Disorders

Question 1

What is a disorder?

Answer 1

Mental/psych disorder characterised by:
- Persistent
- Cognitive/emotional distress
- Leading to significant impairment in daily function
- Due to underlying psychobiological dysfunction and not only environmental factors
- That is not primarily the result of social deviance/ societal conflict.

Question 2

What is the medical model of disorders?

Answer 2

• mental disorders are due to physical/biological causes
• have clear and unidentifiable symptoms and
• can be cured like any other physical disease that affects the body

Question 3

What is the biopsychosocial model?

Answer 3

• psychological disorders are caused by interactions between biological, psychological and social factors
• Must be treated by addressing all three

Question 4

What is the DSM-5-TR?

Answer 4

a classification system for diagnosing recognized disorders, indicating how they can be distinguished from other similar problems and describing their typical symptoms.

Question 5

What are the central features of the DSM-5?

Answer 5

1. developed by researchers in psych.
2. a-theoretical: categorising, not explaining
3. impairment in everyday function
4. medical, environ., deviancy exclusion
5. criteria and decision rules

Question 6

Why is the DSM-5 updated every 8-12 years?

Answer 6

• to identify new disorders (hoarding)
• to update existing disorders (autism)
• to remove previous disorders (homosexual.)

Question 7

What are the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD?

Answer 7

• Persistent deficits in social com and social interactions across contexts, not accounted for by developmental delays
• restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviours
• symptoms present in early childhood
• symptoms limit and impair everyday functioning

Question 8

What are criticisms of the DSM-5?

Answer 8

• comorbidity
• categorical disorders: treats most disorders as categorical, when they’re variations in severity
• not focusing on causes: focus only on symptoms cause underlying conditions to be diagnosed as same disorder
• cultural biases: “impairment in everyday function” varies btw cultures

Question 9

What is comorbidity?

Answer 9

co-occurence of 2 or more diagnoses within the same individual

Question 10

What is anxiety?

Answer 10

• state of apprehension and tension in which a person anticipates upcoming danger, misfortune
• diff from fear/stress

Question 11

What is an anxiety disorders?

Answer 11

• disorders in which excessive, irrational, automatic, and impairing anxiety is the primary manifesting symptom
• strong genetic component, correlated with high neuroticism

Question 12

What is category prevalence?

Answer 12

most commonly diagnosed clinical disorder

Question 13

What are phobic disorders?

Answer 13

marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, and/or situations

Question 14

What is Fear conditioning theory?

Answer 14

that phobias are caused by associating a particular stimulus with a negative event through trauma

Question 15

What was the Little albert experiment?

Answer 15

• exemplifies fear conditioning theory
• 6-month-old infant not previously afraid of white rats was conditioned by pairing a loud noise every time he touched the rat; his fear generalized to other white, furry things

Question 16

What is preparedness theory?

Answer 16

we are evolutionarily programmed to be afraid of certain things even with minimal experience

Question 17

What is the Garcia effect?

Answer 17

when a rat mildly poisoned once after drinking sugar water they will upon recovering never again drink sugar water again (even if they were actually poisoned by something else)

Question 18

What is social anxiety disorder?

Answer 18

• excessive anxiety around being judged by others, often to the point that the person avoids all social situation
• Individuals with social anxiety crave social contact, but are worried about humiliation and judgement
• Onset is most often in childhood, with moderate correlations with temperament and neuroticism

Question 19

What is general anxiety disorder?

Answer 19

• anxiety disorder characterized by chronic and excessive worry accompanied by
• fatigue,
• concentration problems,
• irritability,
• muscle tension,
• sleep disturbance for more than 6 months.

Question 20

How heritable is GAD?

Answer 20

• moderately heritable
• environmental effects are other main predictor

Question 21

What are schizophenia spectrum and psychotic disorders?

Answer 21

category in which delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and motor movements, and absence of typical psychological functions are the main features

Question 22

What are positive and negative symptoms?

Answer 22

pos: presence of abnormal processes
neg: absence of typical processes

Question 23

What is the category prevalence for schizophenia spectrum and psychotic disorders?

Answer 23

very rare: <1% lifetime prevalence

Question 24

What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 24

• Hallucinations: false perceptions
• delusions: false beliefs
• disorganised speech: disrupted verbal com
• disorganised behaviour: abnormal motor mvmt.,catatonia

Question 25

What is catatonia?

