Master the classification, symptoms and treatment of psychological disorders with 20 exam-focused flashcards. Covers the four D's of abnormality, the diathesis-stress model, DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for anxiety, mood, trauma, psychotic, eating and personal...
Master the classification, symptoms and treatment of psychological disorders with 20 exam-focused flashcards. Covers the four D's of abnormality, the diathesis-stress model, DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for anxiety, mood, trauma, psychotic, eating and personality disorders, and the major biological and cognitive-behavioural therapies. Ideal for A-Level Psychology, AP Psychology and undergraduate clinical modules.
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The scientific study of atypical patterns of thought, emotion and behaviour that cause significant personal distress or impair a person's ability to function.
Deviance (statistically or socially unusual), Distress (personal suffering), Dysfunction (interferes with daily life) and Danger (risk to self or others).
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision — the American Psychiatric Association's standard classification system for mental disorders.
The World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases. It covers all medical conditions worldwide, whereas the DSM covers only mental disorders and is used mainly in the USA.
Disorders develop when an inherited or biological predisposition (the diathesis) is triggered by environmental stress. Neither factor alone is usually sufficient.
Excessive, uncontrollable worry about multiple areas of life occurring more days than not for at least six months, with symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue and muscle tension.
Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks — sudden surges of intense fear peaking within minutes — plus persistent worry about further attacks or a change in behaviour to avoid them.
A marked, disproportionate fear of a particular object or situation, actively avoided, persisting for at least six months and causing significant distress or impairment.
Obsessions are intrusive, unwanted recurrent thoughts or urges causing anxiety. Compulsions are repetitive behaviours or mental acts performed to neutralise that anxiety.
Exposure to trauma, followed by intrusion (flashbacks, nightmares), avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and hyperarousal — lasting more than one month.
Five or more symptoms present for at least two weeks, one of which must be depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure (anhedonia), representing a change from previous functioning.
Bipolar I requires at least one full manic episode. Bipolar II involves at least one hypomanic episode plus at least one major depressive episode, with no full mania.
Additions to normal experience: hallucinations, delusions, disorganised speech and grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour.
Reductions in normal function: avolition (lack of motivation), alogia (poverty of speech), anhedonia, blunted affect and asociality.
Positive symptoms are linked to excess dopamine activity in the mesolimbic pathway, while negative symptoms are linked to reduced dopamine in the prefrontal cortex.
Anorexia: restriction of intake leading to significantly low body weight. Bulimia: recurrent binge eating followed by compensatory behaviours, usually at normal or above-normal weight.
A pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image and affect, together with marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood.
It identifies and challenges maladaptive automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions, then replaces them with balanced alternatives while using behavioural experiments to test new beliefs.
A behavioural therapy for phobias combining relaxation training with gradual exposure up a hierarchy of feared stimuli, based on counter-conditioning.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors block the reuptake of serotonin at the synapse, increasing its availability. Examples: fluoxetine and sertraline.
