History of Abnormal Psychology Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Supernatural Tradition

• Mental disorders were attributed to supernatural phenomena like demonic possession or divine punishment.
• Historical treatments involved exorcisms and spiritual ceremonies to cleanse the afflicted spirit.
• Paracelsus (1493-1541) suggested that the movements of the moon and stars profoundly affect psychological functioning.
• The word "lunatic" is derived from the Latin word "luna" for moon.

Biological Tradition

• Hippocrates, an ancient Greek, emphasized biological causes of disorders.
• Mental disorders stem from biological causes, such as brain dysfunction or genetics.
• Treatments have evolved from crude methods like trephination to sophisticated pharmacological interventions.
• In the 1930s, electric shock and brain surgery were often used as physical interventions
• Normal brain function is related to four bodily fluids or humors which include: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.
• Diseases result from too much or too little of one of the humors.
• Too much black bile was thought to cause melancholia (depression)

Psychological Tradition

• Focuses on psychological factors like trauma, stress, and maladaptive cognitions as the primary causes of mental disorders.
• Therapeutic approaches include psychoanalysis, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and other contemporary methods.
• Moral therapy involves treating institutionalized patients as normally as possible.
• Asylums appeared in the 16th century to provide refuge for the confinement and care of people with mental illnesses.
• The rise of moral therapy made institutions habitable and even therapeutic.

Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud's structure of the mind includes the id, ego, and superego.
• The id is illogical, emotional, and irrational and driven by the pleasure principle.
• The ego mediates intrapsychic conflict and is logical and rational and driven by the reality principle.
• The superego drives moral principles and one's conscience.

Defense Mechanisms

• Denial involves refusing to acknowledge objective reality or subjective experience apparent to others.
• Projection involves falsely attributing unacceptable feelings, impulses, or thoughts to another individual or object.
• Rationalization involves concealing true motivations with incorrect explanations.
• Reaction formation involves substituting behaviors, thoughts, or feelings that are the direct opposite of unacceptable ones.
• Repression involves blocking disturbing wishes, thoughts, or experiences from conscious awareness.
• Sublimation involves directing maladaptive feelings or impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

Asylums

• Initially created to house and isolate individuals with mental disorders under harsh conditions.
• Reforms transformed asylums into more humane institutions focused on therapeutic care and psychiatric research.

Mental Hygiene Movement

• A mid-20th-century effort to improve the care of the mentally disordered by informing the public of their mistreatment.

Chapter 2: Biological Basis - Genetics and Psychological Disorders

• Mental health issues are caused by many genes working together, each having a small effect.
• Genetics can determine how likely someone is to develop certain disorders.
• The diathesis-stress model posits that genetic vulnerability and life stressors combine to reach a threshold for developing a psychological disorder.

Neurotransmitters and Their Impact

• Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that help transmit signals between nerve cells and play key roles in how we think, feel, and behave.
• Serotonin influences mood and low levels are linked to depression.
• Dopamine affects how we feel pressure, is important in motivation and imbalances relate to addiction and schizophrenia
• Norepinephrine is involved in stress and alertness and imbalances contribute to anxiety an depression.
• GABA helps to calm the brain, and too little may lead to anxiety.
• Glutamate mainly stimulates the brain and too much activity can be harmful and is connected to schizophrenia.
• Genes can affect how much of a neurotransmitter is made and how it works in the brain and influence the risk for mental health and response to medications.

Psychological Basis

• Learned behaviors, cognitive processes, and emotional responses play a crucial role in the development and treatment of these conditions.
• Learned helplessness occurs when someone feels no control over their environment.
• Learned optimism means maintaining a positive attitude despite significant stress and challenges.
• Social learning theory suggests people can learn by watching others.
• Prepared learning are genetic influences on what we learn and are more likely to fear things that have historically been dangerous.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Maladaptive thoughts lead to maladaptive behaviors and feelings.
• By changing dysfunctional thinking, CBT aims to influence better emotional responses and behavior.

Integrated Models

• Psychological disorders arise from an intricate interplay of different psychological factors.
• A person's learned behaviors can influence their cognitive processes, which in turn can affect their emotional responses.

Social Basis

• The role of social contexts, including family dynamics, cultural norms, and interpersonal relationships, in shaping mental health is investigated.
• The importance of social support and societal attitudes in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders are highlighted.

Gene-Environment Correlation Model

• This explains how genes and the environment interact to influence an individual's likelihood of developing mental disorders.
• Genetic predispositions can lead individuals to engage in environments that mitigate or exacerbate their risk of developing mental disorders.

