Mock exam

Bipolar Disorder

• Individuals with bipolar disorder struggle with regulating goal-directed behavior.
• Increased risk for bipolar disorder associated with emotional reactivity and impulsivity.
• Psychoeducation aims to inform individuals and families about mental health conditions and coping strategies.
• Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy focuses on managing daily routines and social relationships for bipolar disorder.

Schizophrenia

• Positive symptoms include hallucinations and delusions which extend beyond typical life experiences.
• Affective flattening refers to a reduced range and intensity of emotional expression in schizophrenia.
• Paranoid delusions involve irrational beliefs of being persecuted or harmed.
• Disorganized thinking is characterized by incoherent connections between ideas.
• The acute phase of schizophrenia is marked by the presence of hallucinations and delusions.

Seasonal Affective Disorder & Psychotherapy

• Seasonal affective disorder is a specific type of depression occurring primarily in fall and winter.
• Interpersonal psychotherapy works on improving interpersonal relationships to alleviate psychological distress.

Rapid Cycling & Hypomanic Episodes

• Rapid cycling bipolar disorder is defined by frequent shifts between manic/hypomanic and depressive episodes.
• Hypomanic episodes involve mildly elevated mood and increased energy without significant impairment.

Therapy Techniques

• Pleasant activity scheduling aims to engage individuals in enjoyable activities to combat depression.
• Substance misuse in bipolar disorder often refers to using alcohol or drugs to cope with mood swings.
• Self-monitoring involves observing and recording one's emotional state for self-awareness.

Disorders & Symptoms

• Cyclothymic disorder is characterized by chronic mood fluctuations between hypomania and mild depression.
• Illness anxiety disorder involves excessive worry about having a serious undiagnosed condition.
• Tardive dyskinesia is primarily caused by long-term use of neuroleptic drugs.
• Conversion disorder results in physical and sensory problems without identifiable medical causes.

Psychological Constructs

• Distress refers to emotional or psychological discomfort impacting well-being.
• Dysfunction indicates impaired functioning in thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.

Addiction & Related Theories

• The disease model of addiction proposes addiction as a chronic medical condition due to brain changes.
• Impaired control theories suggest addiction results from difficulties in behavior regulation.

Therapy Types

• Motivational enhancement therapy aims to increase individual motivation for behavioral change.
• Sensate focus exercises are used to enhance intimacy and connection through physical touch in therapy.

Disorders of Interest

• Gender dysphoria involves distress from the incongruence between experienced and assigned gender.
• Exhibitionistic disorder is characterized by sexual arousal from exposing genitals to unsuspecting individuals.
• Bulimia nervosa includes binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain.

General Concepts

• Clinically significant symptoms impact daily functioning meaningfully and are crucial for diagnosing psychological disorders.
• Systematic desensitization treats phobias and anxiety disorders through gradual exposure techniques.### Hyperactive Sexual Desire Disorder
• Characterized by excessive preoccupation with sexual thoughts and behaviors.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Involves persistent and excessive worry about various issues.

Exposure Therapy

• A therapeutic technique that gradually exposes individuals to fear-inducing stimuli.
• Includes methods such as flooding, which provides immediate and intense exposure to feared stimuli.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• Defined by the presence of obsessions (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive behaviors).
• Treatment often involves cognitive restructuring to challenge negative thought patterns and exposure and response prevention (ERP).

Self-Efficacy

• Refers to the belief in one's ability to successfully perform tasks, influencing task approach.

Major Depressive Disorder

• Common symptom includes sleep disturbances.

Avoidance Theory of Worry

• Proposes that worry serves to avoid distressing emotions.

Panic Disorder

• Characterized by recurring and unexpected panic attacks involving extreme fear or discomfort.

Interoceptive Exposure

• Involves exposure to internal bodily sensations related to anxiety.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

• Involves obsessive focus on perceived flaws in appearance, often alongside disordered eating behaviors.

Protective Factors for Mental Health

• Social support serves as a protective factor against developing mental disorders.

Neuroticism

• A personality trait linked to a tendency to experience negative emotions.
• Associated with anxiety and negative emotional states.

