Chapter 13: Disorders of Mind and Body
Chapter Review
Summarizing the Principles of the Disorders of Mind and Body
How Are Mental Disorders Conceptualized and Classified?1. Mental disorders are classified into categories: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has evolved from Kraeplin's categories of mental illness. It is a multiaxial system for diagnosing groups of symptoms in the context of related factors.
2. Mental disorders must be assessed before diagnosis: Assessment is the process of examining a person's mental functions and psychological health in order to make a diagnosis. Assessment is accomplished through interviews, behavioral evaluations, and psychological testing.
3. Mental disorders have many causes: Disorders may arise from psychological factors, such as the family system or sociocultural context. They may be the result of learned, maladaptive cognitions. Biological factors also underlie mental illness. The diathesis-stress model looks at mental disorders as an interaction among multiple factors. In this model, stressful circumstances may trigger a disorder in an individual with underlying vulnerabilities.
4. The legal system has its own definition of psychopathology: The legal system focuses on insanity as it relates to the issue of personal responsibility for actions.
Can Anxiety Be the Root of Seemingly Different Disorders?
5. There are different types of anxiety disorders: Phobias are exaggerated fears of specific stimulus. Generalized anxiety disorder is diffuse and omnipresent. Panic attacks cause sudden overwhelming terror, and may lead to agoraphobia. Obsessive-compulsive disorders involve anxietyrelated thoughts and behaviors.
6. Anxiety disorders have cognitive, situational, and biological components: The etiology of OCD is at least in part genetic, and also involves brain dysfunction. The irrational thoughts that accompany panic attacks may lead to agoraphobia through cognitive-behavioral connections.
Are Mood Disorders Extreme Manifestations of Normal Moods?
7. There are different types of mood disorders: Depressive disorders may be unipolar or bipolar and are more severe than dysthymia. The less extreme form of bipolarity is cyclothymia.
8. Mood disorders have cognitive, situational, and biological components: The biological factors of depression 562 include genetics, frontal-lobe functioning, and serotonin modulation, as well as biological rhythms. Negative thinking and poor interpersonal relations also contribute to depression.
Is Schizophrenia a Disorder of Mind or Body?
9. Schizophrenia has positive and negative symptoms: Positive symptoms include excesses, such as delusions and hallucinations. Negative symptoms are deficits in functioning, such as social withdrawal and reduced movement.
10. Schizophrenia is primarily a brain disorder: The brains of schizophrenics have larger ventricles and less brain mass, with reduced frontal and temporal activation. A variety of neurochemical and neural structural abnormalities exist as well.
11. Environmental factors influence schizophrenia: Urban environments may trigger the onset of schizophrenia. Trauma or pathogens encountered by pregnant women may increase the likelihood of the disorder in their children. Are Personality Disorders Truly Mental Disorders?
12. Personality disorders are maladaptive ways of relating to the world: Odd behaviors, extreme emotions, and fearful behaviors are characteristic of personality disorders. It is controversial whether some of these extremes are true psychopathologies.
13. Borderline personality disorder is associated with poor self-control: Borderline personality disorder involves disturbances in identity, affect, and impulse control. A strong relationship exists between the disorder and trauma and abuse.
14. Antisocial personality disorder is associated with a lack of empathy: Antisocial personality disorder is marked by lack of empathy and remorse, and a tendency to be manipulative. Both genetics and environment seem to be contributing factors.
Should Childhood Disorders Be Considered a Unique Category?
15. Autism is a lack of awareness of others: Autism emerges in infancy and is marked by avoidance of eye contact and impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication. Asperger's syndrome is a high-functioning variation of autism. Autism is a biological disorder. The biological factors may include abnormalities in oxytocin, brain growth, and blood proteins.
16. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a disruptive behavior disorder: Children with ADHD are restless, inattentive, and impulsive. It is a heterogeneous disorder, so it is likely that the causes of the disorder vary. Environmental factors may include poor parenting and social disadvantages. Genetic factors and brain abnormalities, particularly with regard to activation of the frontal lobes and subcortical basal ganglia, may also play a part. ADHD continues into adulthood, presenting academic and career challenges.
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