Ch 12 Abnormal Psychology – Flashcards

def: patterns of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are deviant, distressful, and dysfunctional ex: schizophrenia

depression and schizophrenia

The World Health Organization says million people suffer from mental or behavioral disorders. These disorders account for 15.4 percent of the years of life lost due to death or disability.

deviant (different from the norm), distressful (negative emotions), dysfunctional (interfere in someone's life in some way). Dysfunctional is the big one.

different from the norm. standards of deviant behavior vary from context and culture (mass killing may be viewed as heroic). Also vary in time (homosexuality was classified as an illness)

def: a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. ex: nacho's brother. when told, "Sweep up the leaves, put them in the garbage bags, and move the bags to the sidewalk," a child may only sweep up the leaves before beginning another activity 4 percent of children display at least one of the symptoms. It often coexists with a learning disorder with defiant and temper-prone behavior. It is heritable. It is treatable with non-addictive medications. Extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity can derail social, academic, and vocational achievements, and these symptoms can be treated with medication.

dysfunction

def: 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. ex. Gregory Bateson's double bind theory of schizophrenia focuses on environmental rather than medical causes

all behavior arises from the interaction of nature (genetic and physiological factors) and nurture (past and present experiences). Mentally ill people are presumed to have a sickness, or additionally, difficulty in the person's environment, in the person's current interpretations of events, or in the person's bad habits or poor social skills. Biological influences: evolution, individual genes, brain structure and chemistry Psychological influences: stress, trauma, learned helplessness, mood-related perceptions and memories Social-cultural influences: roles, expectations, definitions of normality and disorder

def: a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders. it defines a diagnostic process and 16 clinical syndromes. Clinicians ask objective questions and behaviors. Axis I: Is a clinical syndrom present? AxisII: Is a personality disorder or mental retardation present? Axis III: Is a general medical condition, such as diabetes, hypertension, or arthritis, also present? Axis IV: Are psychosocial or environmental problems, such as school or housing issues also present? Axis V: What is the global assessment of this person's functioning diagnostic classification aims not only to describe a disorder but also to predict, its future course, imply appropriate treatment, and stimulate research into its causes.

A diagnostic manual of human strengths. An expression of the positive psychology movement.

Labels create preconceptions that guide our perceptions and our interpretations. They bias perceptions and can change reality.

def: psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety, or maladaptive (dysfunctional) behaviors that reduce anxiety. ex. generalized anxiety disorder It harms quality of life.

def: anxiety disorder when a person is unexplainably and continually tense and uneasy. ex: constant worrying about family members health even though they are not sick symptoms: worry uncontrollably, often jittered, agitated, and sleep-deprived. Concentration is difficult, as attention switches from worry to worry, and their tension and apprehension may leak out through furrowed brows, twitching eyelids, trembling, perspiration, or fidgeting. two thirds are women. anxiety is free-flowing (Freud), cannot determine why. may accompany depression and cause physical problems like high blood pressure. anxiety goes away when you're older.

def: anxiety disorder marked by experiences sudden episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pains, choking, or other frightening sensations. ex: Michael was driving home from work one day and was caught in traffic. He suddenly noticed that his heart was beginning to race. He then felt short of breath, and tightness in his chest. When he began to sweat, he became concerned and drove to the nearest emergency room where they could find nothing physically wrong with him. Michael had just experienced his first panic attack. Over the next few weeks, the attacks became worse, and he started to avoid driving altogether. symptoms: Heart palpitations, shortness of breath, choking sensations, trembling, or dizziness typically accompany the panic, which may be misperceived as a heart attack or other serious physical ailment. For the 1 person in 75 with this disorder, anxiety suddenly escalates into a terrifying panic attack—a minutes-long episode of intense fear that something horrible is about to happen, but no idea why. doubled risk for smokers. panic attacks in public make people worry to go outdoors

def: a person feels irrationally and intensely afraid of a specific object, activity, or situation. ex. agoraphobia - Fear of places and situations that might cause panic, helplessness, or embarrassment irrational because there should be no reason to be afraid of it. specific phobias: animals, heights, close spaces, etc. ex. a person who has a phobia of thunderstorms will hide away from all windows and feel anxious when a weather forecast predicts one.

shyness taken to an extreme. An intense fear of being scrutinized by others, avoid potentially embarrassing social situations, such as speaking up, eating out, or going to parties—or will sweat, tremble, or have diarrhea when doing so. also called agoraphobia

def: anxiety disorder characterized by excessive repetitive thoughts (obsessions) that lead to repetitive behaviors (compulsions) ex: howie mendel crosses the line between normality and disorder if it persistently interferes with everyday living and cause the person distress. more common among teens and young adults than older people.

def: a person has lingering memories, nightmares, and other symptoms for weeks after a severely threatening and uncontrollable event. ex: some vietnam war veterans like Tim O'Brien A sensitive limbic system seems to increase vulnerability, by flooding the body with stress hormones again and again as images of the traumatic experience erupt into consciousness Genes may also play a role. Some combat-exposed men have identical twins who did not experience combat. But these non-exposed co-twins tend to share their brother's risk for cognitive difficulties, such as unfocused attention. Such findings suggest that some PTSD symptoms may actually be genetically predisposed It can be over-diagnosed, due to the broad definition of trauma. Revisiting the memories has been proven ineffective men are more likely to experience a PTSD when experienced a traumatic event than women. 1/5 for men and 1/10 for women who do experience a traumatic event.

def: positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises. ex: such as facing cancer, often leads people later to report an increased appreciation for life, more meaningful relationships, increased personal strength, changed priorities, and a richer spiritual life.

When bad events happen unpredictably and uncontrollably, anxiety often develops. Assault victims feel anxious when going back to the scene of the crime. The link between conditioned fear and general anxiety helps explain why anxious people are hyper-attentive to possible threats, and how panic-prone people come to associate anxiety with certain cues. phobia and fear is conditioned with a traumatic event. Two specific learning processes can contribute to such anxiety: stimulus generalization and reinforcement. Avoiding or escaping the feared situation reduces anxiety, thus reinforcing the phobic behavior. Feeling anxious or fearing a panic attack, a person may go inside and be reinforced by feeling calmer. Compulsive behaviors operate similarly. If washing your hands relieves your feelings of anxiety, you may wash your hands again when those feelings return.

occurs, for example, when a person attacked by a fierce dog later develops a fear of all dogs.

helps maintain our phobias and compulsions after they arise.

we can learn fear through observational learning by observing other people's fears. For example, parents transfer their fear to their kids.

biologically predisposed to be afraid of darkness, snakes, spiders, etc. We have the same fears as our ancestors.

genes matter. some anxieties are predisposed. Identical twins share the same phobias even when raised separately. One research team has identified 17 genes that appear to be expressed with typical anxiety disorder symptoms. Another team found genes associated specifically with OCD Genes influence disorders by regulating neurotransmitters. Some studies point to an anxiety gene that affects brain levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that influences sleep and mood. Other studies implicate genes that regulate the neurotransmitter glutamate. With too much glutamate, the brain's alarm centers become overactive.

Generalized anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, and even obsessions and compulsions are manifested biologically as an over-arousal of brain areas involved in impulse control and habitual behaviors. ex. Brain scans of people with OCD reveal elevated activity in specific brain areas during behaviors such as compulsive hand washing, checking, ordering, or hoarding anterior cingulate cortex - brain region that monitors our actions and checks for errors, seems especially likely to be hyperactive in those with OCD Fear-learning experiences that traumatize the brain can also create fear circuits within the amygdala. Some antidepressant drugs dampen this fear-circuit activity and its associated obsessive-compulsive behavior.

genetic predisposition in some disorder and depending on the environment manifests or not.

def: psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause ex. conversion disorder and hypochondriasis bodily symptom without a physical cause. One person may have a variety of complaints—vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, difficulty in swallowing. Another may experience severe and prolonged pain. Culture has a big effect on people's physical complaints and how they explain them. Patients with somatoform disorder are sent to a physician.

def: very rare somatoform disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found ex. A patient with a conversion disorder might lose sensation in a way that makes no neurological sense. Yet the physical symptoms would be real; sticking pins in the affected area would produce no response. anxiety presumably is converted into a physical symptom. the person may be indifferent to the problem. symptoms: unexplained paralysis, blindness, or inability to swallow

def: a somatoform disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease. ex: "omg I have back pains... i must have cancer!" it is relatively common. people interpret normal sensations (a stomach cramp today, a headache tomorrow) as symptoms of a dreaded disease. Sympathy or temporary relief from everyday demands may reinforce such complaints. Physicians cannot convince the patient that it is not a disease. They keep going to different physicians and fail to confront the disorder's psychological root.

def: disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts and feelings. ex. One Vietnam veteran who was haunted by his comrades' deaths, and who had left his World Trade Center office shortly before the 9/11 attack, lost memory of his personal identity. the person's conscious awareness dissociates from painful experiences. most people experience some form of detachment from oneself, which is important to prevent a person from being overwhelmed by emotion

def: a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder. ex: edward norton in fight club two distinct identities alternatively control the person's behavior. Each personality has different mannerisms and voice. typically, the original personality denies any awareness of the other. they are usually not violent, though there have been cases when a person with DID has a good and bad identity.