Token Economy

• A behavioral intervention that uses rewards (tokens) for desired behaviors.

Modeling in Learning

• Learning occurs through observation and imitation of others' behavior.

Comorbidity

• Refers to experiencing multiple mental disorders simultaneously.

Treatment of Eating Disorders

• Cognitive behavior therapy is currently the most evidence-based treatment for anorexia nervosa and effective for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

Substance Use and Gambling Disorders

• Tolerance refers to needing increasing amounts of a substance to achieve the same effect.
• Gambling disorder criteria include a need to gamble with increasing amounts and preoccupation with gambling.

Diathesis-Stress Model

• Explains how mental disorders can develop from the interaction between biological predispositions and environmental stressors.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Effective for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Clients are assisted in identifying and challenging negative beliefs.

PTSD Treatment

• Prolonged exposure is recognized as having the best long-term outcomes in PTSD treatment.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy components for PTSD include psychoeducation, imaginal exposure, and cognitive restructuring.

Postnatal Depression

• A less common but serious disorder occurring after childbirth, recognized as requiring specific attention and care.### Depression and Episodes
• After a first episode of depression, most individuals are likely to experience another depressive episode (relapse).
• Treatments for depression include cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, medication, and bright light therapy; all have been validated by current research.

Links Between Depression and Physical Illness

• The association between depression and medical illness is not explained by better immune functioning in depressed individuals.
• Contributing factors include ongoing stressors related to medical conditions, physical/hormonal changes, and unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Cognitive Theory of Depression

• Aaron Beck's cognitive theory posits that dysfunctional negative cognitions lead to depressive symptoms, and these symptoms can also perpetuate negative thought patterns.

Bipolar Disorder Risk Factors

• Established risk factors for bipolar disorder encompass biological/genetic factors, temperament traits, and stressful life events.

Bipolar Disorder Patterns

• On average, individuals with bipolar I or II disorder experience more time being depressed than manic or hypomanic.

Treatment Approaches for Bipolar Disorder

• Offering psychoeducation alongside medication in bipolar disorder treatment is likely to reduce the rate of relapse.

Challenges in Schizophrenia Diagnosis

• The diagnosis of schizophrenia faces scrutiny due to overlapping symptoms with other mental disorders, the occurrence of psychotic phenomena in the general population, and the potential for stigma against individuals.

Psychosis and Symptoms

• Negative symptoms of psychosis include a lack of drive, emotional expression, and spontaneous speech, rather than hallucinations or delusions.

Prevalence of Psychotic Experiences

• Large-scale surveys indicate that psychotic experiences are normally distributed across the general population, contradicting notions of rarity.

Treatment of Acute Psychosis

• During acute psychotic episodes, medication is primarily effective in eliminating positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions.

Long-term Benefits of CBT in Psychosis

• For individuals with long-term psychosis and persistent positive symptoms, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) combined with medication is likely to reduce symptoms during treatment and provide lasting benefits post-treatment.

Anorexia Nervosa Demographics

• Anorexia nervosa predominantly affects young women, with limited prevalence in other demographic groups.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Bipolar Disorder

• Primary focus is on symptom monitoring and behavioral adjustments to manage bipolar disorder effectively.
• A key method within CBT interventions is the practice of symptom monitoring to track mood fluctuations.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

• Efficacy for managing anxiety in bipolar disorder was demonstrated by the randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted by Perich et al. in 2013.

Family-Focused Therapy (FFT)

• FFT enhances family communication and problem-solving skills, which helps to reduce relapse rates in patients with bipolar disorder.
• The RCT by Miklowitz et al. (2003) found that FFT resulted in fewer relapses compared to brief psychoeducation.

Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT)

• IPSRT was found to be more effective than standard management during the acute phase of treatment for bipolar disorder.

Treatment Approaches

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be combined with minimal psychiatric care to reduce episodes of bipolar disorder.

Historical Context of CBT in Bipolar Disorder

• The first randomized controlled trial on CBT for bipolar disorder was conducted in 1984, marking a significant milestone in treatment research for this condition.