abpsych

Abnormal Psychology Study Notes

• Mental Disorder: A psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning, and a response that is not typical or culturally expected. Clinical significance is crucial.

• 4Ds of Abnormal Behavior:

  • Deviance: Behavior that deviates from societal norms.
  • Dysfunction: Impairment in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning.
  • Distress: Experience of emotional, or physical discomfort.
  • Dangerous: Behavior that could lead to harm to self or others.

• Mental Health Professions:

  • Counseling Psychologists: Focus on adjustment issues and vocational concerns in healthy individuals.
  • Clinical Psychologists: Treat severe psychological disorders and develop expertise in diagnosis and therapy.
  • Psychiatric Social Workers: Provide social support and address life stressors related to disorders, often in institutional settings.
  • Psychiatric Nurses: Treat individuals with psychological disorders, often part of a treatment team.
  • Marriage and Family Therapists: Focus on couple and family issues, often under the supervision of a licensed professional.
  • Mental Health Counselors: Offer clinical services to improve emotional, behavioral, and other issues.
  • Psychiatrists: Medical doctors specializing in psychiatry, diagnosing and treating disorders, taking a biological approach.

• Historical Conceptions of Abnormal Behavior:

  • Supernatural Tradition: Abnormal behavior was often attributed to supernatural causes such as demons, spirits, or divine intervention.
  • Biological Tradition: Greek physicians like Hippocrates and Galen emphasized the role of the brain in mental disorders. Humoral theory (linked psychological to physical imbalances) was an important aspect in that era.
  • Psychological Tradition: Emphasis on emotional factors and social interactions in understanding abnormal behavior (moral therapy).

• Contemporary Perspectives:

  • Biological: Emphasizes the role of brain structure and function, genes, neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, etc.).
  • Psychological: Focuses on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, cognitive distortions, learning experiences (classical and operant conditioning).
  • Social: Accounts for social interactions, cultural influences on distress, and cultural syndromes (e.g., ataques de nervios).
  • Integrative Approach: Understanding disorders as resulting from an interaction of multiple factors (biological, psychological, social).

• Contemporary Methods:

  • Clinical Assessment: Systematic evaluation of psychological, biological, and social factors in an individual with possible disorder.
  • Diagnosis: Determination if the presenting issues meet diagnostic criteria (e.g., DSM-5).
  • Neuroimaging: Techniques like CAT scans, MRI, PET scans, and fMRI provide insights into brain structure and function.
  • Classification: Using categories to organize and understand disorders (e.g., DSM-5).
  • Cross-sectional Designs: Comparing different groups of people at various ages simultaneously.
  • Longitudinal Designs: Observing a single group of people over time.
  • Epidemiology: Study of the occurrence, distribution, and consequences of disorders in populations.
  • Placebo Effect: A phenomenon where symptoms improve due to a belief or expectation of improvement.

• Prevention Approaches:

  • Health promotion: Building skills to prevent future problems.
  • Universal prevention strategies: Target entire populations.
  • Selective prevention: Focus on specific groups at risk.
  • Indicated prevention: Targeting individuals showing signs of developing disorders.

• Culture-Bound Syndromes: Patterns of distress that are recognized in specific cultural groups. Examples include amok, ataques de nervios, and hikikomori.

• Classifying Disorders: Categorical vs. dimensional (degree).

  • DSM-5: Major diagnostic manual used by clinicians in the US, has been revised multiple times.
  • ICD-10: International Classification of Diseases, used globally in the assessment and classification of diseases.
  • Nosology: Study of disease classifications.
  • Nomenclature: The naming of disorders.

• Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders:

  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Symptoms following exposure to a traumatic event.
  • Acute Stress Disorder: Similar to PTSD, but symptoms occur within the first month after trauma.
  • Adjustment Disorders: Experience of persistent anxiety or depression after a stressful event (not necessarily traumatic).
  • Reactive Attachment Disorder: In children, difficulty forming attachments to caregivers, often due to early abuse or neglect.
  • Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder: Lack of inhibition socializing with others even strangers.