Chapter 3: Diagnostic Manuals

• The DSM-5-TR provides detailed descriptions of mental disorders, including diagnostic criteria, associated features, prevalence, risk factors, and comorbidity.
• It introduces both categorical and dimensional assessments for mental health disorders.
• It is a primary tool for mental health professionals to diagnose and classify mental disorders accurately.
• The ICD is used worldwide in 40 languages.
• The ICD is designed to be culturally neutral for international public health and epidemiological statistics.

Clinical Interviews

• Clinical interviews start with a narrow question and collect information to narrow it down.
• Semi-structured clinical interviews utilize questions or prompts that are generally followed but can be modified.
• Semi-structured clinical interviews may include scoring criteria to help with the diagnosis.
• Questions are carefully phrased and tested.

The Mental Status Exam

• Observation of a person's behavior
• Observations are organized to give information to determine if a psychological disorder is present.
• Appearance and behavior includes the clinician noting any physical behaviors, dress, appearance, posture, and facial expression.
• Thought process includes when clinicians listen to a patient talk, they are getting a good idea of that person's thought processes like if they talk slowly or quickly.
• Mood and affect assess if the patient appears down in dumps or continually elated.
• Intellectual functioning includes gross or rough estimate of intelligence.
• Sensorium assesses an individual's general awareness of their surroundings
• Cognitive assessment involves thinking, reasoning, problem-solving, working memory, and processing speed.
• Academic assessment typically gets an overall measure of reading, writing, and math and follow-ups areas of weakness.
• Diagnostic interviews can be structured or semi-structured and are often directly based on DSM diagnostic criteria.
• Questionnaires can assess behaviors, emotions, social skills, and can be self-report or other report by parents and teachers and assess personality.

Projections

• Originally inkblot tests.
• Intended to reveal unconscious processes, but are now more often used to start conversations

Specialized Testing

• Neuropsychological testing can screen for brain dysfunction or even specific brain damage.
• Neuro-imaging includes CAT/CT scan, MRI/fMRI, and PET scans.
• Clinical significance is the degree to which research findings have useful and meaningful applications to real problems.
• Effect size is a statistical measure that shows the amount of difference among the members of a group in a clinical study.
• Family studies is how often a specific trait or disorder appears among family members compared to the general population.

Familial Aggregation

• Shared genetics suggests a genetic influence and is more common in relatives than in the general population
• Twn studies leverage the genetic similarities between identical and fraternal twins to explore the genetic basis of traits
• Identical twins share 100% of their genes wheres fraternal twins share about 50%
• By comparing how often identical twins both exhibit a trait compared to fraternal twins, researchers can estimate the heritability of traits.
• If an adoptee shows similar traits or disorders similar to biological relative, it suggests a genetic contribution.

Correlation Research

• Refers to the relationship between two variables
• One variable might be independent one variable the dependent

Understanding Correlation vs Causation

Emphasizes that correlations do not prove causation and that multiple factors typically influence mental health outcomes. Misunderstanding correlation can lead to harm, i.e. LGBTQ and mental illness stigmatizations

Chapter 5: Underlying Causes of Anxiety

• Anxiety combines biological factors, psychological predispositions, and social exposures.
• Some people inherit a higher likelihood of experiencing anxiety from their families.
• Imbalances in chemicals like GABA and serotonin in the brain can contribute to anxiety.
• Specific brain areas that handle stress responses, like the amygdala and hippocampus, also play a role.
• Learned from a person's raises can influence their susceptibility to anxiety , particularly children who learn eraly that the world is a threat.
• Thinking patterns involve people who tend to perceive normal bodily sensations or everyday situations as dangerous may develop higher anxiety.
• Life stressors such as job loss, divorce, or the death of a loved one can trigger anxiety.
• Lifestyle choices and environmental stressors, like smoking or living in a high-stress environment, can increase anxiety.

Triple Vulnerability Theory

• Biological vulnerability indicates that some people are naturally more prone to anxiety due to their genetic makeup.
• Psychological vulnerability indicates that early life experiences and leaned percptions can lead to a feeling of handling less stress
• Specific psychological vulnerability indicates certain experiences make specific sitiations anxiety-inducing.

