Abnormal Psychology: psychological disorders

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Abnormal Psychologypsychological disorders

• Part II

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Fun Facts

• The phrase mad as a hatter became widely used
  because hatmakers suffered from tremors, slurred
  speech, and confusion. Scientists discovered that
  this condition was caused by mercury-laden vapors
  inhaled by the hatmakers while they worked on
  felt hats.
• In the United States, one person in seven will
  seek help for a psychological disorder at some
  time during his or her lifetime.

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Fun Facts

• In ancient times, Egyptians and Babylonians
  believed that mental illness was due primarily to
  evil spirits. Archaeologists frequently find
  evidence of a practice known as terphining, which
  involved drilling an opening in the skull to let
  evil spirits escape.

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Anxiety Disorders post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)

• Post-traumatic stress disorder is a type of
  anxiety disorder. It can occur after you've seen
  or experienced a traumatic event that involved
  the threat of injury or death.

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Anxiety Disorders post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may occur
  soon after a major trauma, or it can be delayed
  for more than 6 months after the event.
• When it occurs soon after the trauma, it usually
  gets better after 3 months. However, some people
  have a longer-term form of PTSD, which can last
  for many years.

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Anxiety Disorders post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)

• PTSD can occur at any age and can follow a
  natural disaster such as a flood or fire, or
  events such as war, a prison stay, assault,
  domestic abuse, or rape.
• The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in
  the United States may have caused PTSD in some
  people who were involved, in people who saw the
  disaster, and in people who lost relatives and
  friends.
• These kinds of events can produce stress in
  anyone, but not everyone develops PTSD.

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Anxiety Disorders post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)

• The cause of PTSD is unknown, but psychological,
  genetic, physical, and social factors are
  involved.
• PTSD changes the bodys response to stress. It
  affects the stress hormones and chemicals that
  carry information between the nerves
  (neurotransmitters).
• Having been exposed to trauma in the past may
  increase the risk of PTSD.
• Having good social support helps to protect
  against PTSD.
• In studies of Vietnam veterans, those with strong
  support systems were less likely to get PTSD than
  those without social support.

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Anxiety Disorders post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD)

• People with PTSD re-experience the event again
  and again in at least one of several ways.
• They may have frightening dreams and memories of
  the event, feel as though they are going through
  the experience again (flashbacks), or become
  upset during anniversaries of the event.

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Symptoms of PTSD

• Affective anhedonia (inability to feel positive
  emotions), emotional numbing
• Behavioral hypervigilance, passivity,
  nightmares, flashbacks, exaggerated startled
  response
• Cognitive Intrusive memories, inability to
  concentrate, hyperarousal
• Somatic lower back pain, headaches, stomach ache
  and digestion problems, insomnia, regression in
  some children, losing already acquired
  developmental skills, such as speech or toilet
  training.

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PTSD in a post-genocidal societies the case of
Rwanda

• In 1995, UNICEF conducted a survey of 3000
  Rwandan children, aged 8-19 years. Of these
• 95 had witnessed violence
• 80 had suffered a death in their immediate
  family
• 62 had been threatened with death
• Des Forges (1999) has argued that eliminating
  Tutsi children was seen as a critical dimension
  in eliminating the Tutsi presence in Rwanda.
  Perhaps because of this direct assault on
  children, one of the key symptoms in Rwandan
  adolescents is diminished expectations.

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PTSD in a post-genocidal societies the case of
Rwanda

• Geltman and Stover (1997) have argued that trauma
  occurs when a child cannot give meaning to the
  dangerous experiences in the presence of
  overwhelming arousal.
• UNICEF Survey (1999) 60 of children surveyed did
  not care if they grew up.
• Dyregrov (2000) argues that the extent of loss
  and trauma which affected all levels of society
  throughout Rwanda may have rendered the
  traditional coping mechanisms and collective
  support less viable, and the whole adult
  community less receptive to childrens needs, as
  adults coped with their own traumas and grief.
• According to UNICEF, in 1997 there were 65.000
  families headed by children aged 12 years or
  younger. Over 300,000 children were growing up in
  households without adults.