• Anxiety Disorders:

  • Panic Disorder: Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks. Can accompany agoraphobia (fear of open spaces, crowds).
  • Specific Phobias: Intense fear concerning specific objects, animals places, etc.
  • Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD): Fear of social situations.
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Excessive, long-lasting anxiety.
  • Separation Anxiety Disorder - Fear in relation to separation of significant others.

• Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders:

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Intrusive, unwanted thoughts and urges (obsessions) followed by compulsions (ritualistic acts).
  • Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): Preoccupation with perceived flaws in physical appearance.
  • Trichotillomania (Hair-Pulling Disorder): An irresistible urge to pull out one's own hair.
  • Excoriation (Skin-Picking Disorder): Repetitive and compulsive picking of the skin.

• Dissociative Disorders:

  • Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder: Feelings of detachment from oneself or surroundings.
  • Dissociative Amnesia: Inability to remember important personal information.
  • Dissociative Fugue: Sudden travel or wandering away from home with accompanying memory loss.
  • Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Presence of two or more distinct identities (alters).

• Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders:

  • Somatic Symptom Disorder: Physical symptoms that cause significant distress or impairment, but no obvious medical cause.
  • Illness Anxiety Disorder: Preoccupation with acquiring or developing a serious illness despite medical reassurance.

• Neurocognitive Disorders:

  • Delirium: Acute, temporary confusion and disorientation.
  • Major Neurocognitive Disorder: Significant cognitive decline (e.g., dementia).
  • Mild Neurocognitive Disorder: Modest cognitive decline.
  • Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Alzheimer's Disease: Decline in cognitive function due to Alzheimer's-related brain changes.
  • Vascular Neurocognitive Disorder : Problems with blood flow causing cognitive decline.
  • Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Prion Disease: Rare, fatal disorder with no known treatment.
  • Neurocognitive Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition: broad neurological conditions causing cognitive decline.

• Mood Disorders:

  • Major Depressive Disorder: Chronic episodes of depressed mood, accompanied by various physical or cognitive symptoms, lasting at least two weeks.
  • Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia): Chronic low-level depression.
  • Manic Episode: Period of elevated mood, increased energy, and activity.
  • Hypomanic Episode: Less severe version of a manic episode.
  • Bipolar I Disorder: Major depressive episodes alternating with full manic episodes.
  • Bipolar II Disorder: Major depressive episodes alternating with hypomanic episodes.
  • Cyclothymic Disorder: Chronic mood swings between hypomania and mild depression.

• Eating Disorders:

  • Anorexia Nervosa: Excessive dieting, fear of gaining weight, and distorted body image.
  • Bulimia Nervosa: Binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors (vomiting, laxatives).
  • Binge Eating Disorder (BED): Frequent binge eating without compensatory behaviors.

• Sleep-Wake Disorders:

  • Insomnia Disorder: Difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep.
  • Hypersomnolence Disorder: Excessive daytime sleepiness.
  • Narcolepsy: Sleep attacks, cataplexy (sudden muscle weakness).
  • Breathing-Related Sleep Disorders: Sleep apnea.

• Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Characterized by difficulties with inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Neurodevelopmental disorder displaying impairments in social communication and interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

• Intellectual Disability (Intellectual Developmental Disorder): Significant limitations in intellectual abilities and adaptive functioning.

• Disorders related to aging- Some are mentioned within the other categories.

• Other Related Disorders: include, for example, other impulse-control disorders, and psychotic disorders, as well as other disorders mentioned in the text.

• Sexually Related Disorders

• The note on the disorders related to sex are presented with a particular emphasis on how cultural factors affects the development and experience of such disorders.

• These are briefly presented, as Paraphilic Disorders, Gender Dysphoria, and Disorders of Sex Development (DSD).