Psych Exam 2 Study Guide: Anxiety, Personality, Eating & Substance Disorders

Vocabulary flashcards covering anxiety assessment levels, psychiatric disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, somatic disorders, PTSD, and substance use disorders from the Psych Exam 2 study guide.

Mild Anxiety

Day-to-day living tension that increases alertness, focus, and perception, motivates learning and creativity, and presents with slight discomfort or fidgeting.

Moderate Anxiety

Anxiety level where perceptual field narrows and selective attention occurs, allowing learning with direction while causing sympathetic nervous system symptoms like increased HR, RR, sweating, and mild somatic discomfort.

Severe Anxiety

Anxiety level where focus is restricted to a single detail, attention span is extremely limited, learning is impossible, and physical symptoms like hyperventilation, nausea, dizziness, and dread occur.

Panic Level Anxiety

Highest anxiety level marked by dread, terror, flight or freeze responses, potential loss of contact with reality (psychosis/hallucinations), inability to communicate, and extreme vital sign increases.

Cholecystokinin

A protein controlled by a gene with abnormalities linked to panic attacks.

Hippocampus

Limbic system structure responsible for memory related to fear.

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Developmentally inappropriate level of concern regarding separation from a significant other, persisting beyond the normal developmental peak at 18 months.

Panic Attack

Sudden, unpredictable onset of rapid and intense fear lasting a few to 15 minutes, requiring 4 or more somatic/cognitive symptoms like palpitations, sweating, tremors, shortness of breath, and fear of dying.

Panic Disorder

Psychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent unexpected panic attacks followed by 1 month or more of persistent worry about future attacks or behavioral changes.

Agoraphobia

Fear of being in places or situations where escape might be difficult or embarrassing, or where help might not be available, often causing individuals to avoid leaving home.

Arachnophobia

Specific phobia defined as the fear of spiders.

Acrophobia

Specific phobia defined as the fear of heights.

Belonephobia

Specific phobia defined as the fear of needles.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Chronic, unrealistic, and excessive anxiety and worry occurring most days than not for 6 months or longer, impairing daily functioning.

Obsessions

Unwanted, recurrent, intrusive thoughts, ideas, impulses, or images that cannot be dismissed from the mind, causing significant anxiety and distress.

Compulsions

Unwanted, repetitive ritualistic behaviors or mental acts performed repeatedly to reduce or prevent anxiety caused by obsessions.

Trichotillomania

An obsessive-compulsive related disorder characterized by recurrent hair pulling.

Trichophagia

Secret swallowing of pulled hair that can result in hair masses in the digestive tract, known as Rapunzel syndrome.

Excoriation Disorder

Skin picking disorder (dermatillomania) involving persistent picking of skin on areas like the face or cuticles, leading to tissue damage and infections.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Mental health disorder involving an exaggerated or imagined belief that the body is defective or deformed, accompanied by repetitive behaviors like mirror checking or camouflaging.

Refeeding Syndrome

A potentially fatal condition caused by fluid shifts and electrolyte imbalances (e.g., decreased phosphate) when a severely malnourished client rapidly ingests carbohydrates.

BuSpar

Non-addictive antianxiety medication that does not depress the CNS and has a delayed onset of 2 to 4 weeks.

Anorexia Nervosa

Eating disorder with the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, characterized by restricting food intake or bingeing/purging, leading to severe emaciation.

Bulimia Nervosa

Eating disorder involving recurrent, uncontrolled binge eating of large quantities of food in under 2 hours, followed by inappropriate compensatory purging behaviors at least once weekly for 3 months.

Russell's Sign

Pattern of calluses or scars on the knuckles or back of the hand caused by repeated self-induced vomiting.

Binge Eating Disorder

Disorder involving repeated episodes of rapid, uncontrolled binge eating causing significant distress, occurring without regular compensatory purging behaviors.

Pica

Feeding disorder characterized by the persistent ingestion of non-nutritive, non-food substances such as dirt, paint, or paper clips.

Rumination Disorder

Feeding disorder where undigested food is returned to the mouth, rechewed, reswallowed, or spit out.

Diabulimia

An eating disorder in individuals with Type 1 Diabetes (ED-DMT1) characterized by intentionally restricting insulin to lose weight.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Therapy model combining cognitive-behavioral techniques and mindfulness practices to improve emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Neurodevelopmental disorder appearing before age 3 characterized by deficits in social communication/interaction and restricted, repetitive behaviors or interests.

Echolalia

Stereotypical repetitive speech pattern involving automatic repetition of vocalizations made by another person, commonly seen in ASD.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Disorder characterized by inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity beginning before age 12 and present for at least 6 months across settings.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

Pattern of angry, irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, and vindictiveness toward authority figures, where the child still acknowledges rules and others' rights.

