Studied by 20 people
Psychological disorder
a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior
Epigenetics
the study of environmental influences on general expression that occur without a DNA change
Anxiety disorders
-psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
-influenced by conditioning
Social anxiety disorder
intense fear and avoidance of social situations
Generalized anxiety disorder
-an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal
-can have many affects on physiological health
Panic disorder
-an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person may experience terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations
-often followed by worry over a possible next attack
-can lead to agoraphobia
Agoraphobia
fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic
Phobia
an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation
Obesessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts and/or actions
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
-a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience
-influenced by generalization of a conditioned stimulus in classical conditioning
Major depressive disorder
A disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure
Bipolar disorder
A disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania
Mania
A hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgement is common.
Schizophrenia
-A disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished, inappropriate emotional expression
-is a spectrum
Psychotic disorders
-A group of psychological disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss of contact with reality
-Schizophrenia is a prime example
Chronic schizophrenia
-A form of schizophrenia in which symptoms usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood.
-As people age, psychotic episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten
Acute schizophrenia
A form of schizophrenia that can begin at any age, frequently occurs in response to an emotionally traumatic event, and has extended recovery periods
Somatic symptom disorder
A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a bodily form without apparent physical cause
Conversion disorder
A disorder related to somatic symptom disorder in which a person experiences very specific physical symptoms that are not compatible with recognized medical or neurological conditions
Illness anxiety disorder
A disorder related to somatic symptom disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease
Dissociatve disorders
Controversial, rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities
Personality disorders
-inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning
-come in 3 clusters: odd/eccentric, dramatic/impulsive, and anxious/avoidant
Antisocial personality disorder
-a personality disorder in which a person exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members
-may be aggressive and ruthless
-50% of violent crimes are committed by people with this disorder
Psychotherapy
-treatment involving psychological techniques
-consists of interactions b/t a trained therapist & someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth
Biomedical therapy
prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology
Psychoanalysis
-Sigmund Freud’s technique
-Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the therapist’s interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to fain self-insight
Resistance
in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material
Interpretation
in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s nothing supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight
Transference
in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships
Psychodynamic therapy
therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to enhance self-insight
Insight therapies
therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses
Behavior therapy
therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors
Counterconditioning
-behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors
-includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning
Exposure therapies
behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people to the things they fear and avoid
Systematic desensitization
-a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli
-commonly used to treat phobias
Aversive conditioning
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior
Cognitive therapy
therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways to thinking based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions
Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
a confrontational cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis that vigorously challenges people’s illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
-A popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)
-effective for treating anxiety and phobias
Meta-analysis
A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies
Evidence-based practice
Clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences
Therapeutic alliance
A bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who work together constructively to overcome the client's problem
Psychopharmacology
The study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior
Antipsychotic drugs
Drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder
Ex: Thorazine
Antianxiety drugs
Drugs used to control anxiety and agitation
Ex: Xanax & Ativan
Antidepressant drugs
-Drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, & PTSD
-Several widely used ones are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
Ex: Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
Repetitive magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
-the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain
-used to stimulate or suppress brain activity
Psychosurgery
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior
Ex: Lobotomy
Mary Cover Jones
-A behavior psychologist
-Helped "Peter" overcome fear of rabbits by exposing him to rabbits while he was eating a snack, thereby couterconditioning him
Joseph Wolpe
-Psychaitraist
-Refined Mary Cover Jones’ counterconditioning technique into the exposure therapies used today
Albert Ellis
-The creator of "rational emotive behavior therapy" (REBT)
-Said that many problems arise from irrational thinking and described how therapy might challenge one’s illogical, self-defeating assumptions
-believed that challenging illogical beliefs and their absurdity will help change self-defeating beliefs and feelings and enable healthier behaviors
Aaron Beck
-therapist
-realized that challenging negative thoughts could be therapeutic. This lead him to pioneer Cognitive Therapy.
-Suggested negative beliefs cause depression, and found that depressed individuals have dreams with negative themes
-sought to reverse people's negativity about themselves, through gentle questioning and persuading individuals
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