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Chapter 13
Psychological Disorders
Term | Definition |
---|---|
medical model | the conceptualization of psychological abnormalities as diseases that, like physical diseases, have biological causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures |
DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [Fourth Edition, Text Revision]) | a classification system that describes the features used to diagnose each recognized mental disorder and indicates how the disorder can be distinguished from other, similar problems |
comorbidity | the cooccurrence of two or more disorders in a single individual |
diathesis-stress model | a model suggesting that a person may be predisposed for a mental disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress |
anxiety disorders | mental disorders in which anxiety is the predominant feature |
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) | a disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance |
phobic disorders | disorders characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations |
specific phobia | a disorder that involves an irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function |
social phobia | a disorder that involves an irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed |
preparedness theory | the idea that people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears |
panic disorder | a disorder characterized by the sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror |
agoraphobia | an extreme fear of venturing into public places |
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) | a disorder in which repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviors (compulsions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with an individual’s functioning |
mood disorders | mental disorders that have mood disturbance as their predominant feature |
major depressive disorder | a disorder characterized by a severely depressed mood that lasts 2 weeks or more and is accompanied by feelings of worthlessness and lack of pleasure, lethargy, and sleep and appetite disturbances |
seasonal affective disorder (SAD) | depression that involves recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern |
helplessness theory | the idea that individuals who are prone to depression automatically attribute negative experiences to causes that are internal (i.e., their own fault), stable (i.e., unlikely to change), and global (i.e., widespread) |
bipolar disorder | an unstable emotional condition characterized by cycles of abnormal, persistent high mood (mania) and low mood (depression) |
dissociative disorder | a condition in which normal cognitive processes are severely disjointed and fragmented, creating significant disruptions in memory, awareness, or personality that can vary in length from a matter of minutes to many years |
dissociative identity disorder (DID) | the presence within an individual of two or more distinct identities that at different times take control of the individual’s behavior |
dissociative fugue | the sudden loss of memory for one’s personal history, accompanied by an abrupt departure from home and the assumption of a new identity |
dissociative amnesia | the sudden loss of memory for significant personal information |
schizophrenia | a disorder characterized by the profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality; altered or blunted emotion; and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior |
delusion | a patently false belief system, often bizarre and grandiose, that is maintained in spite of its irrationality |
hallucination | a false perceptual experience that has a compelling sense of being real despite the absence of external stimulation |
disorganized speech | a severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and incoherently from one to another unrelated topic |
grossly disorganized behavior | behavior that is inappropriate for the situation or ineffective in attaining goals, often with specific motor disturbances |
negative symptoms | emotional and social withdrawal, apathy, poverty of speech, and other indications of the absence or insufficiency of normal behavior, motivation, and emotion |
dopamine hypothesis | the idea that schizophrenia involves an excess of dopamine activity |
personality disorders | disorders characterized by deeply ingrained, inflexible pat- terns of thinking, feeling, relating to others, or controlling impulses that cause distress or impaired functioning |
antisocial personality disorder (APD) | a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood |