2. Unit 12 – Abnormal Psychology and Treatment
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders
Bipolar Disorders
Depressive Disorders
Anxiety Disorders

3. Chronic vs. episodic Chronic = long lasting and over time
Episodic = varied lengths of episodes, not consistent

4. Neurodevelopmental ASD Social communication disorder
Specific Learning Disorder
ADHD
Intellectual disability

5. Schizophrenia Spectrum
Disorders based on an error of selective attention
What is selective attention?

6. Delusions and Hallucinations
Delusions – irrational, unjustifiable, usually paranoid belief
Delusions of grandeur – “I am King Louis XIV!!”
Delusions of persecution – “The government is after me!!”
Hallucinations – perception of nonexistent, external stimuli
Can be visual or auditory
MOST are auditory

7. Disorganized Speech Frequent derailment or incoherent speech
Ex: Word salad
“The potato snake ate the sun spotted dinosaur cupholder of unique!”

8. Grossly disorganized or abnormal motor:
Jerky movements, atypical behavior

9. Negative Symptoms Remember negative means TAKING SOMETHING AWAY
Catatonia – flat affect (like no one is home)
All emotion is taken out, person lacks all energy
Positive symptoms – adding a symptom (i.e. hallucinations or delusions)

10. Specifiers of Schizophrenia
Paranoid
preoccupations with delusions and hallucinations.
Catatonic
immobility or excessive purposeless movements.
Disorganized
disorganized speech or behavior, inappropriate emotions. Word Salads: scrambled or nonsensical speech.
Undifferentiated
symptoms, but doesn't fit above models.
Residual
Withdrawal, after hallucinations and delusions have disappeared

11. Causes of Schizophrenia
Psychological - triggering experiences, genes predisposed but some react to traumatic triggers by developing schizophrenia.
They vary.

12. Biochemical Causes
Prenatal: It is also thought to perhaps be triggered or caused by the introduction of a prenatal virus that affects brain development, possibly in the thalamus.
People conceived in winter months are more apt to develop schizophrenia in Northern hemisphere, while the reverse is true in the Southern.
Drug use: Amphetamines and cocaine sometimes intensify symptoms.
Dopamine is also associated with physical movement, disruption of is associated with schizophrenia.
Brain anatomy:they have abnormal brain tissue, low frontal lobe activity.
Thalamus: reactions are smaller than normal and are reactive--that may cause brain overstimulation.

13. Rule of Thirds
1/3 of people who develop schizophrenia only have one episode
1/3 have reoccurring episodes
1/3 are chronic with unremitting symptoms.

14. Genetic Factors
Definite genetic link: the closer you are genetically to someone with Schizophrenia, the more likely you are to get it.
1 in 100 people get it.
1 in 10 of siblings
1 in 2 identical twins, even if raised apart

15. Dopamine Hypothesis
Biochemical: 6 times the normal amount of dopamine receptors that increase brain activity to manic levels.
Thus dopamine blockers reduce symptoms.

16. Bipolar and related disorders (previous manic depressive)
alternates between hopelessness and lethargy of depression and over-excited manic state.
Mania - typically over-talkative; overactive; little or no sleep; highly impulsive, loud, flighty, hard to interrupt sexually less-inhibited. Grandiose optimism and self-esteem. May be very irritable.
High levels of norepinephrine found
Hyper vs. hypo?
After mania, people fall back to either a normal state or into a depressed state

17. Bipolar - Causes
Genetic: tends to run in families, genetic predisposition
Biological: serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine don’t function properly
Environmental: stress, major life event
Genetic expression

18. Bipolar 1 Classic type of bipolar
Individuals experience both manic and depressive episodes at varying lengths

19. Bipolar 2
Involves less severe manic episodes, depressive episodes are the same

20. Differences? Bipolar 1 is more severe than bipolar 2.
They used to be mood disorders, but mania is not based in emotion – it’s based more in a possible delusional state where the person may take on a new identity.
Florida case

21. Depressive Disorders (previously mood disorders)
Disorders related to emotions

22. Major Depressive Disorder
two or more weeks of depressed mood, intense feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness; and diminished interest in things that were once considered pleasurable.
People feel like they are in a deep black hole with no way to get out. The hopeless feeling often prevents them from seeing any reason to try to get out. Very dangerous illness.

23. Persistent Depressive Disorder
Also called dysthymia
chronic low level depression lasting for at least 2 years; the feelings aren't as intense, but they last longer. Difficult to detect because of the lack of intensity but takes a large toll on body and psychology systems.

24. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
Symptoms of menstrual cycles do not improve following menses
PMS is chronic
Examples?

25. Anxiety Disorders
Disorders related to autonomic nervous system abnormalities (possible endocrinology states)
Psychoanalytic
repressed feelings during childhood symbolized by trigger.
Behavioral
learned fear, which has been reinforced, or social learning, imitating others who has fear like parents. May be generalized from other learned experiences-- one dog to all dogs.
Biological
predisposed genetically to be afraid of things that can cause death: snakes, spiders, height, enclosed places, disease.

26. Social Anxiety Disorder
GAD
Persistent symptoms of an excited sympathetic, nervous system: sweating, heart racing, dizziness, shaky accompanied by persistent negative feelings and fear…not triggered by specific events.
Specific Phobia
persistent, irrational fear of a specific object of situation – key feature is the presence of a phobic stimulus
Panic Disorder
unpredictable, minutes long intense anxiety attack, as if you're going to be killed any second, but no specific, real threat is apparent.
Agoraphobia
The individual fears or avoids situations because the thought of escape might be difficult or help may not be available
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social phobia – fear/distress over social situations
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Consistent fear from separation from home or attachment figures
Selective Mutism
Individuals may fail to speak because of fear of negative evaluation