DID increased dramatically in the late twentieth century, that it is rarely found outside North America, and that it may reflect role-playing by people who are vulnerable to therapists' suggestions. Others view this disorder as a manifestation of feelings of anxiety, or as a response learned when behaviors are reinforced by reductions in feelings of anxiety.

def: psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes that is dysfunctional ex: major depressive disorder

leading cause of disability worldwide. more women have reported depression than men. anxiety is the reaction to the threat of future loss, depression is the reaction to past and current loss. some major causes: lost love one, ruptured marriage, lost job depression is like a psychic hibernation - It slows us down, defuses aggression, and restrains risk taking. To grind temporarily to a halt and ruminate, as depressed people do, is to reassess one's life when feeling threatened, and to redirect energy in more promising ways

def: a mood disorder in which at least five signs of depression (including lethargy, feelings of worthlessness, or loss of interest in family, friends, and activities) last two or more weeks and are not caused by drugs or a medical condition. ex: robin williams

def: a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state if depression is living in slow motion, mania is fast forward In milder forms, mania's energy and free-flowing thinking does fuel creativity.

def: a mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. formerly called manic-depressive disorder ex: Diana Goodman in Next to Normal two-thirds of the cases are adolescent boys. are typically over talkative, overactive, elated (though easily irritated when crossed); have little need for sleep, and show fewer sexual inhibitions. Speech is loud, flighty, and hard to interrupt. They find advice irritating, yet they need protection from their own poor judgment, which may lead to reckless spending or unsafe sex.

produces positive internal motivations. For example, a patient might feel guilty about being unable to perform some task. If he has a medical condition justifying his inability, he might not feel so bad.

can also be a component of any disease, but is an external motivator. If a patient's disease allows him/her to miss work, avoid military duty, obtain financial compensation, obtain drugs, or avoid a jail sentence, these would be examples of secondary gain. attention you get being sick or having a disorder

The left frontal lobe, which is active during positive emotions, is likely to be inactive during depressed states. Other studies show that the hippocampus, the memory-processing center linked with the brain's emotional circuitry, is vulnerable to stress-related damage. The biological perspective on depression focuses on genetic predispositions and on abnormalities in brain structures and functions (decrease in norepinephrine and serotonin). Drugs that relieve depression tend to increase norepinephrine or serotonin supplies by blocking either their reuptake (as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil do with serotonin) or their chemical breakdown. Repetitive physical exercise, such as jogging, reduces depression as it increases serotonin. Boosting serotonin may promote recovery from depression by stimulating hippocampus neuron growth.

The social-cognitive perspective examines the influence of cyclic self-defeating beliefs, learned helplessness, negative attributions, and stressful experiences. many behavioral and cognitive changes accompany depression. depression is widespread. women are twice as vulnerable to depression. most depressive episodes self-terminate. Stressful events related to work, marriage, and close relationships often precede depression. With each new generation, depression is striking earlier (now often in the late teens) and affecting more people.

1. stressful experiences 2. negative explanatory style 3. depressed mood 4. cognitive and behavioral changes

The biopsychosocial approach considers influences interacting on many levels. Increased rates of depression among young Westerners may be due to the rise of individualism and the decline of commitment to religion and family, but this is a correlational finding, so the cause-effect relationship is not yet clear.

def: a group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions ex: disorganized thinking, disturbed perceptions, inappropriate emotions and actions. a person with schizophrenia may wear aluminum foil in the belief that it will stop one's thoughts from being broadcast and protect against malicious waves entering the brain. literally means a split mind. a break from reality. A split from reality that shows itself in disorganized thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions.most like get schizophrenia in early twenties. 1/100 is schizophrenic. If it is slow-developing, recovery is doubtful.

def: false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders ex: a person with dementia may have a delusion in which she believes someone else is living in her house when she actually lives alone. hallucinations are false sensory inputs, delusions are false beliefs. like a tossed salad. could come from a breakdown in selective attention - responding to everything all at once. cannot focus on one thing. may have resulted from a breakdown of selective attention.

hallucinations (sensory experiences without sensory stimulation). most often auditory.

can either be completely inappropriate or emotionalist (dont really respond to anything). motor behavior can be inappropriate. they sometimes lapse into an emotionless state of flat affect.

strikes adolescents maturing into adulthood. those who were not breastfed are more vulnerable.

