IB Psych Option 1: Abnormal Psychology – Flashcards
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Psychopathology
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Literally "Illness in the psyche" - the scientific study of mental disorders - based on observed symptoms of a patient
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Etiology
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The scientific study of causes or origins of a disease or abnormal behavior. Effective treatment for psychological disorders address specific causes.
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Maladaptive
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Person engages in behaviors that make life difficult for him or her rather than being helpful. (unhealthy behavior) - ex: not eating for a weeks
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DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)
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A handbook used by psychiatrists in the US to identify and classify symptoms of psychiatric disorders. - a standardized system for diagnosis based on factors such as the person's clinical and medical conditions, psychosocial stressors and the extent to which a person's mental state interferes with his or her daily life. - doe snot identify causes of disorders - Lack of cultural validity - gender and culturally biased
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ICD (The International Classification of Diseases)
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Used all over the world published by WHO - includes references to etiology - largely based on abnormal experiences and beliefs reported by patients, as well as agreement among a number of professionals as to what criteria should be used.
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Medical Model
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- abnormal behavior explained in terms of psychopathology - people seen as suffering from mental illness, in the same way someone would suffer from a physiological illness - diagnosis based on clinician's observations, patient's self-reports, clinical interviews, and diagnostic manuals
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Evaluation of Medical Model
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Strengths: - advantageous because "being sick" means one is not responsible for their acts ---> access to treatment - Stigma associated with mental illness may be decreased - Many mental disorders can be linked to physical changes in the brain (brain technology continue to help) Weaknesses: - Not a perfect correlation between the mental and biological changes - therefore, some view mental disorders to be "problems of living" (Szasz 1962)
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Affective Symptoms
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Emotional elements such as fear, sadness and anger
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Behavioral Symptoms
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Observational behaviors, such as crying, physical withdrawal form others, and pacing
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Cognitive Symptoms
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Ways of thinking, including pessimism, personalization, and self-image
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Somatic Symptoms
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Physical symptoms, including facial twitching, stomach cramping, and amenorrhea --- that is, the absence of menstruation.
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Overpathologization
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"Over-Diagnosed" - Due to cultural and gender bias, some groups may be over-diagnosed - ex: ADD in boys, eating disorders in girls
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Stigmatize
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People that are diagnosed are given a "label" that becomes their new identity.
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Self-fulfilling Prophecy
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When people are given a label as a specific mental disorder, they may began to act as they think they are expected to. - internalize the role of "mentally ill patient" - lead to an increase in symptoms
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Racial/Ethnic Bias
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Carrying stereotypes or schemas about a specific race or ethnicity that affects the diagnosis process. ex: Seeing Asian people as less socially competent than their American counterpart
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Confirmation Bias
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Clinicians notice information that confirms their expectations/stereotypes and ignore the ones that contradict their expectations. ex: if you come into a psychiatrist's office than you must be mentally ill
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Prestige Effect
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When a previous diagnosis made by someone who is respected in the filed influences the judgments of another clinician.
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Powerlessness and Depersonalization
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This is produced in institutions through a lack of rights, constructive activity, choice, and privacy. - Frequent verbal and physical abuse from attendants
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Culture-Bound Syndromes
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Abnormalities or disorders that are culturally specific. - could be hard for clinicians to recognize and therefore delay or prevent treatment - ex: neurasthenia in China in place of mood and anxiety disorder in the Western cultures
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Reporting Bias
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Different cultural groups have different attitudes to psychological disorders that might influence the reporting of symptoms and diagnosis. (Due to stigmatization - extremely bad in Chinese society)
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Culture Blindness
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The problem with identifying symptoms of a psychological disorder if they are not the norm in the clinician's own culture. - ex: any deviation from while male norm is abnormal - not a valid criteria
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Symptomology
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The identification of the symptoms.
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Prevalence Rate
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The measure of the total number of cases of the disorder in a given population. (at a given time)
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Lifetime Prevalence (LTP)
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The percentage of the population that will experience the disorder at some time in their life.
