Exam 2 Mental Health Important defiitnions

Biopsychosocial model

Anxiety develops through interactions among biological, psychological, and social factors.

Triple vulnerability model

General biological, general psychological, and specific psychological vulnerabilities interact.

Generalized biological vulnerability

Inherited or biological susceptibility to developing anxiety.

Generalized psychological vulnerability

A learned belief that the world is unpredictable or uncontrollable.

Specific psychological vulnerability

A particular experience that creates vulnerability to a specific fear.

GABA

Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter; altered functioning is implicated in anxiety.

Serotonin

Neurotransmitter involved in mood and anxiety regulation.

Norepinephrine

Neurotransmitter involved in arousal and the stress response.

Limbic system

Brain system involved in emotional responses, including fear.

Prefrontal cortex

Brain region involved in regulating emotional responses and behavior.

Negative reinforcement

A behavior becomes more likely because it removes an unpleasant experience.

Comorbidity

The occurrence of two or more disorders in the same person.

Generalized anxiety disorder

Excessive worry about multiple everyday concerns for at least six months.

GAD diagnostic symptoms

Restlessness, fatigue, poor concentration, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance.

GAD symptom threshold

At least three of the six associated symptoms, according to the adult criteria discussed.

Muscle tension in GAD

A feature the professor emphasizes as especially characteristic of GAD.

Maladaptive assumptions

Irrational beliefs that increase worry and perceived threat.

Intolerance of uncertainty

Difficulty tolerating ambiguity or not knowing what will happen.

Autonomic restriction

Reduced physiological responsiveness to some stressors despite persistent worry.

Overgeneralization

Extending a learned fear response to additional situations or stimuli.

Specific phobia

Disproportionate fear of a particular object or situation that impairs functioning.

Blood-injury-injection phobia

Fear of blood, injury, or injections, sometimes accompanied by fainting.

Vasovagal response

A reflex involving decreased heart rate or blood pressure that can cause fainting.

Situational phobia

Fear associated with a particular situation, such as flying.

Natural environment phobia

Fear of natural events, such as storms or lightning.

Animal phobia

Disproportionate fear of a particular animal or insect.

Classical conditioning

Learning fear by associating a neutral stimulus with a frightening event.

Operant conditioning

Learning through consequences, including relief that reinforces avoidance.

Two-factor model of phobias

Fear is acquired through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning.

Modeling

Learning fear by observing another person's reactions.

Systematic desensitization

Gradual exposure to feared stimuli while practicing relaxation.

Flooding

Intense exposure to a feared stimulus without gradual buildup.

In vivo exposure

Exposure to a feared stimulus in real life.

Imaginal exposure

Exposure through imagining feared situations.

Virtual reality exposure

Using simulated situations to practice facing feared stimuli.

Agoraphobia

Fear of situations where escape or help may be difficult.

Panic attack

A sudden episode of intense fear with physical symptoms.

Panic disorder

Recurrent unexpected panic attacks with persistent concern or behavioral changes.

Panic disorder duration

At least one month of concern or maladaptive behavioral change after an attack.

Catastrophizing

Interpreting a situation or bodily sensation as far more dangerous than it is.

Panic control therapy

CBT approach targeting panic-related thoughts, sensations, and avoidance.

Social anxiety disorder

Fear of negative evaluation, embarrassment, or scrutiny in social situations.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Disorder involving intrusive obsessions, repetitive compulsions, or both.

Obsession

A recurring, unwanted thought, image, or urge that causes distress.

Compulsion

A repetitive behavior or mental act performed to reduce distress or prevent a feared event.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

An enduring pattern of perfectionism, control, and rigidity.

Symmetry and exactness

OCD symptom pattern involving ordering, counting, or arranging things precisely.

Forbidden thoughts

Unwanted intrusive thoughts involving feared or unacceptable actions.

Contamination obsessions

Persistent concerns about germs, illness, or contamination.

Thought-action fusion

Belief that thinking about an event makes it more likely or is equivalent to doing it.

OCD behavioral explanation

Compulsions persist because temporary anxiety relief negatively reinforces them.

OCD psychodynamic explanation

Unconscious conflict and control-related concerns contribute to symptoms.

Basal ganglia

Brain structures implicated in OCD and movement-related disorders.

Exposure and response prevention

Facing obsession triggers while refraining from compulsive behaviors.

Body dysmorphic disorder

Distressing preoccupation with perceived appearance flaws.

Hoarding disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding possessions despite clutter and impairment.

Trichotillomania

Recurrent hair pulling.

Excoriation disorder

Recurrent skin picking that causes skin damage.

SSRIs

Medications that affect serotonin signaling and are used for some OCD-related conditions.

Deep brain stimulation

An invasive intervention discussed for severe, treatment-resistant OCD.

Stress response

Physiological and psychological reactions to perceived threat.

Sympathetic nervous system

System that rapidly activates fight-or-flight responses.

HPA axis

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal pathway involved in hormonal stress responses.

Cortisol

Stress-related hormone released by the adrenal cortex.

PTSD

Trauma-related disorder involving persistent symptoms for more than one month.

PTSD intrusion symptoms

Unwanted memories, nightmares, flashbacks, and reactions to reminders.

PTSD avoidance symptoms

Avoiding trauma-related thoughts, feelings, places, or situations.

PTSD negative mood and cognition

Negative beliefs, guilt, detachment, and persistent negative emotions.

PTSD arousal and reactivity

Hypervigilance, startle reactions, sleep disturbance, and irritability.

Hypervigilance

Excessive alertness to possible danger.

Exaggerated startle response

An unusually strong reaction to sudden unexpected stimuli.

Survivor guilt

Guilt associated with surviving when others did not.

Self-efficacy

Belief in one's ability to manage challenges and influence outcomes.

Social support and PTSD

Strong supportive relationships can reduce vulnerability to PTSD.

Coping skills and PTSD

Having varied coping strategies can support recovery after trauma.

Hippocampus and PTSD

Brain region involved in memory processes that may be disrupted in PTSD.

Amygdala and PTSD

Brain region involved in emotional threat responses.

Trauma conditioning

Learning to associate reminders of trauma with fear.

Acute stress disorder

Trauma-related symptoms occurring from three days to one month after trauma.

ASD versus PTSD

ASD lasts three days to one month; PTSD persists beyond one month.

Dissociative symptoms after trauma

Experiences involving detachment or disruptions in memory or awareness.

Dissociation

Disruption in normally integrated memory, identity, or awareness.

Dissociative amnesia

Loss of autobiographical memory not explained by ordinary forgetting or neurological injury.

Localized amnesia

Memory loss covering a particular period of time.

Selective amnesia

Memory loss involving only certain parts of an event.

Generalized amnesia

Extensive loss of autobiographical information.

Continuous amnesia

Inability to remember events occurring after a particular point.

Dissociative fugue

Amnesia associated with travel or wandering and possible identity confusion.

Confabulation

Unintentional creation of information to fill memory gaps.

Depersonalization

Feeling detached from one's own body, thoughts, or self.

Derealization

Feeling that one's surroundings or other people are unreal.

Reality testing in depersonalization

The person recognizes the experience as a feeling, not literal reality.

Depersonalization-derealization disorder

Persistent or recurring detachment from self or surroundings with distress.

Dissociative identity disorder

Disorder involving disruption of identity with distinct identity states.

Neurological versus dissociative amnesia

Neurological amnesia results from brain-related causes; dissociative amnesia is not explained by them.

Cross-cultural dissociation

Dissociative experiences can appear in different cultural contexts and forms.