Psychiatry and Psychology Overview

Psychiatry Lecture Outline

• Psychiatry is the study of human behavior and psychology.
• Topics covered include: introduction to human behavior and psychology, stress and psychosomatic disorder, anxiety disorders, emotion and emotional disorders, psychosis and psychotic disorders, and child development and behavioral disorders in children.

Behavioral Science Definition

• Behavioral science includes any course concerned with human action.
• Related disciplines include psychology, psychiatry, sociology, and anthropology.

Psychiatry vs. Psychology

• Psychology studies normal behavior, exploring cognition, emotion, and how people behave in situations.
• Psychiatry focuses on diagnosing and treating abnormal behavior.
• Some argue psychiatry is a misnomer.

Psychological Perspectives

• Behavioral perspective: Environmental factors influence behavior.
• Cognitive perspective: Mental functions like attention and memory are key.
• Biological perspective: Genetics, neurotransmitters, and hormones influence behavior.
• Humanistic perspective: Inner feelings and self-image impact behavior.
• Psychodynamic perspective: Childhood experiences influence future behavior.

Stress and Psychosomatic Disorder

• Stress is an unpleasant situation or event that can affect every individual, with varying yielding points.
• Stress sources include changes, losses, and interpersonal conflicts.
• Stress can have genetic factors; chronic stress can affect gene structure, making individuals more susceptible to illness.
• Personal factors, prior experience, and lack of control over stress can impact response.
• Circumstances, such as social support, also affect reaction to stressful situations.
• General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) describes the body's physiological response to stress, including alarm, resistance, and exhaustion stages.

Psychological Response to Stress

• Feeling anxious and threatened during alarm stage.
• Coping strategies are essential. Failure equates to potential illness.
• Direct coping (confrontation, compromise, withdrawal) and indirect coping (defensive mechanisms, drug abuse), are both employed by those under stress
• Failure to cope with stress results in psychiatric disorders like adjustment disorder, acute stress reaction, PTSD, and general psychiatric disorders.

Psychosomatic Disorders

• Psychosomatic disorders are physical illnesses worsened or caused by psychological factors.
• Psychological factors impact a person's body's regulatory functions, resulting in physical symptoms.
• Management includes education on body-mind relationships, identifying stressors, and employing coping strategies (relaxation exercises, anger management, or cognitive behavioral therapy).
• Using psychological coping tools such as controlling stress sources, external demands, problem focused strategies or thinking about problems from different perspectives are all useful tools to manage stress and mood regulation.
• In addition, medication is an important aspect of management.

Anxiety Disorders

• Anxiety disorders involve a diffuse, unpleasant feeling of fear and apprehension, often accompanied by somatic symptoms.
• Anxiety can be adaptive, functioning as a response to threats.
• Common anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Psychological symptoms include worry, irritability, and hypersensitivity.
• Somatic symptoms, such as dry mouth, sweating, increased heart rate, and tremors may be presented, and/or cognitive symptoms like difficulty with concentration.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

• OCD is characterized by unwanted thoughts, images, impulses, or fears leading to repetitive behaviors or mental acts.
• Medical causes of anxiety include thyroid issues, tumors, and neurological problems.

Emotion and Emotional Disorders

• Emotion is a complex reaction involving experience, thoughts, behavior, and physiology.
• Emotions are subjective experiences (e.g., arousal), Cognitive processes (thoughts related to the situation), Physiological adjustments (physical responses like heart rate), and Behavioral responses (changes in behavior).
• The Subjective experience can be highly subjective, meaning it varies greatly among individuals.
• The cognitive process may result in a specific response in one person; meanwhile someone else might perceive the same experience uniquely.
• The Physiological and behavioral responses can be either normal or abnormal in the case of emotional disorders.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

• MDD presents with depressed mood and sadness, often more severe in the morning.

• Associated symptoms include loss of interest, worthlessness, suicidal thoughts, and fatigue.

• Physical (somatic) symptoms can include loss of appetite, weight loss, sleep disturbances, and pain.

• Behavioral symptoms may include social withdrawal or self-neglect.

• A diagnosis is clinical, with consideration for mood, physical and behavior aspects.

Bipolar Disorder

• Bipolar disorder is characterized by periods of manic episodes alternating with depressive symptoms.
• Manic episodes involve elevated mood and hyperactivity.
• Potential treatments for manic and depressive episodes include medication and psychotherapy.

Psychotic Disorders

• Psychosis is a condition involving a distortion of reality and significant changes in thinking, emotions, and behavior.
• Forms of psychotic disorders include schizophrenia, acute psychotic episodes, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder.
• Diagnosis is clinical, with assessment of duration of symptoms, and severity of symptoms, with potential for organicity exclusion
• Treatments include anti-psychotic medications; therapy and/or hospitalization may be necessary.

Child Development and Behavioral Disorders

• Normal childhood development includes distinct milestones in language acquisition, adaptive behaviors, and physical development.
• Statistical prevalence rates show a range of mental health disorders in children.
• Disorders like ADHD and autism spectrum disorder are important to consider in children.
• The disorders display symptoms of behavioral or emotional distress, requiring clinical assessment by specialists for a proper diagnosis