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Onset Age
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The average age at which the disorder is likely to appear. - Can help determine how likely it is that a person who begins to show specific symptoms at a specific age and be diagnosed reliably.
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Anxiety Disorders
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A form of irrational fear as a central disturbance. ex: PTSD, OCD
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Affective Disorders
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Characterized by dysfunctional moods. ex: MDD, Bipolar
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Major Depressive Disorder
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Can be diagnosed when an individual experiences as least two weeks of either a depressed mood or loss or interest and pleasure. (At least 4 other symptoms must also be present) Affective: - sadness, feelings of worthlessness, excessive guilt - children - irritable Behavioral: - Passivity - Lack of initiative Cognitive: - lack of concentration, hard to think - thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts - faulty attribution style - low self-esteem - irrational hopelessness - frequent negative thoughts Somatic: - significant weight loss/gain - Insomnia, hypersomnia - fatigue, loss of energy nearly everyday - change in appetite - diminished libido
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Catecholamine Hypothesis
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Depression is associated with low levels of norepinephrine (NT).
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Serotonin Hypothesis
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Depression is associated with low levels of serotonin.
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Cortisol Hypothesis
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High levels of stress overtime causes large amounts of cortisol secreted. - It may also be linked to low serotonin and norepinephrine receptors.
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Cognitive Triad (Aaron Beck)
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1. Overgeneralization based on negative events. 2. Non-logical inference about the self. 3. Dichotomous thinking - black and white thinking - selective recall of negative consequences. (sees negative thoughts as a cause of depression not symptom)
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Prospective Study
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a Study in which participants are chosen on a basis of a variable (e.g. negative thinking style) and then followed to see what happens long term. ex: Alloy et al (1999)
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Vulnerability Model of Depression
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Based on a number of factors that could increase the likelihood of depression. - lacking employment away form home - absence of social support - having several young children at home - loss of mother at an early age - history of childhood abuse
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Diathesis Stress Model
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Theory: Depression may be the result of a hereditary disposition with precipitating events in the environment.
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Evaluation of Beck's Triad Theory
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Strengths: - Resulted in an instrument to measure depression (BDI, Beck Depression Inventory) - Generated a lot of research - Effective in describing characteristics of MDD - Some empirical support for causation Weaknesses: - Hard to confirm that it is the negative thinking that causes depression - something that you cannot see
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PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
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Anxiety Disorder - Lasts for more than 30 days - As a result of a stressor Intrusion Symptoms: - nightmares, startle reactions, hyper vigilance, insomnia, flashbacks Avoidance Symptoms (unable to control surroundings): - social withdrawal, low interest, poor concentration, avoidance of past memories, stimuli arouse distressing memories
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ABCS for PTSD
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Affective: - persistent negative emotional state (fear, guilt, shame, anger) - emotional numbing - Anhedonia (inability to feel positive emotions) Behavioral: - passivity, exaggerated startle response, reckless behavior - irritable behavior and angry outbursts Cognitive: - intrusive memories, - negative beliefs about self, others, world - invalid conclusions and logic - inability to concentrate - dissociate amnesia Somatic: - lower back pain - headaches - stomach pain - regression in children (losing already acquired developmental skills - walk)
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Anhedonia
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An inability to feel positive emotions.
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Flooding
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Over-exposure to stressful events. - This is a therapy that is under the assumption that stress reactions will fade out after the consistent exposure. The power of the triggers diminishes.
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Habituation
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The power of cues that trigger traumatic memories gradually diminishes due to flooding.
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Body-Image Distortion Hypothesis
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is this for eating disorders
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Cognitive Disinhibition
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is this for eating disorders
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Bio-psychosocial approach (etiology)
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There is a biological, cognitive and social factor in PTSD. - Genetic predisposition, higher noradrenaline, lower NPY (neuropeptide Y) - Negative schemas, locus of control (mixed results) - Social Identity Theory, Vulnerability model (protective and risks factors) Approaching treatment through three approaches at same time. Ex: drugs, individual therapy and group therapy
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Biomedical Approach
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Disorder associated with changes in brain chemistry however people respond differently to drugs. Drugs that help enhance or inhibit certain hormones or neurotransmitters to help ease symptoms. Effectiveness: - relieve symptoms for the short term but side effects - relapse rates are high since root of problem is not cured - increase tolerance lead to a bigger prescription - withdrawal symptoms Major Depressive Disorder: - SSRIs (Prozac) enhances serotonin activity by blocking reuptakes - MAO inhibitors (Parnate) enhances serotonin activity by breaking down enzyme that breaks down serotonin PTSD: - Valium binds and enhances GABA (nT) - Bright light therapy greater improvement for sleep disturbances than placebos
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Individual Therapy
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Therapist working one-on-one with client, much more personal and effective. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - cognitive restructuring - correct faulty thinking (schemas) Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) - identify action also - Identify emotion - identify faulty thinking that leads to that emotion - correct faulty thinking - therefore emotion is corrected
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Group Therapy
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A group of clients meet with one or more than more therapists - less expensive, more efficient, provides support group - However, judgments, confidentiality, group dynamics may be a concern
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Latrogenic Effects
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Undesirable outcomes due to therapeutic intervention.
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Community Psychologist
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Go beyond the traditional focus regarding to a person's distress on an individual level to include an analysis of psychological health at the community level.
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Ecological Model (Miller 2000)
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Emphasizes the relationships between people and the setting they live in. - The identification of natural occurring resources within the community that can promote healing and healthy adaptation - The enhancement of coping strategies that enable an individual and community to respond effectively to stressful events - Community interventions that actively involve community members in the process of solving their own problems
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Eclectic Approach to Therapy
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An approach that incorporates principles or techniques from various systems or theories. Ex: Drug first then CBT
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Spontaneous Remission
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Even if individual did not have therapy, he or she would've improved, simply through a natural process of recovery, just like a common cold.
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Outcome Studies
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Focusing on the results---did patient show improvement or not.
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SSRIs ---> Prozac
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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. - increases the level of available serotonin in the synaptic gap by preventing its re-uptake
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Cognitive Restructuring
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The false negative beliefs or faulty thoughts are challenged so that the client has the opportunity to correct them. - identify negative beliefs - note connection between negative thought and disorder - examine the validity of each negative thought - replace invalid conclusions with realistic interpretations of each situation
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Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
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The way individuals process information - here and now. Uses Cognitive recontructuring. Look above for more.
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Faulty Thinking
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Patterns that lead to dysfunctional behavior. 1. Arbitrary Inference 2. Selective Abstraction 3. Overgeneralization 4. Exaggeration 5. Personalization 6. Dichotomous Thinking
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Arbitrary Inference
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Drawing wrong conclusions based on invalid connections. ex: It rains when you organize an outdoor event, therefore world is against you.
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Selective Abstraction
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Drawing conclusions by focusing on a single part of a whole ex: Focusing on a single bad grade when you have an A in the class
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Overgeneralization
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Applying a single incident to all similar incidents. Ex: Assuming a failure in a relationship with one friend means that all your friendships are fake and you have no true friends.
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Exaggeration
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Overestimating the significance of negative events. Ex: Shortness of breath while exercising is seen as a sign of major illness and imminent death.
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Personalization
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Assuming that others' behavior is done with the intention of hurting or humiliating you. Ex: She doesn't say hi so she must hates you but she actually doesn't do it to anyone.
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Dichotomous Thinking
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An all-or-nothing approach to viewing the world. Black and white thinking. Ex: You either love me or you hate me.
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Traumatology
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A line of intervention based on knowledge from how people react in traumatizing situations. Ex: Crisis intervention to prevent the onset of PTSD
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Testimonial Psychotherapy
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Based on theories that consider collective traumatization to be at least as significant as individual traumatization. Ex: target individual and collective way of life
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Back Translation
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English to client language. Ask questions in client language. Translate to English. Translate again to client language to check facts and details. Increases credibility but extremely inefficient.
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Family Systems Model
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The basic assumption that an individuals dysfunctional behavior is part of a larger dysfunction within the family. Goal: to promote a restructuring of the family system along more healthy lines. Widely used in family therapy.