Cluster A Personality Disorders

Grouping of personality disorders characterized by odd or eccentric behaviors, including Paranoid, Schizoid, and Schizotypal personality disorders.

Cluster B Personality Disorders

Grouping of personality disorders characterized by dramatic, emotional, or erratic traits, including Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, and Narcissistic personality disorders.

Cluster C Personality Disorders

Grouping of personality disorders characterized by anxious or fearful traits, including Avoidant, Dependent, and Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorders.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Cluster B personality disorder characterized by pervasive instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, along with marked impulsivity and self-harm behavior.

Splitting

Primary defense mechanism in Borderline Personality Disorder where individuals view people, situations, or self as either all good or all bad.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Deliberate destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent, performed to attain emotional relief from tension or numbness.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Personality disorder diagnosed in adults (with evidence since age 15) marked by a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, deceitfulness, and lack of remorse.

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Cluster A personality disorder involving longstanding mistrust and suspiciousness of others, hypervigilance, and projection of responsibility onto others.

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Cluster B personality disorder characterized by colorful, dramatic, attention-seeking, and flirtatious behavior with an extreme need for approval.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Cluster B personality disorder characterized by grandiosity, entitlement, lack of empathy, hypersensitivity to criticism, and exploitation of others.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Cluster C personality disorder characterized by extreme social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and sensitivity to rejection, despite a strong desire for affection and companionship.

Dependent Personality Disorder

Cluster C personality disorder marked by a pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of, leading to submissive, clinging behavior and fear of separation.

Somatization

The expression of psychological distress and conflicts through bodily physical symptoms.

Somatic Symptom Disorder

Condition characterized by physical symptoms without demonstrable organic pathology, accompanied by persistent excessive thoughts and high anxiety regarding symptom seriousness.

Illness Anxiety Disorder

Persistent fear or worry of having a serious, life-threatening medical condition despite minimal or no physical symptoms and negative medical evaluations.

Conversion Disorder

Functional neurological disorder characterized by voluntary motor or sensory deficits (like blindness or paralysis) without medical pathology, typically triggered by a psychological stressor.

Primary Gain

The unconscious psychological relief from emotional anxiety achieved through a symptom or illness (e.g., avoiding a stressful event by becoming ill).

Secondary Gain

The external tangible benefits derived from being sick, such as obtaining attention from family or missing work responsibilities.

La Belle Indifférence

Paradoxical lack of emotional concern or anxiety regarding the severity of one's own physical or neurological symptoms, commonly observed in Conversion Disorder.

Factitious Disorder

Condition in which a person consciously and intentionally produces or feigns physical or psychological symptoms to assume the sick role (formerly Munchausen syndrome).

Malingering

Intentional fabrication or exaggeration of physical or mental symptoms driven by clear external secondary gains, such as financial compensation or avoiding prison.

Reactive Attachment Disorder

Childhood attachment disorder characterized by emotionally withdrawn behavior, lack of comfort-seeking when distressed, and linked to severe early caregiving neglect.

Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder

Childhood disorder characterized by indiscriminate friendliness, lack of boundary awareness, and willingness to depart with unfamiliar adults.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Psychotherapy technique for PTSD utilizing rhythmic bilateral external stimulation to decrease vividness and distress associated with traumatic memories.

Depersonalization

Persistent sense of unreality or detachment from one's own self, body, thoughts, or feelings, as if viewing oneself from an external perspective.

Derealization

Perceptual alteration causing the external world, objects, or people to feel dreamlike, distant, distorted, or mechanical.

Dissociative Fugue

Subtype of dissociative amnesia involving sudden, unexpected travel away from home combined with memory loss of one's identity or past, sometimes leading to a new identity.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

Disorder characterized by two or more distinct personality states that recurrently take control of behavior, with sudden transitions referred to as switching.

Abreaction

A sudden, highly intense psychological and emotional release experienced during therapy when a client re-lives buried traumatic memories.

Vicarious Traumatization

Indirect psychological trauma experienced by healthcare workers or first responders through repeated exposure to reports and injuries of traumatized patients.

Wernicke's Encephalopathy

Acute thiamine deficiency state secondary to chronic alcohol use, presenting with confusion, ataxia/altered gait, vestibular dysfunction, and ocular muscle abnormalities.

Korsakoff's Syndrome

Chronic neurocognitive disorder caused by thiamine deficiency in alcohol use disorder, characterized by confusion and significant recent memory loss.

Delirium Tremens (DTs)

A severe, potentially fatal alcohol withdrawal state occurring 24 to 72 hours after cessation, characterized by confusion, severe hallucinations, autonomic hyperactivity, and seizures.

Disulfiram (Antabuse)

Aversion therapy medication that blocks alcohol oxidation, causing severe physical discomfort if alcohol is ingested within 12 hours of administration.