Abnormal Psychology Lecture Notes

2/8/99

amnesia – forgetting, memory dysfunction

• uninvolved, don’t know where/who they are
• loss of explicit memory à don’t know how to groom, speak language, some disorientation, don’t know who they are
• loss of implicit memory à when did you graduate? What year did you graduate? When did you learn to tie your shoes?

fugue – (rare) person disappears, assumes new identity, leaves old life

• fugue person does not seek past life at all
• memory may be restored if someone from their old life finds them
• no concern for the past

identity disorder – number of alternate personalities may be great (12 or more), may be isolated or dominant over another personality

depersonalization (derealization) – sense of strangeness, view themselves from outside, feel as if they are living in a dream, feel as if limbs have shrunk and grown

déjà vu = already seen

jamais vu = never seen

bodydismorphing disorder – concern by an individual about a part of his/her body; found mostly among young unmarried people

hypochandriasis – person thinks they have a disease

anxiety/depression treated with certain medications

somatization – very rare, women outnumber men, physical complaints (symptoms) that are vague, dramatic, no signs, only symptoms

agoraphobia – feeling of great fear; afraid of others, afraid of being alone (away from family), extremely tense and apprehensive of new things, hyperventilating due to nervousness, fears gradually increase to unbearable amounts, anxiety attacks

generalized anxiety disorder – high levels of fear and anxiety, rapid heart beat, apprehensive, drugs to help relaxation, muscle tension

obsessive compulsive disorder – recognizes irrational nature of compulsions, distressed, compulsive behaviors are thoughts

post-traumatic stress disorder – nightmares, nervousness, restlessness, short tempered, want to be alone, inability to cope with certain noises, shakiness, anxiety, traumatized by Vietnam experience, could not concentrate, learn, decreased, could not get Vietnam off his mind, did not have ability to adjust to life after Vietnam

2/10/99

Hypnosis demonstration

• whenever she saw a funny part of the tape she watched, she smiled, although Professor didn’t tell her to
• post-hypnotic suggestion: meant to show that symptoms could be induced by therapist
• also demonstrated repression à hiding knowledge you bring to the surface and symptoms disappear

• real disorder; psychological disorder modulates an organic disorder
• real organic pathology either caused by psychological condition or exacerbated by psychological condition

Video: A Study of Tom

• gastric mucosa = some of the stomach is outside the body
• membrane changes color and movement with different emotions

peptic ulcer à high scholastic ability and high achievement à intimate pressure

hyperventilation syndrome à dizzy – chest pains – hyperurination – resultant from nervousness

certain classic examples

1. ulcer à erosion of stomach lining, acids digest stomach muscles to the point of perforations
2. hypertension à no identifiable causes, associated with kidney disorder
3. asthma à contraction of lung ducts and tracts
4. skin disorder (ezcema)
5. migraine
6. obesity
7. insomnia
8. cancer
9. AIDS