immobility (or excessive, purposeless, movement), extreme negativism and/or parrotlike repeating of another's speech or movements

preoccupation with delusions or hallucinations, often with themes of persecution or grandiosity

can still have delusions or hallucinations but no themed. most common

many and varied symptoms

withdrawal after hallucinations and delusions have disappeared

easier to treat with medication. may experience hallucinations, talk in disorganized and deluded ways, and exhibit inappropriate laughter, tears, or rage. it is the presence of inappropriate behaviors

harder to treat with medication. have toneless voices, expressionless faces, or mute and rigid bodies. absence of appropriate behaviors

dopamine overactivity. parkinsons if you dont have enough dopamine. impaired glutamate activity is a source of schizophrenia low brain activity in frontal lobes. When participants heard a voice or saw something, their brain became vigorously active in several core regions, including the thalamus. people with paranoia found increased activity in the amygdala, a fear-processing center. enlarged, fluid-filled areas and a corresponding shrinkage of cerebral tissue in people with schizophrenia. Two known risk factors for schizophrenia are low birth weight and oxygen deprivation during delivery. famine increase risk. maternal virus during pregnancy bigger the holes in your brain the stronger the schizophrenia

1/00 for overall, 1/10 if a sibling or parent has the disorder. 1/2 is an identical twin has it.

way back it was the devil. used to blame it on cold mothers they've decided that there is no environmental causes

A mother whose schizophrenia was severe and long-lasting. Birth complications, often involving oxygen deprivation and low birth weight. Separation from parents Short attention span and poor muscle coordination. Disruptive or withdrawn behavior. Emotional unpredictability. Poor peer relations and solo play

def: psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning ex: antisocial personality disorder impairs people's social functioning without depressions or delusions. disruptive, inflexible, and enduring behavior patterns that impair one's social functioning. broken into three clusters. It is not easily distinguished and prone to revision when the DSM V comes out.

expresses anxiety ex. avoidant personality disorder

fearful sensitivity to rejection

expresses eccentric behaviors ex. schizoid personality disorder

emotionless disengagement, flat personality

dramatic or impulsive disorders ex. histrionic personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder

attention getting ex. drama queens, center of attention

self-focused and self-inflating. Only do things that pertain to me.

def: a personality disorder in which the person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist. ex. Henry Lee Lucas confessed that during his 32 years of crime, he had bludgeoned, suffocated, stabbed, shot, or mutilated some 360 women, men, and children—the first (a woman) at age 13. most researched personality disorder. Formally called a sociopath or psychopath. have a lack of conscience and a lack of remorse. mostly males and it shows before age 15, as he begins to lie, steal, fight, or display unrestrained sexual behavior. about half of these adolescents become antisocial adults. combined with intelligence, a person can become a charming con artist or worse. many criminals do not fit the disorder because they show responsible concern for family and friends. people with this disorder feel and fear little. they express little regret violating others rights.

it is not woven from biological or psychological strands. no single gene codes this disorder. twin studies reveal those with relatives with the disorder are at high risk of antisocial behavior. They appear to have a fearless approach to life. show little autonomic nervous system arousal. Even before committing crime, they react with lower levels of stress hormones. can detect early signs of antisocial behavior at ages 3-6. Boys who become antisocial adolescents tended, as young children, to have been impulsive, uninhibited, unconcerned with social rewards, and low in anxiety. If channeled in more productive directions, such fearlessness can lead to courageous heroism, adventurism, or star-level athleticism. without social responsibility, the person can be a con artist or killer. The genes that put people at risk for antisocial behavior also put people at risk for dependence on alcohol and other drugs, which helps explain why these disorders often appear in combination Genetic influences help wire the brain. Reduced anxiety in the murderers' frontal lobes, the area on the brain that controls impulses. They have less frontal lobe tissue than normal - explains exhibit marked deficits in frontal lobe cognitive functions, such as planning, organization, and inhibition. their brains also respond less to facial displays of others' distress early environment and biologically based fearlessness shows that those is jail also have relatives in jail, almost 50% have. biopsychosocial perspective: tested men with biological risk factors at birth or came from family instability, and compared the results with the results of those who had both (biosocial group). That group had doubled the risk of committing crime. Neither "bad" genes alone nor a "bad" environment alone predisposed later antisocial behavior. Rather, genes predisposed some children to be more sensitive to maltreatment. Within "genetically vulnerable segments of the population," environmental influences matter—for better or for worse. Nature and nurture interact with antisocial behavior.

Mental health surveys in many countries provide varying estimates of the rates of psychological disorders. Poverty is a predictor of mental illness. Conditions and experiences associated with poverty contribute to the development of mental disorders, but some mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, can drive people into poverty. Among Americans who have ever experienced a psychological disorder, the three most common are phobias, alcohol dependency, and mood disorder.

b c e d a b c e a c a d d e a