Deck 15: Section 1: Psychological Disorders

Question 1

Personality disorders are among the most criticized diagnoses in DSM-5. Explain why this is so.

Answer 1

The answer should include the following information: (1) Critics question whether having a problematic personality is really a disorder. Given that approximately 15 percent of the U.S. population has a personality disorder according to the DSM-5, perhaps it might be that a lot of people are just difficult, not ill; (2) Another issue is whether personality problems correspond to "disorders" in that there are distinct types or whether such problems might be better understood as extreme values on trait dimensions such as the Big Five traits.

Question 2

What is the difference between positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia? Provide several examples of each.

Answer 2

The answer should indicate that the separation of subtypes into negative and positive allows for a clearer definition of schizophrenia. For example, negative subtypes are marked by deficits or disruptions to normal emotions and behavior. These may include emotional and social withdrawal, apathy, poverty of speech, and decreased ability to focus attention. Positive subtypes are distinguished by additions to normal behavior, such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and grossly disorganized behavior.

Question 3

Your roommate has always insisted on keeping the room in order, and you know better than to move anything on her desk because she gets very upset if everything isn't in a specific place. Lately, she has insisted on cleaning the room every night before bed, even the windows and floors, all in a fixed order. You've asked her to stop, but she can't seem to make herself go to bed without this nightly cleaning ritual. Does her behavior fit the pattern of a recognized disorder, and if so, which? What may be causing her anxiety? What purpose does the escalating cleaning ritual serve? What may be going on in your roommate's brain?

Answer 3

The answer should include the following information: (1) The behavior described fits the pattern of obsessive-compulsive disorder; (2) Your roommate has some of the typical symptoms of OCD: ritualistic behaviors, seeming inability to stop these behaviors, anxiety (over the cleanliness of the room), and a fixed order of routine; (3) In obsessive-compulsive disorder, the obsessions (in this case, fear of germs) create great anxiety, and the compulsive behaviors (in this case, cleaning the room) are performed to reduce the anxiety; (4) There is evidence that implicates heightened neural activity in the caudate nucleus of the brain, a portion of the basal ganglia known to be involved in the initiation of intentional actions. Sometimes, drugs that increase the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin can inhibit the activity of the caudate nucleus and relieve some of the symptoms of this disorder.

Question 4

Construct brief profiles of individuals to illustrate the following personality disorders: schizoid, paranoid, antisocial, histrionic, avoidant.

Question 5

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the medical model?

Question 6

Summarize the key distinguishing features of the anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, phobic disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder).

Question 7

Illustrate the helplessness theory of depression with a real-world example.

Question 8

Your best friend has received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which explains some of the behavior patterns you have noticed in her. Describe bipolar disorder with its cycles, as well as the behaviors you might expect to see in your friend over the next months. What is rapid cycling bipolar disorder? What sometimes precipitates it? Does bipolar disorder have a genetic component?

Question 9

Define the diathesis-stress model. Then illustrate how this model is operative in generalized anxiety disorder and schizophrenia.

Question 10

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Question 18