Gen Psych Disorders

Lecture Outline • Psychological Disorders – Anxiety disorders – Mood disorders – Schizophrenia

Anxiety Disorders • Anxiety is considered pathalogical when it interferes with daily functioning. • Anxiety disorders include: – Generalized Anxiety Disorder: • Constant and exaggerated worry. – Panic Disorder: • Intense attachk of anxiety that are not justified by the situation. – Phobia: • An irrationally excessive fear of an object or situation. – Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: • Excessively repetitive thoughts and behaviors.

Phobias • Common phobias include. – Examples include: • Heights, snakes, spiders, being in open or public places (agoraphobia), being with strangers (social phobia), being alone.

• Hypotheses about the origins and objects of phobias: – – – – –

Specific experiences (classical conditioning). Observational learning. Danger in evolutionary history. Absence of safe experiences. Lack of predictability or controllability.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder • An obsession is a persistent thought that cannot be controlled. – “Did I lock the door?”

• A compulsion is an intentional behavior (ritual) that occurs in response to a thought. – Check the door (22 times).

• Obsessive-Compulsive persons experience anxiety if they are unable to complete their ritual.

Treatment of Anxiety Disorders • Behavioral techniques: – Systematic desensitization. – Exposure

• In the treatment of compulsive behavior, it is important to prevent the compulsive avoidance response.

Substance Abuse • Read Module 16.2 about Substance Abuse in the textbook. – There may be one or more questions from this module on the final exam.

Mood Disorders • Mood disorders are characterized by disturbance of emotion and mood state. • Major Depressive Disorder: – – – –

Long-term (at least 2 weeks). Intense sadness, loss of appetite, and difficulty sleeping. Seasonal Affective Disorder. Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar Disorder • Alternating episodes of manic periods and depression. – A manic episode is characterized by a week or more of: • Excessive happiness. • High energy, little sleep, and racing thoughts. • Unrealistically inflated sense of self.

Explanations of Mood Disorders • Genetics: – Heritability studies show that probability of depression is higher when there are close biological relatives with depression. – What is inherited may be a vulnerability to respond to frequent stress with depression.

• Environmental factors: – The probability of depression is also somewhat higher when there are adoptive relatives with depression. – Accumulated stressful events.

Explanations of Mood Disorders (Continued) • Cognitive factors. – Pessimistic explanatory (attributional) style. • Internal, stable, global expectancies for negative events. • External, temporary, specific expectancies for positive events.

• Rumination – Dwelling on the stressful event and the negative feelings, as opposed to thinking objectively about solving the problem or distracting oneself.

Treatment for Mood Disorders • Medication. – For depression: Tricyclics, MAO Inhibitors, atypical antidepressants. – For bipolar disorder: Lithium, anticonvulsants, fish oils.

• Psychotherapy. – Studies suggest that cognitive therapy is most effective.

• Stress reduction methods (exercise, meditation, etc.) • Bright light therapy. • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). – Used in cases resistant to medications and psychotherapy.

Schizophrenia • Disturbances include: Thought Perception Language Emotion Action

Unfounded beliefs and illogical patterns of thought (delusions). Presence of hallucinations. Disorganized speech. Flat or absent affect. Difficulty initiating or persisting in goal-directed behavior.

Prevalence and Onset • About 1 in 100 Americans is afflicted with schizophrenia at some point in his/her life. • Schizophrenia is most frequently diagnosed in young adults.

Biological Basis of Schizophrenia • The heritability of schizophrenia. – Risk of schizophrenia is 48% in monozygotic twins, 17% in dizygotic twins, and 9% in siblings.

• Brain abnormalities. – The fluid-filled ventricles enlarge to take up the volume resulting from thinning of the cortex. – Smaller neurons, fewer synapses, less myelin. • Seen consistently in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

• Problems in prenatal development are associated with schizophrenia. – Poor prenatal care, difficult pregnancy and labor, and/or mother’s infection and fever.

• The dopamine hypothesis. – Schizophrenia reflects elevated activity of dopamine synapses in the frontal cortex. – Stress: Cortisol increases the level of dopamine in the brain. • Patients who receive frequent criticism are more likely to have relapses

Treatment of Schizophrenia • Antipsychotic drugs: – Relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia. – Block the production of dopamine at synapses. – Can lead to unpleasant side effects such as tremors and involuntary movements after prolonged use.

• Atypical antipsychotic drugs: – Relieve symptoms without producing tremors but can suppress the immune system.

• Psychotherapy: – Can reduce the amount of stress in the patient’s life and promote better compliance with medications schedules.