Treatment of Anxiety

• Benzodiazepines as medication are effective and fast acting but very addictive
• Anti-depressants (SSRI) are reasonable effective and not addictive, but have various side effects that need to reduce slowly
• CBT focuses on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors.
• ACT focuses on flexible thinking and letting anxious thoughts pass and incorporates mindfulness practices that support non-judgemental awareness of the present moment
• Panic Control Treatment includes inducing panic symptoms and using cognitive therapy is used to support clients in recognizing symptoms are not catastrophic.

Understanding Panic Vs Phobia Vs Agoraphobia

• Panic disorder involves sudden episodes of fear that can include physical symptoms-often arise without a predictable trigger.
• Individuals may develop intense anxiety about the possibility of future attacks which can lead to significant changes
• Agoraphobia is defined by the fear of places and situations where escape might be difficult, or help available if a panic attack occurs.

Specific Phobia:

• Characterized by strong and persistent fear of a specific object or situation that causes distress or impairment in functioning.
• The stressers for specific phobia include traumatic event, vicarious experience, information transmission
• Social anxiety disorder characterized as irrational fear and avoidance of social or performance situations.
• The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the social situation and to the sociocultural context.
• Underlying facotrs of social anxiety include the tendency towards shyness and sensitivity to negative evaluation.

Chapter 6: Subtypes of OCD

• Symmetry/exactness involves obsessions with symmetry or alignment and compulsions with repitition or putting things in a specific order.
• Forbidden thoughts or actions includes fears or urges related to aggression, sexuality, or religious blasphemy and is managed through avoidance
• Cleaning/contamination involves obsessions with germs or contaminants and compulsions with excessive washing or using gloves.
• Hoarding is the fear of discarding items and results in clutter.
• SSRIs like clomipramine show efficacy but often require ongoing use to prevent relapse in order to treat OCD.
• Psychotherapy with ERP, or response prevention is most effective and involves exposure to fears and prevention of responses.
• Psychosurgery is used as a last resort for severe, treatment-resistant cases, with mixed outcomes and potential severe side effects
• OCD focuses on perceived physical defects, and both involve intrusive thoughts in order to differentiate from BBD (body dysmorphic)
• OCD compulsions not necessary related to diet whereas Eating disorders can co-occur differently with food as a focus.

Chapter 7: Understanding C-PTSD and Differentiating From PTSD

• C-PTSD results from extends exposure to traumatic situations were escape is not possible and involves complex effects.
• There are difficulties in froming relationships, emotional regulation, and feelings of worthlessness in patients
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can develop after one experiences event that is characterized by: re-experiencing the event, avoidance, hyperarousal
• DID involves adapting multiple co existing identies which may be entirely or distinct from each other, and there may be a gap in recall of everyday events. It typically co-occurs with other disorders or is better accounted for by borderline or PTSD,
• Depersonalization/ Derealization individuals may feel detach from their bodies and surroundings may feel foggy, may struggle with attention.
• Dissociate amnesia features more than normal forgetfulness or may assume a new identity
• The goal of treatment with trauma, and can involve hypnosis
• Exposure therapy encourages patients to have a therapeutic setting
• EMDR utilized movement to help the brain pre process trauma events
• Narrative therapy supports client ownership over the trauma
• Risk factors include intensity, previous exposure, lack or support or existing conditions

Chapter 8: Context of Grief

• Its normal to feel depressive symptoms to be diagnosed-symptoms must be severs and culture
• Criteria including being severe for 2 weeks.

Differentiating Bipolar Disorders

• There are many specifiers and ways depression can show up for a person.
• Bipolar 1 requires 1 maniac episode
• Bipolar 2 requires Mania.
• B1 has more sere maniac episodes whereas 2 has maniac

Biological Treatments

• ECT is used for severe depression and has risks.
• Transcanial with magentic stemulation is not used.

Chapter 9: Eating disorders overview:

• It can impact health and ability to function
• There's a deep desire to be thin
• A lot of these people are women, and there's an onset in adolescents.
• Developed countries have access to food much higher
• They feel loss of control during binging episodes, as well as shame

Factors for developing ED:

• Seems to run in the family
• Perfectionisms in dealing with stress or emotions are significant risk factors

Social factors

• Media portrays a certain body image
• The first form of communication is visual
• dieting is effective. However, it is culturally encouraged
• cognitive therapy. The most effect treatment, focusing on altering dysfunctional is what is the disorder? and cognitive distortions related to body image. So not true statements that people make about their

Eating treatments

• Drugs can manage bullimia and binge eating disorder
• SSRI can improve moods
• They improve relation and therapy
• EDs include biological, physclogic and social.