Unit 5.3-5.5 AP Psychology

Psychological Disorder

a disturbance in people’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that causes distress or suffering and impairs their daily lives

Medical Model

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

Diathesis-Stress Model

the concept that genetic predispositions combine with environmental stressors to influence psychological disorder

Epigenetics

the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (without a DNA change)

Anxiety Disorders

a group of disorders characterized by excessive fear and anxiety and related maladaptive behaviors

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

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 frightening sensations; often followed by worry over a possible next attack

Agoraphobia

fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one may experience a loss of control and panic

Specific 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), actions (compulsions), or both

Hoarding Disorder

a persistent difficulty parting with possessions, regardless of their value

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilence, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, social withdraw, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience

Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders

a group of disorders in which exposure to a traumatic or stressful event is followed by psychological distress

Depressive Disorders

a group of disorders characterized by an enduring sad, empty, or irritable mood, along with physical and cognitive changes that affect a person’s ability to function

Bipolar Disorders

a group of disorders in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania

Major Depressive Disorder

a disorder in which a person experiences five or more symptoms lasting two or more weeks, in the absence of drug use or a medical condition, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure

Persistent Depressive Disorder

a disorder in which people experience a depressed mood on more days than not for at least 2 years (formerly called dysthymia)

Bipolar I Disorder

the most severe form, in which people experience a euphoric, talkative, highly energetic, and overly ambitious state that lasts a week or longer

Mania

a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgement is common

Bipolar II Disorder

a less severe form of bipolar in which people move between depression and a milder hypomania

Rumination

compulsive fretting; overthinking our problems and their causes

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

a group of disorders characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking or speech, disorganized or unusual motor behavior, and negative symptoms (such as diminished emotional expression); includes schizophrenia and schizotypical personality disorder

Psychotic Disorder

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

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 being at any age; frequently occurs in response to a traumatic event, and from which recovery is much more likely

Dissoicative Disorders

a controversial, rare group of disorders characterized by a disruption of or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior

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)

Dissociative Amnesia

a disorder in which people with intact brains reportedly experience memory gaps; people may report not remembering trauma-related specific events, people, places, or aspects of their identity and life history

Personality Disorders

a group of disorders characterized by enduring inner experiences or behavior patterns that differ from someone’s cultural norms and expectations, are pervasive and inflexible, being in adolescence or early adulthood, are stable over time, and cause distress or impairment

Antisocial Personality Disorder

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

Feeding and Eating Disorders

a group of disorders characterized by altered consumption or absorption of food that impairs health or psychological functions

Anorexia Nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight, and has an inaccurate self-perception; sometimes accompanied by excessive exercise

Bulimia Nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person’s binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) is followed by inappropriate weight-loss promoting behavior, such as vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

central nervous system abnormalities (usually in the brain) that start in childhood and alter thinking and behavior (as in intellectual limitations or a psyhological disorder)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by limitations in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

a psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity

Deinstitutionalization

the process, begun in the late twentieth century, of moving people with psychological disorders out of institutional facilities

Psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

Biomedical Therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology

Resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

Interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting of supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other signficant behaviors and events in order to promote insight

Transferring

in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred toward a parent)

Psychodynamic Therapy

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to unconscious 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

Person-Centered Therapy

a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which a therapist uses techniques such as active listening whithin an accepting, genuine, and empathetic environment to facilitate clients’ growth

Active Listening

empathetic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and seeks clarification

Behavior Therapy

thearpy that uses learning principles to reduce unwanted behaviors

Counterconditioning

behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; include exposure therapies and aversive conditioning

Exposure Therapies

behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization and virtual reality exposure therapy, that reat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginary or actual situations) 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 specific phobias

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

a counterconditioning technique that treats anxiety through creative electronic simulations in which people can safely face specific fears, such as flying, spiders, or public speaking