PSY 370 - ABNORMAL PSYCH - EXAM 1 QUESTIONS &
VERIFIED ANSWERS
What are four general things that the field of Abnormal Psych tries to do (i.e., what kinds
of questions do we try to answer) with psychopathology? - Answers - Describe
Explain
Predict
Change
What does the diathesis-stress model state? What is "diathesis" and what are some
examples? What are some examples of "stress"? - Answers - Diathesis means a
"predisposed tendency" (individual vulnerability)
-According to this theory, people must have a biological, psychological, or sociocultural
predisposition to develop a disorder and must then be subjected to episodes of severe
stress (environment/experience)
Ex: Depression - unfavorable genes and biochemical abnormalities predispose the
individual to develop the disorder, with the loss of a loved one actually triggers its onset
Prevalence - Answers - Percentage of individuals in a targeted population who have a
particular disorder during a specific period of time
- In the U.S., 20 % adults experience mental illness in a given year
-- 1.1% schizophrenia
-- 2.6% Bipolar disorder
-- 6.9% Major depression
-- 18.1% Anxiety disorders
- 20-40% of youth in the U.S. experience mental illness in a year
Point prevalence - Answers - The percentage of people with a
disorder in the past month/year/etc
-Includes both existing and new cases
Lifetime prevalence - Answers - The percentage of people in the
population who have had a disorder at some point in their life
Comorbidity - Answers - The presence of two or more disorders in one person
Incidence - Answers - The number of new cases that emerge during a period of time
, Do most people who need mental health services receive services? What are some
notable patterns of service use (e.g., are rates of service use higher/lower in particular
subpopulations)? - Answers - 58.7% overall receive services
- Ages 18-25 - 40.5%
- Ages 26-49 - 62.2%
- Ages 50+ - 70.9%
Rates of service use are lower among younger people (especially kids), ethnic
minorities, and men
-Medication most common type of treatment
The Four D's - Answers - Deviance - Extreme usually in regard to frequency or severity
(from the norm in a culture, can change over time)
Distress - Bothersome, negative emotions, upsetting, suffering
Dysfunction - interference in daily functioning
Danger - danger to self or others (mentally ill are rarely dangerous to others)
For each historical era (be familiar with the order of the different eras), what was the
major view of psychopathology, and how was psychopathology treated? - Answers -
Ancient - Evil spirits - Exorcism by a priest or shaman/ Trephination (cut out of the skill
to release evil spirits)
Greeks and Romans (500 bc - 500 ad) Hippocrates - biological
-Four fluids (humors) imbalance
-yellow bile
-black bile
-blood
-phlegm
Middle Ages (500-1350 ad) - religious causes
- mass madness, tarantism (Saint Vitus dance - possessed by wolf spiders/tarantulas),
lycanthropy (possessed by wolves/other animals)
Renaissance (1400-1700)
--Johann Weyer - Body and mind were susceptible (considered the founder of the
modern study of psychopathology)
-- Care for mental illness improved
-- Shrines - colony of mental patients (ex. Gheel in Belgium)
-- Rise of Asylums
*More on next slides
VERIFIED ANSWERS
What are four general things that the field of Abnormal Psych tries to do (i.e., what kinds
of questions do we try to answer) with psychopathology? - Answers - Describe
Explain
Predict
Change
What does the diathesis-stress model state? What is "diathesis" and what are some
examples? What are some examples of "stress"? - Answers - Diathesis means a
"predisposed tendency" (individual vulnerability)
-According to this theory, people must have a biological, psychological, or sociocultural
predisposition to develop a disorder and must then be subjected to episodes of severe
stress (environment/experience)
Ex: Depression - unfavorable genes and biochemical abnormalities predispose the
individual to develop the disorder, with the loss of a loved one actually triggers its onset
Prevalence - Answers - Percentage of individuals in a targeted population who have a
particular disorder during a specific period of time
- In the U.S., 20 % adults experience mental illness in a given year
-- 1.1% schizophrenia
-- 2.6% Bipolar disorder
-- 6.9% Major depression
-- 18.1% Anxiety disorders
- 20-40% of youth in the U.S. experience mental illness in a year
Point prevalence - Answers - The percentage of people with a
disorder in the past month/year/etc
-Includes both existing and new cases
Lifetime prevalence - Answers - The percentage of people in the
population who have had a disorder at some point in their life
Comorbidity - Answers - The presence of two or more disorders in one person
Incidence - Answers - The number of new cases that emerge during a period of time
, Do most people who need mental health services receive services? What are some
notable patterns of service use (e.g., are rates of service use higher/lower in particular
subpopulations)? - Answers - 58.7% overall receive services
- Ages 18-25 - 40.5%
- Ages 26-49 - 62.2%
- Ages 50+ - 70.9%
Rates of service use are lower among younger people (especially kids), ethnic
minorities, and men
-Medication most common type of treatment
The Four D's - Answers - Deviance - Extreme usually in regard to frequency or severity
(from the norm in a culture, can change over time)
Distress - Bothersome, negative emotions, upsetting, suffering
Dysfunction - interference in daily functioning
Danger - danger to self or others (mentally ill are rarely dangerous to others)
For each historical era (be familiar with the order of the different eras), what was the
major view of psychopathology, and how was psychopathology treated? - Answers -
Ancient - Evil spirits - Exorcism by a priest or shaman/ Trephination (cut out of the skill
to release evil spirits)
Greeks and Romans (500 bc - 500 ad) Hippocrates - biological
-Four fluids (humors) imbalance
-yellow bile
-black bile
-blood
-phlegm
Middle Ages (500-1350 ad) - religious causes
- mass madness, tarantism (Saint Vitus dance - possessed by wolf spiders/tarantulas),
lycanthropy (possessed by wolves/other animals)
Renaissance (1400-1700)
--Johann Weyer - Body and mind were susceptible (considered the founder of the
modern study of psychopathology)
-- Care for mental illness improved
-- Shrines - colony of mental patients (ex. Gheel in Belgium)
-- Rise of Asylums
*More on next slides
