Conceptualizing Abnormality
Treatment Approaches
Disorders I
Disorders II
Application Vignettes
100
The term for sickness, illness, or disorder of the mind, thoughts, behavior, and/or emotions.
What is psychopathology?

What kinds of questions should you consider when determining what behavior is considered "abnormal"?

What is "harmful dysfunction" and how does it relate to psychopathology?
100
These treatment approaches were pioneered by Aaron Beck and combine strategies to change maladaptive thoughts while also addressing clients' problematic behaviors.
What are Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies?

What is Aaron Beck's Cognitive Triad?
100
This disorder involves at least two weeks of low, down mood and/or decreased interest or pleasure in previously enjoyed activities.
What is Major Depressive Disorder?

What's the difference between normal low mood and clinically significant depression?
100
These disorders are broadly characterized by fear, worry, physical symptoms of stress, and, usually, avoidance of feared stimuli?
What are anxiety disorders?

What is, generally, the best treatment approach for anxiety disorders?

What is the paradox of avoidance? How does avoidance actually make anxiety worse?
100
This is your diagnosis of John, based on the following information: John believes that he is a superhero, specifically Superman. He presented at the psychiatric hospital where you work after police prevented him from jumping off the roof of a building near his home in an effort to demonstrate his ability to fly. Additionally, John reports receiving messages from Krypton through a receiver that he believes was implanted in his brain before he was sent to Earth. Since arriving at the hospital, you have witnessed him breaking into bursts of uncontrollable laughter for no apparent reason.
What is schizophrenia?

What would probably be the best treatment to prescribe for John?
200
The reference book used by mental healthcare providers to make psychiatric diagnoses; defines the criteria for mental disorders; psychiatry & clinical psychology's "Bible."
What is the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (a.k.a. the DSM)?

What number is the current edition of the DSM?
200
The goal of these treatment approaches is to help the client become consciously aware of their unconscious motivations, drives, desires, needs, and (most importantly) conflicts.
What are Psychodynamic Therapies?

What is this process of bringing unconscious processes into conscious awareness called?

On whose formative and influential theory are Psychodynamic Therapies based?
200
This kind of abnormal mood is characterized by at least one week of elevated (or possibly irritable) mood and might involve increased activity, decreased need for sleep, pressured speech, and/or increased risk-taking (among other symptoms).
What is mania?

What disorder is defined by manic episodes?
200
This controversial diagnosis is characterized by the presence of multiple personalities within the same individual person.
What is Dissociative Identity Disorder?
200
This is your diagnosis of Seamus, based on the following information: Seamus presented at your clinic complaining of difficulties in public speaking and at parties. Those situations have caused him such significant anxiety that he usually avoids them, including dropping classes that require giving presentations or failing because he refused to speak in front of the class. You note that Seamus seems to be a bit shy and has some slightly awkward interpersonal habits, including avoiding your gaze and mumbling his words at times.
What is Social Anxiety Disorder?

What kind of treatment(s) would you recommend for someone with Seamus's difficulties?
300
This model of mental disorders predicts that psychological disorders are more likely to occur when predispositions interact with environmental stressors.
What is the Diathesis-Stress Model?

What is a diathesis?

How does the Diathesis-Stress Model relate to the Nature/Nurture debate?
300
This very important contribution of behavioral approaches to psychotherapy is one of *the* most effective approaches to treating anxiety disorders and involves having the client experience feared and, especially, avoided stimuli.
What is exposure therapy?

What is the form of exposure called in which a person is exposed to high levels of the feared stimulus in order to "max out" the anxiety response?

What is a fear hierarchy and how is it used in exposure therapies?
300
This disorder is characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts (such as fears of contamination) that are often accompanied by repetitive or ritualized behaviors that are intended to ease the person's feelings of anxiety or tension due to the unwanted thoughts (such as excessive hand-washing).
What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

What is the best treatment approach for OCD?
300
This disorder is characterized by chronic worrying or fretting over many things, including minor matters, and is sometimes identified by the person's experience of "free-floating" worry.
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
300
This is your diagnosis of Tammy: Tammy recently returned from a tour in Iraq with the military. While overseas, the truck Tammy was riding in ran over an explosive device and some of her fellow soldiers were killed or very seriously injured. Since returning to the States, Tammy has had difficulty sleeping, avoids watching any films about the military or wars (especially those involving the Middle East), is often irritable and on guard, and complains of recurrent nightmares and unwanted images and memories related to her time in Iraq.
What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
400
The part of a psychological assessment that evaluates a person's orientation to person, place, and time, as well as other important basic cognitive functions like memory, attention, and language.
What is a mental status exam?

What are other elements of psychological assessment?

What is the goal of psychological assessment in clinical settings?

How is psychological assessment similar to the process of testing a research hypothesis?
400
This historically dangerous treatment for severe depression is now much safer due to improved technology and involves passing electrical currents through specific regions of the brain.
What is electroconvulsive therapy (a.k.a. ECT)?

What are some other alternative biological treatments for psychological disorders?
400
Treatment for this disorder usually involves exposing the client to particular objects and/or situations that cause them significant fear (such as spiders or heights) and, importantly, preventing the client from avoiding those objects and/or situations.
What are Specific Phobias?
400
This disorder is characterized by an intense fear and/or avoidance of situations in which escape might be difficult, impossible, or embarrassing or in which a person is afraid of experiencing certain physical symptoms.
What is agoraphobia?

What disorder *very* often accompanies agoraphobia as a comorbid disorder?
400
This is your diagnosis of Eldin, based on the following information: Eldin presented to your clinic with low mood, loss of interest and pleasure, loss of appetite, lethargy, and complaints of sleeping too much without feeling rested. According to Eldin, his low mood began around Halloween of this year. When you questioned him further, you discovered that this is a longstanding pattern for him, in which his low mood and the other symptoms seem to reappear nearly every year around the same time and typically dissipate on their own around March or early April.
What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
500
This term is a legal term used to describe a person's capacity to determine right vs. wrong, legal responsibility, and/or competency in a courtroom.
What is "insanity"?

Is insanity used by psychologists and mental healthcare providers in clinical settings?

What are some other myths about mental illness?
500
What school of therapies uses techniques like active, reflective listening and unconditional positive regard to promote clients' personal growth through greater self-understanding?
What are Humanistic Therapies?

What are some specific Humanistic Therapies?

**BONUS**: What factor does research consistently show is the best, most important predictor of therapy outcomes? (200 points)
500
This disorder is characterized by rule-breaking, manipulativeness, a lack of guilt or remorse, and dishonesty, yet is often found in charming and intelligent people.
What is Antisocial Personality Disorder?

What is the extreme version of this disorder called?
500
This disorder is characterized by unstable and intense interpersonal relationships and mood states as well as disturbances in a person's sense of self or identity.
What is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Is Borderline Personality Disorder more common among men or women?
500
The treatment you would prescribe for Astrid, who has a long history of self-harm behaviors, a highly volatile sense of self (she changes jobs and even careers based on what seem to be whims), and tumultuous relationships in which she often pushes away people who are most important to her.
What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?

What are some of the key features of DBT?

What do you think Astrid's diagnosis would most likely be?
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