Answer 25

lack of environmental response

Question 26

What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 26

- flat effect: lack of emotions/ emotions appropriate for situation - social withdrawal: absence of social desire - lack of motivation: no desire to achieve goals - attention and working memory problems: no focus, no short term memory

Question 27

What are the 2 theorised causes of schizophrenia?

Answer 27

- brain structure differences - dopamine hypothesis

Question 28

What brain differences cause schizophrenia?

Answer 28

- Reduced grey matter: indicator of neurons in various brain regions - Reduced white matter: indicator of efficient connections between different brain regions - Enlarged ventricles: hollow regions of the brain with fluid, expand

Question 29

What is the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 29

- schizophrenia is caused by an overabundance of the neurotransmitter dopamine throughout the brain. - doesn't explain neg symptoms

Question 30

What is a personality disorder?

Answer 30

disorders characterized by enduring patterns of thinking and behaving that - deviates markedly from the norms and expectations of the individual’s culture, - are pervasive and inflexible, - have onset in adolescence or early adulthood, and - lead to distress or impairment

Question 31

Name personality disorders?

Answer 31

- schizoid personality, antisocial personality, borderline personality, dependent personality, etc - organised into 3 clusters of similar symptoms

Question 32

What are the 3 clusters of personality disorders?

Answer 32

A (odd/eccentric): social withdrawal, awkwardness and strange beliefs/manners of speaking/dressing B (dramatic): problems in impulse control and emotional regulation, including lacking empathy towards others, unstable moods, or attention seeking C (anxious/inhibited): feelings of anxiety and discomfort, in social situations, oversensitivity to negative comments, perfectionism, lack of self-confidence, etc.

Question 33

What is schizoid personality disorder?

Answer 33

- cluster A disorder - detachment from social relationships and restricted range of expression in social situations that is by choice; usually indifferent to opinion to others , lack friends, show flat affect - More common in families with history of schizophrenia - diff from early onset schizophrenia and ASD

Question 34

What is antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 34

- cluster B disorder - pervasive disregard and violation of rights of other since adolescence - Highly impulsive behaviors, aggression and irritability - Tendency to deceive others - Lack of remorse --> More common with history of child abuse, family history of disorder and early exposure to violent environment

Question 35

What is Borderline personality disorder?

Answer 35

- cluster B disorder - pervasive pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, self-image, and high impulsivity - fear of abandonment, identity disturbance, recurrent suicidal behavior, anger management issues - often overactive amygdala

Question 36

What is dependent personality disorder?

Answer 36

- cluster C disorder - pervasive pattern of needing to be taken care by others, separation anxiety, and difficulty making decisions without excessive amount of advice and support from others - separation anxiety in childhood

Question 37

What are neurodevelopmental disorders?

Answer 37

- category of disorders which onset in early childhood with significant impairment are the defining feature - varies from rare- common

Question 38

What is autism spectrum disorder?

Answer 38

- pervasive and sustained deficits in social com and interaction - deficits in non-verbal com. - difficulties in having relationships - restricted/repetitive patterns of behavior

Question 39

What are the causes of ASD?

Answer 39

- heritability of ASD is high - environmental risks: advanced parental age, premature birth, teratogen exposure

Question 40

What is ADHD?

Answer 40

- persistent pattern of inattention and hyperactivity lasting at least 6 months and present prior to age 12 - can be predominantly of one type, or combined - symptoms must occur in multiple settings

Question 41

What are the causes of ADHD?

Answer 41

- heritability generally high - poor temperament in infancy and childhood - low birth weight - teratogen exposure

Question 42

What is the Diathesis stress model?

Answer 42

- person may be predisposed to a psychological disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress - most disorders have both internal (diathesis) and external causes (stress)

Question 43

What is a panic disorder?

Answer 43

- occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror - panic attack symptoms mimic vari. medical disorders - twice as prevalent among women - 30-40% genetic influence

Question 44

What is agoraphobia?

Answer 44

specific phobia involving a fear of public places; fear that something terrible will happen

Question 45

What were the sodium lactate experiments?

Answer 45

- chemical that produces rapid shallow breathing and heart palpitations - Those with panic disorders were found to be acutely sensitive to it: within few minutes 60-90% experienced a panic attack - those without disorder rarely responded to substance with panic attack

Question 46

What were the causes of the differential responses to sodium lactate in the experiment?

Answer 46

→ people who experience panic attacks may be hypersensitive to physiological signs of anxiety, which they interpret as having disastrous consequences for their well-being. → research showing that people who are high in anxiety sensitivity have an elevated risk for experiencing panic attacks