Psychology_16

- Anxiety is a component of both disorders, but the reactions in panic disorder are more extreme and may cause reactions in panic disorder are more extreme and may cause people to avoid situations where they have had panic attacks. ← Phobias (7) - Phobias differ from normal fears in their extremity and their potential effect on behavior - People with a phobia experience such persistent and irrational fears that they may be incapacitated by their attempts to avoid a specific object, animal, or situation. ← Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder (8) - Persistent and repetitive thoughts and actions that characterize obsessive-compulsive disorder interfere with everyday living and cause the person distress. - The obsession (the repetitive thought) may, for example, be a concern with dirt, germs, or toxins; the compulsion may, for example, be excessive hand washing, bathing, or some other form of grooming. ← Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (9) - Four or more weeks of haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, and sleep problems are symptoms of PTSD. - These symptoms appear following some traumatic event or events the individual witnessed or experience but could not control. - Some people are more resilient than others. - On average, only about 10 percent of women and 20 percent of men react to trauma by developing PTSD at some point in their lifetime. - For those who survive the trauma, the experience can lead to a period of growth. ← Explaining Anxiety Disorders (10) - Those working from the learning perspective view anxiety disorders as a product of fear conditioning, stimulus generalization, reinforcement of fearful behaviors, and observational learning of others fear. - Those working from the biological perspective consider the role that fears of life-threatening animals, objects, or situations played in natural selections and evolution; the genetic inheritance of a high level of emotional reactivity; and abnormal response in the brain’s fear circuits. ← Dissociation and Multiple Personalities (11) - Dissociative disorders are conditions in which conscious awareness seems to become separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings. - The most famous dissociative disorder is dissociative identity disorder, commonly known as multiple personality disorder. - Critics note that this diagnosis increased dramatically in the late twentieth century, that it is no found in many countries and is very rare in others, and that it may reflect role-playing by people who are very open to therapist’s suggestions. - Some view this disorder as a manifestation of feelings of anxiety, or as a response learned when behaviors are reinforced by reductions in feeling of anxiety. ← Mood Disorders (12) - Mood disorders are characterized by emotional extremes. - A person with major depressive disorder experiences two or more weeks of seriously depressed moods and feelings of worthlessness, take little interest in most activities, and derives little pleasure from them. - These feelings are not cause by drugs or a medical condition. - Although less disabling, dysthymic disorder is marked by two years of chronic low energy and poor self-esteem. - People with bipolar disorder alternate between depression and mania, a hyperactive and wildly optimistic impulsive state. - Major depressive disorder is much more common than is polar disorder. ← Explaining Mood Disorders (13) - An acceptable theory of depression must account for the many behavioral and cognitive changes that accompany depression; its widespread occurrence; women’s greater susceptibility to the disorder; the tendency of depressive episodes to self-terminate; the link between stressful events and the onset of depressions’ and the increasing rates and earlier onset of depression. ← The Biological Perspective (14) - The biological perspective on depression focuses on genetic influences, in part through linkage analysis and association studies. - Researchers working from this perspective also study abnormalities in brain structure and function, including those found in neurotransmitter systems. - Their work has shown that a predisposition to depression does run in some families, that the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin are scarce during depression, that activity in the left frontal lobes is slowed during depressions, and that stress-related damage to the hippocampus increases the risk of depression. - Despair drives some people to suicide and the risk greatest when their energy returns as the depression begins to lift. ← The Social-Cognitive Perspective (15) - The social-cognitive perspective has drawn attention to the power of self-defeating beliefs, and negative explanatory styles that view bad events as stable, global, and internally caused. - Critics note that these characteristics may coincide with depression but not cause it. - The cycle of depression consists of : o Negative stressful event o Interpreted through a pessimistic explanatory style, creating a o Hopeless depressed state, which o Hampers the way the person thinks and acts, fueling more negative stressful events, such as rejection. ← Symptoms of Schizophrenia (16) - Schizophrenia is a group of disorders that typically strike during late adolescence, affect men very slightly more than women, and seem to occur in all cultures. - Symptoms of schizophrenia are disorganized and delusional thinking (which may stem from breakdown of selective attention), distributed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions. - Delusions are false beliefs; hallucinations are sensory experiences without sensory stimulation. ← Subtypes of Schizophrenia (17) - The subtypes of schizophrenia are paranoid (preoccupation with delusions or hallucinations, often persecution or grandiosity), disorganized (disorganized speech or behavior, or flat affect or inappropriate emotions), catatonic (immobility, extreme negativism), undifferentiated (varied symptoms), and residual (withdrawal following hallucinations and delusions). - Chronic schizophrenia emerges gradually, is often associated with negative symptoms, and carries a low chance of recovery. - Acute schizophrenia develops rapidly in a previously well-adjusted person, may be associated with positive symptoms, and carries a greater chance of recovery. ← Brain Abnormalities (18) - People with schizophrenia have increased receptors for the neurotransmitter dopamine, which may intensify the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. - Research is under way on a possible link between negative symptoms and impaired glutamate activity. - Brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia include enlarged, fluid-filled cerebral cavities and corresponding decrease in the cortex. - Brain scans reveal abnormal activity in the frontal lobes, thalamus, and amygdale. - Malfunctions in multiple brain regions and their connections apparently interact to produce the symptoms of schizophrenia. - Research support is mounting for the casual effects of a virus suffered in mid-pregnancy. ← Genetic Factors (19) - The odds of developing schizophrenia are approximately 1 in 100 in the general population; 1 in 10 if a family member has it; and 1 in 2 if an identical twin has the disorder. - Adoption studies show that an adopted child’s chances of developing the disorder are greater if the biological parents have schizophrenia, but not if the adopted parents have it. - But 50 percent of those whose identical twins have schizophrenia do not develop the condition themselves, demonstrating that genetics is not the sole cause of this disorder. ← Psychological Factors (20) - No environmental event can by itself trigger schizophrenia, though some things may trigger the disorder in those genetically predisposed to it. - Research has identified some early warning signs of schizophrenia, including a mother whose schizophrenia was sever and long-lasting; birth complications; separations from parents; short attention span and poor muscle coordination; disruptive or withdrawn behavior; emotional unpredictability; and poor peer relations and solo play. ← Personality Disorders (21) - Personality Disorders are inflexible and enduring patterns of behavior that impair social functioning. - The main component of the first cluster is anxiety; of the second cluster, eccentric behaviors; of the third cluster, dramatic or impulsive behaviors. - Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack of conscience and sometimes, aggressive and ruthless behavior. - Brain scans of some murderers with this disorder have shown reduced activity in the frontal lobes, an area of control for impulsive, aggressive behavior. - There is no gene for antisocial personality disorder, though genetic predisposition may interact with environmental influences to produce it. ← Rates of Psychological Disorders (22) - Research indicates that about 1 in 6 people has, or has had, a psychological disorder, usually by early childhood. - Poverty is a predictor of mental illness. - Conditions and experiences associated with poverty contribute to the development of mental disorders, but the converse is also true. - Some mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, can drive people into poverty.