Chapter 16 Psychology Mood disorders: disorders characterized by severe or constant disturbances of moods and emotional extremes o Unipolar: moods

s dont change, stay depressed o Bipolar: experience different moods o Disorders are generally episodic, they come and go o Major depressive disorder: a person for no apparent reason experiences 2+ weeks of depressive moods Includes feelings of worthlessness and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities More common in women, 21 vs 12% o Dysthymic disorder: suffering from mild depression every day for 2 years at least o Seasonal affective disorder: sad, depressed during winter, based on amount of sunlight, treated with light therapy o Bipolar: person alternates from depression to overexcited state of mania o Cyclothymia: less extreme states but same concept as bipolar disorder o Causes of mood disorders: Genetic predisposition: neurotransmitter (serotonin and norepinephrine), brain structure Cognitive factors: learned helplessness, self blame, low self esteem, rumination (dwelling about problems) Interpersonal factor: lack of social network, loss of important relationship, stress o Somatoform disorders: confusion of mind and body Involve physical symptoms with no real cause Conversion disorder: suffer from loss of movement in a limb or feeling in a hand or vision loss Hypochondrisis: you believe something is very wrong with your health o Dissociative disorders: conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, feelings Multiple personalities, amnesia, become someone else Very rare, existence is argued o Dissociative identity disorder: exhibits two or more personalities o Dissociative amnesia: loss/blocking out of critical personal information o Dissociative fuge: Like dissociative amnesia but more, comes from word fugitive, reversible amnesia for personal identity, unaware/confused about identity, assume new identity, unplanned traveling o Depersonalization disorder: marked by a feeling of detachment or distance from ones own experience, body, or self, cant distinguish daydreaming from reality, spaced out, paranoid, believes world is unreal/distorted o Interns syndrome: diagnose self

Disorders o Symptoms of disorder: atypical behavior (not normal), disturbing (make uncomfortable), maladaptive (cause harm to self/others), unjustifiable(no reason) Varies with culture/time period o DSM: classifies disorders, currently DSM-IV-TR: classifies disorders/symptoms, doesnt talk about causes or treatment o Neurotic: distressing but can still function and act rationally: depression, ADD, bipolar o Psychotic: lose grasp with reality, distorted perceptions: schizophrenia o Uses system of axes/dementions: - list or disorders, 3- general medical conditions/diseases, 4- whats going on in environment that may impair function, 5global assessment of functioning, indicates mental health, number o Anxiety disorders: state of intense apprehension, fear o Generalized anxiety disorder: person is always tense, anxiety isnt tied to particular object/situation, leads to panic disorder, tense, worried, sensitive, insomnia o Panic disorder: panic attacks, sudden bouts of intense unexplained terror, cant breathe, dread, chest pain, choking, 3 in 6 months cause alarm, lead to phobias o Phobia: excessive fear, recognized as irrational Specific phobia: afraid of one object, simple Social: so afraid of embarrassment you avoid social situations Agoraphobia: fear of public o OCD: obsessions or compulsions, unwanted repetitive thoughts, actions o PTSD: flashbacks/nightmares following events o Causes of anxiety disorder: Behavioral: learn them through conditioning, observational learning, reinforcement Evolution: afraid of things that cause us harm Genes: passed on Physiology (the brain): brain of people with anxiety disorders function different Cognitive: way you think, phobias, how you look at world and social situations