity, or object.
Agoraphobia : Basic fear of being away from safe pêrson or place
OCD + obsessions and compulsions
Obsessions: persistent, unintentional and unwanted thoughts and urges that are highly intrusive, unpleasant, distressed.
* Common obsessions: concerns about germs, doubts, order and symmetry, aggressive or lustful
Compulsions: repetitive and ritualistic acts, carried out to minimize distress that obsessions trigger, or reduce likelihood of feared event
Disorders related to OCD
Hoarding disorder, excorciation disorder, trichotillomaniaa, body dysmorphic disorder
Bipolar disorder
Mood disorder characterized by alternating periods of mania (elevated mood) & depression
* More common in women
* Average age onset is 25 years
Causes:
* Genetic predisposition
* Linked to oxidative stress & accelerated aging
Omega-3 fatty acid may provide protection
Overrepresented in groups with artistic & creative talent
Major depressive disorder
- Lengthy periods of depressed mood, loss of pleasure in normal activities, disturbances in sleep & appetite, difficulty concentrating, hopelessness, possible suicidal ideation
- Must have either depressed mood OR anhedonia
Prevalence:
* Affects more women than men
* Decreases with age
MDD explanations, (cognitive + social)
Cognitive: negative thoughts about self, world and future
* Rumination related to negative outcome (women are more likely to ruminate!)
Social:
* Loneliness, perceived social isolation
Biological: 35% heritable
* Serotonin
* Disturbances in circadian rhythms – spend to much time in REM
Schizophrenia
+ positive and negative symptoms
Characterized by highly disordered thought processes; may be referred to as psychotic
Positive symptoms:
* Hallucinations
* Delusions
* Thought disorder
* Movement disorder (e.g., catatonia)
Negative symptoms (social withdrawal, behavioural deficits, loss or decrease of normal function) – e.g., flat affect
Causes of schizophrenia
Biological
Genetic vulnerability
Genetic marker includes occurence of dysfunction eye movement
Different brain activity
Abnormal brain development in adolesence
Abnormalities in dopamine activtiy
Environmental causes of schizophrenia
Extreme stress
SES
Minority status in a community
Prenatal environment
Cannabis use nearly doubles risk
