Psychology in Everyday Life, Fourth Edition, Chapter 13 Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorder

A syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in a persons cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity.

Medical Model

The concept that diseases, in this can psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.

Epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without DNA change.

DSM-5

The American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.

Anxiety Disorders

Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, fearful, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.

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.

Phobia

An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia lingering for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

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 weariness of depression and the overexcited state of mania. (Formally called manic-depressive disorder.)

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.

Psychotic Disorders

A group of disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss of contact with reality.

Delusion

A false belief, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.

Acute Schizophrenia

(also called reactive 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.

Chronic Schizophrenia

(also called process 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.

Dissociative Disorders

Controversial, rare disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) 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. (Formerly called multiple personality disorder.)

Personality Disorder

An inflexible and enduring behavior pattern that impairs social functioning.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.