Topic One Psychological Disorders 03 27 2015 How has our understanding of mental illness changed over time What three distinct models of mental illness did I discuss in class Demonic Model Middle Ages o Hearing voices talking to oneself and behaving oddly to the actions of evil spirits infesting the body o Treatments included exorcisms Medical Model Renaissance o More people came to perceive mental illness primarily as a physical disorder requiring medical treatment o European governments began to house these individuals in Asylums Institutions for those with mental illness o Treatments included bloodletting the draining of excessive blood and frightening patients out of their diseases by tossing them into a snake pit hence the term snake pit as a synonym for an insane asylum o Moral treatment Insisted that those with mental illness be treated with dignity kindness and respect o Introduction of Chlorpromazine offered an effective treatment for some symptoms of schizophrenia and similar disorders marked by a loss of contact with reality o Deinstitutionalization Allowed the release of hospitalized psychiatric patients into the community and contributed to the closure of many mental hospitals Some patients returned to a regular life but tens of thousands of others spilled into cities and rural areas without adequate follow up care Modern Era What is the definition of psychological disorders What 3 things should be present for a psychological disorder diagnosis Statistical Rarity Subjective Distress Most mental disorders produce emotional pain Many mental disorders are uncommon in the population for individuals afflicted with them But not all psychological disorders generate distress Impairment function in everyday life conditions that society dislikes Mental disorders are nothing more than Most mental disorders interfere with people s ability to o Psychiatric diagnoses have often mirrored the views of the Societal Disapproval times Biological Dysfunction breakdowns or failures of physiological systems Many mental disorders probably result from o Ex Schizophrenia is often marked by an under activity in the brain s frontal lobe Three things that should be present o Distress o Dysfunction o Abnormality What is the DSM V and how is it used to diagnose mental illness Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The official system for classifying individuals with mental disorders In its 5th edition There are 18 different classes of disorders in the DSM 5 Diagnostic Criteria and Decision Rules o Provides psychologists and psychiatrists with a list of diagnostic criteria for each condition and a set of decision rules for deciding how many of these criteria need to be met Thinking Organic o Warns diagnostician about physical or organic that is medically induced conditions that can simulate certain psychological disorders Other Features o Prevalence Refers to the percentage of people in the population with a disorder o Adopts a bio psychosocial approach which acknowledges the interplay of biological psychological and social influences Reminds diagnosticians to attend carefully to patients ongoing life stressors past and present medical conditions and over all level of functioning when evaluating their psychological status o Acknowledges that we live in a diverse world filled with people from different ethnic socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds Define the five anxiety disorders that we talked about in class What is the common theme between all of them Hint The definition of anxiety Anxiety A feeling of worry nervousness or unease Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD Perpetual Worry o People with GAD spend an average of 60 of each day worrying compared with 18 for the rest of the general population o They tend to think anxious thoughts feel irritable and on edge have trouble sleeping and experience considerable bodily tension and fatigue o Worry too much about the small things in life o 1 3 of those with GAD develop it following a major stressful o Most are female o GAD may be the core anxiety disorder out of which all others event develop Panic Disorder Terror That Comes Out of the Blue o Greek God named Pan o Panic Attacks Occur when nervous feelings gather momentum and escalate into intense bouts of fear even terror o Panic Disorder When people experience panic attacks that are repeated and unexpected and when they either experience persistent concerns about panicking or change their behavior to avoid future attacks o Panic attacks typically peak within ten minutes Phobias Irrational Fears o Phobia An intense fear of an object or a situation that s greatly out of proportion to its actual threat For a fear to be diagnosed as a phobia it must restrict our life create considerable distress or do both o The most common of all anxiety disorders o 1 in 9 people have a phobia o Agoraphobia Refers to a fear of being in a place or situation in which escape is difficult or embarrassing or in which help is unavailable in the event of a panic attack Typically emerges in mid teens Outgrowth of panic disorder o Social Anxiety Disorder People who experience an intense fear of negative evaluation in social situations Posttraumatic Stress Disorder The Enduring Effects of Experiencing Horror o PTSD When people experience or witness a traumatic event such as front line combat an earthquake or sexual assault o Flashbacks are among the hallmarks of PTSD Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders Trapped in One s Thoughts and Behaviors o People with OCD typically suffer from Obsession Persistent ideas thoughts or urges that are unwanted and inappropriate and cause marked distress o Most OCD patients experience symptoms linked to Compulsions Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that they undertake to reduce or prevent distress or to relieve shame and guilt o Common rituals Checking door locks windows electronic controls Performing tasks in a set way Repeatedly arranging and rearranging objects Washing and cleaning repeatedly and unnecessarily Counting the number of dots on a wall or steps What is the biggest predictor of whether someone will develop PTSD When people experience or witness a traumatic event such as front line combat an earthquake or sexual assault What is a somatoform disorder What are the two types of somatoform disorders we discussed in class Physical symptoms psychological in origin can become so intense and over the top that they interfere with daily living that are either medically
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