Exam 15: Psychological Disorders

Agoraphobia is the fear of having a panic attack in a public place that offers no escape.

Men who are depressed often try to mask their feelings through violent behavior or drug abuse.

Social phobia is the fear of situations in which the person will be observed by others.

The primary purpose of the DSM is to

Studies of clinical depression show that the strongest predictors of suicide and attempted suicide are repeated experiences of sexual abuse and violence in childhood and adolescence.

Which of the following is a leading objective test for major depression?

A news headline announces that a gene has been identified as a cause of depression. Does this mean that everyone with the gene will become depressed? How should critical thinkers interpret this research?

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder have recurrent and persistent thoughts or images that are often dreamlike and appealing.

________ disorder is characterized by a lifelong pattern of irresponsible, antisocial behavior such as law-breaking, violence, and other impulsive, reckless acts.

Joey experiences a continuous state of uncontrollable worry and tension. Most of the time, he feels jittery and breathless, even though he doesn't drink coffee. According to the DSM, this disorder is called:

Alcoholism is most likely to occur in:

Briefly describe the hallmarks of borderline personality disorder.

An old saying says: "If you give a small boy a hammer, it will turn out that everything he runs into needs pounding." Using the example of ADHD, explain how this quote relates to the dangers of overdiagnosis.

Some psychologists argue that the whole enterprise of the DSM an inherently subjective process because clinicians vote on which diagnoses should be included or rejected. For example, new disorders have been voted in that reflect today's prejudice and values. Describe one of these changes in the DSM that reflects contemporary values.

________ consist of ambiguous pictures, sentences, or stories that the test taker interprets or completes.

The most disabling fear disorder is the panic attack.

Biological researchers find that depressed people have unusually high levels of the stress hormone __________.

When different clinicians are given sample responses from the Rorschach Inkblot Test, they usually agree with one another regarding what the various responses mean.

Psychopaths are slow to develop classically conditioned responses to anticipated danger, pain, or shock.

In many cases of OCD, abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex lead to cognitive rigidity.