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PTSD in a post-genocidal societies the case of
Rwanda

• Dyregrov found that living in the community
  (rather than in centers) was associated with
  higher rates of intrusive memories. In addition
  to the fact that living in community where
  atrocities took place could expose children to
  stimuli which triggered memories of the genocide.

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Etiology of PTSDBiological level of analysis

• Hauff and Vaglum (1994) Twin research has shown a
  possible genetic predisposition for PTSD.
• Most biological research focuses on the role of
  noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter which plays an
  important role in emotional arousal. High levels
  of noradrenaline cause people to express emotions
  more openly than is normal

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Etiology of PTSDBiological level of analysis

• Geracioti (2001) found that PTSD patients had
  higher levels of noradrenaline than the average.
  Also stimulating the adrenal system in PTSD
  patients induced a panic attack in 70 of
  patients, and flashbacks in 40 of patients. No
  control group members experienced these symptoms.

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Etiology of PTSDCognitive level of analysis

• Intrusive memories are memories that come to
  consciousness seemingly at random. Often they are
  triggered by sounds, sights, or smells related to
  the traumatic event.
• Brewin et al. (1996) argue that the flashbacks
  occurs as a result of cue-dependent memory, where
  stimuli similar to the original traumatic event
  may trigger sensory and emotional aspects of the
  memory, thus causing panic.

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Etiology of PTSDCognitive level of analysis

• Albert Rizzo developed a therapeutic tool using
  virtual reality to treat PTSD in veterans. In
  Virtual Iraq the traumatized soldiers can
  reexperience the horrors of the war and the
  therapist can manipulate variables that are
  relevant for each individual. This therapy is
  based on the concept of flooding (over-exposure
  to stressful events), because the stress
  reactions will eventually fade out (habituation).
  In this way, the power of the cues that trigger
  traumatic memories gradually diminishes.

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Etiology of PTSDCognitive level of analysis

• Development of PTSD is associated with a tendency
  to take personal responsibility for failures and
  to cope with stress by focusing on the emotion,
  rather than the problem.
• Sutker et at. (1995) found that Gulf War veterans
  who had a sense of purpose and commitment to the
  military had less chance of suffering from PTSD
  than other veterans.
• Cognitive theorists have also found that victims
  of child abuse who are able to see that the abuse
  was not their fault, but a problem within the
  perpetrator, are able to overcome symptoms of
  PTSD.

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Etiology of PTSDSociocultural level of analysis

• Research suggests that experiences with racism
  and oppression are predisposing factors for PTSD.
• Roysircar (2000) cites research that among
  Vietnam War veterans, 20.6 of black and 27.6 of
  Hispanic veterans met the criteria for a current
  diagnosis of PTSD, compared to 13 of white
  veterans.
• Silva (2000) children may develop PTSD by
  observing domestic violence.

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Etiology of PTSDCultural considerations in PTSD

• Often, non-western survivors exhibit what are
  called body memory symptoms.
• Example Hanscom (2001) the dizziness experienced
  by a woman which was found to be a body memory of
  her repeated experience of being forced to drink
  large amounts of alcohol and then being raped.

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Etiology of PTSDGender considerations in PTSD

• Breslau et al. (1991) study of 1007 young adults
  who had been exposed to community violence and
  found a prevalence rate of 11.3 in women and 6
  in men.
• Horowitz et al. (1995) reviewed a number of
  studies and found that women have a risk up to 5
  times greater than males to develop PTSD after a
  violent or traumatic event.

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Etiology of PTSDGender considerations in PTSD

• Symptoms of PTSD vary in gender.
• Men are more likely to suffer form irritability
  and impulsiveness. They are also more likely to
  suffer from substance abuse disorders.
• where women likely suffer from numbing and
  avoidance. They also more likely to suffer from
  anxiety and affective disorders.
• Rape carries one of the highest risks for
  producing PTSD. Other forms of sexual abuse and
  interpersonal violence are also more often
  followed by PTSD than, for example, accidents or
  natural disasters.
• Achencach (1991) Males are more likely to
  externalize symptoms (e.g. delinquency,
  aggression) and girls are more likely to
  internalize symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety).