Lectures 8/25-9/8: Exhaustive Study Guide: Abnormal Psychology, Diagnostic Critiques, and Clinical Frameworks

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, critiques of diagnostic systems, legal and clinical definitions, mental health professions, and case analysis key terms.

DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

A descriptive taxonomy of behavioral criteria and descriptions rather than a guide to biologically-verified disease entities, lacking established biological markers.

Biochemical Imbalance Theory

The theory that depression and mental illnesses are caused by chemical deficiencies (e.g., low serotonin), criticized in lecture as an unsubstantiated urban legend lacking empirical support.

Thomas Szasz's Mental Illness as Metaphor

A theoretical concept asserting mental illness acts as if there is a biological cause for psychological phenomena, contrasting brain damage disabling behavior with the brain enabling purposeful, organized behavior.

Multiaxial System

The five-axis diagnostic classification structure used in previous DSM editions to separately document primary disorders, medical conditions, psychosocial stressors, personality disorders, and global functioning, which was eliminated in DSM-5.

NIMH 2013 Research Shift

A major funding policy change under director Thomas Insel where the National Institute of Mental Health stopped funding research based on DSM categories, redirecting focus to functional domains after concluding that spending approximately $20\text{ billion}$ over $13\text{ years}$ failed to improve real-world outcomes.

Power Threat Meaning Framework

An alternative psychological framework developed by Lucy Johnstone that explains emotional distress through sociocultural power dynamics, environmental threats, and individual meaning-making rather than biological disease models.

Placebo Effect Efficacy

The finding that approximately $83\text{\%}$ of the measured effect of antidepressants is attributable to psychological factors and learned expectancies, supported by open-label placebo studies by Irving Kirsch.

Ego-Dystonic

Psychological symptoms, thoughts, or internal states that feel unwelcome, alien, and distressing to the individual, characteristic of most standard mental disorders.

Ego-Syntonic

Behaviors, traits, or impulses that are perceived by the individual as acceptable and consistent with their self-concept, leading them to externalize blame rather than feel personal distress; typical of personality disorders.

Othering

A sociological process of identifying and defining individuals by their differences, which undermines their sense of belonging and leads to social stigma, isolation, and negative stereotyping.

Statistical Deviance

A numerical measurement of how far a behavior or trait diverges from the population average, which serves as a poor standalone criterion for abnormality because non-pathological traits can also deviate.

Dangerousness

The risk of harm to oneself or others, which serves as the sole legal criterion for involuntary institutionalization.

Dysfunction (Disability)

A mandatory criterion for nearly all mental health diagnoses defined as significant interference with an individual's ability to function in daily life across home, work, school, or social domains.

Psychopathology

A medical model term used synonymously with mental illness and mental disease that frames abnormal psychological functioning within a disease framework.

Insanity

A formal legal term related to criminal culpability and legal responsibility, rather than a psychological or medical diagnosis.

Fear vs. Anxiety

Distinction where fear is a justified emotional response to a real, present threat, whereas anxiety is an identical emotional and physiological response occurring in non-threatening or low-probability situations.

Iatrogenic Effects

Adverse effects, complications, or harms inflicted on a patient directly by medical or psychological treatment, as highlighted in Dr. John Read's research on treatments like electroconvulsive therapy.

Person-First Language

An ethical linguistic standard requiring clinicians to refer to individuals as someone with a diagnosis of X rather than defining them by their condition (e.g., a schizophrenic).

Boulder Model

The scientist-practitioner training framework for Ph.D. clinical psychology programs that emphasizes both generating original scientific research and delivering clinical practice.

Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology)

A professional practitioner-focused doctoral degree that prioritizes clinical practice and applied skills over original research production.

Adjustment Disorder

A DSM diagnosis defined by emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an identifiable stressor, beginning within $3\text{ months}$ of stressor onset and typically limited to approximately $6\text{ months}$.

1973 APA Diagnostic Vote

The historic vote by the American Psychiatric Association (~$60\text{--}40\%$) that officially removed homosexuality as an automatic mental disorder classification from the DSM.

Polypharmacy

The simultaneous administration of multiple psychiatric medications to a single patient, which can result in compounding side effects and impaired decision-making.

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

A master's-level practitioner authorized to diagnose mental conditions and bill insurance for psychotherapy, but legally prohibited from using the protected title psychologist.

Psychiatric Social Worker (MSW)

A master's-level mental health professional who emphasizes evaluating individuals within their broader social environments and mobilizing community resources.

Altruistic Filicide

The act of a parent killing their child under the delusional belief that doing so saves the child from severe real or imagined suffering or secures their place in heaven.

Psychosis

A severe mental state characterized by a loss of contact with reality, involving manifestations such as delusions or hallucinations.

Command Hallucinations

A specific form of auditory hallucination where an internal voice instructs the individual to carry out specific actions.

Postpartum Psychosis Diagnostic Window

The arbitrary timeframe mandated by DSM-5-TR (onset within $4\text{ to }12\text{ weeks}$ post-delivery) for classifying psychotic symptoms following childbirth, contrasting with broader ICD-11 timelines.

Relative Age Effect in ADHD

The phenomenon where children who are among the youngest in their academic grade cohort are statistically more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis due to normal developmental differences compared to older peers.