PYC4802 PSYCHOPATHOLOGY EXAM NOTES
THEME 2: Trauma and stressor related disorders
ACUTE STRESS DISORDER
THEME 3: Substance-related and Addictive disorders
ALCOHOL-RELATED & ADDICTIVE DISORDER
THEME 4: Depressive disorders (Adult depression)
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
THEME 5: Child abuse
PEDOPHILIC DISORDER
Compiled by Arishka
, 1. THEME 2: Trauma and stressor related disorders
When is a trauma- or stressor-related response abnormal?
- The definition of a trauma is in many ways defined by the individual's
sociocultural background, both directly, and indirectly through the beliefs and
attitudes he/she has acquired and internalized.
- If it leads to negative consequences (e.g. poor job-performance, social
withdrawal, anhedonia – loss of experiencing pleasure.
- In trauma- and stressor-related disorders exposure to a traumatic or stressful
event is listed as the major diagnostic criterion.
- Anxiety, dissociation, or obsessive-compulsive responses may also be part of
the psychological distress response to experiencing a traumatic event.
- Acute stress disorder (ASD) and PTSD are the 2 disorders that have special
relevance to South Africa with its high rates of violence and crime.
- These disorders are extreme psychological reactions to an intensely traumatic
or violent event such as assault, sexual assault, natural disasters, and
wartime trauma.
- The risk of developing either ASD or PTSD depends on a number of variable,
including the type of trauma and degree of perceived threat, the magnitude of
the event, the extent of exposure to the stressor, and risk and protective
factors specific to the individual.
- The trauma may be so overwhelming that the person finds it difficult to
process or make sense of the event.
- Indirect exposure could also lead to ASD and PTSD.
- A diagnosis of ASD and PTSD requires direct or indirect exposure to the
traumatic event, as well as symptoms from these major symptom clusters:
o Intrusion symptoms
o Avoidance
o Negative alterations in mood or cognition
o Arousal and changes in reactivity
o Recurrent symptoms of depersonalisation – feeling detached from
one’s own body or thoughts
o Or derealisation – a persistent sense of unreality
- ASD – present of at least 9 symptoms from any of these clusters.
- PTSD – present at least 1 or 2 symptoms from each individual cluster.
- If someone with ASD experiences distressing symptoms for more than 30
days, diagnosis may be changed to PTSD.
- Person has to be exposed to either – death, threatened death, actual or
threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence to be
diagnosed with either ASD or PTSD.
Compiled by Arishka
THEME 2: Trauma and stressor related disorders
ACUTE STRESS DISORDER
THEME 3: Substance-related and Addictive disorders
ALCOHOL-RELATED & ADDICTIVE DISORDER
THEME 4: Depressive disorders (Adult depression)
MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER
THEME 5: Child abuse
PEDOPHILIC DISORDER
Compiled by Arishka
, 1. THEME 2: Trauma and stressor related disorders
When is a trauma- or stressor-related response abnormal?
- The definition of a trauma is in many ways defined by the individual's
sociocultural background, both directly, and indirectly through the beliefs and
attitudes he/she has acquired and internalized.
- If it leads to negative consequences (e.g. poor job-performance, social
withdrawal, anhedonia – loss of experiencing pleasure.
- In trauma- and stressor-related disorders exposure to a traumatic or stressful
event is listed as the major diagnostic criterion.
- Anxiety, dissociation, or obsessive-compulsive responses may also be part of
the psychological distress response to experiencing a traumatic event.
- Acute stress disorder (ASD) and PTSD are the 2 disorders that have special
relevance to South Africa with its high rates of violence and crime.
- These disorders are extreme psychological reactions to an intensely traumatic
or violent event such as assault, sexual assault, natural disasters, and
wartime trauma.
- The risk of developing either ASD or PTSD depends on a number of variable,
including the type of trauma and degree of perceived threat, the magnitude of
the event, the extent of exposure to the stressor, and risk and protective
factors specific to the individual.
- The trauma may be so overwhelming that the person finds it difficult to
process or make sense of the event.
- Indirect exposure could also lead to ASD and PTSD.
- A diagnosis of ASD and PTSD requires direct or indirect exposure to the
traumatic event, as well as symptoms from these major symptom clusters:
o Intrusion symptoms
o Avoidance
o Negative alterations in mood or cognition
o Arousal and changes in reactivity
o Recurrent symptoms of depersonalisation – feeling detached from
one’s own body or thoughts
o Or derealisation – a persistent sense of unreality
- ASD – present of at least 9 symptoms from any of these clusters.
- PTSD – present at least 1 or 2 symptoms from each individual cluster.
- If someone with ASD experiences distressing symptoms for more than 30
days, diagnosis may be changed to PTSD.
- Person has to be exposed to either – death, threatened death, actual or
threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence to be
diagnosed with either ASD or PTSD.
Compiled by Arishka
