PSY 215: Psychopathology/Abnormal Psych - Ch. 5

Stressor

An event that creates the demand for a stress response.

Hypothalamus

Brain structure where the features of arousal are set in motion; activates the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

The network of nerve fibers that connect the central nervous system to all the other organs of the body.

Endocrine system

The system of glands located throughout the body that help control important activities such as growth and intimate activity.

Sympathetic nervous system

The nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system that quicken the heartbeat and produce other changes experienced as arousal.

Parasympathetic nervous system

The nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system that help return bodily processes to normal.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

One route by which the brain and body produce arousal.

Corticosteroids

Hormones, including cortisol, released by the adrenal glands at times of stress.

Acute stress disorder

A disorder in which a person experiences fear and related symptoms soon after a trauma but for less than a month.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A disorder in which a person experiences fear and related symptoms long after a traumatic event.

Emotional dysregulation

A pattern where emotions fluctuate readily and markedly.

Dissociation

Psychological separation: feeling dazed, having poor memory, and experience depersonalization and/or derealization.

Rape

Forced sexual intercourse or another sexual act committed against a nonconsenting person, or intercourse between an adult and an underage person.

Terrorism

The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.

Torture

The use of brutal, degrading, and disorienting strategies to reduce victims to a state of utter helplessness.

Stress circuit

Brain circuit that includes such structures as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and hippocampus, among others.

Resilience

The process of adapting well in the face of adversity.

Prolonged grief disorder

A disorder in which persons continue to display — a year or more after the death of a loved one — severe, wide-ranging symptoms of grief almost every day. This category was first added to the diagnostic system in DSM-5-TR.

Complex PTSD

Stress pattern where individuals experience virtually all of the symptoms of PTSD as well as profound disturbances in their emotional control, self-concept, and relationships.

Developmental psychopathology

A perspective that uses a developmental framework to understand how variables and principles from the various models may collectively account for human functioning.

Cognitive processing therapy

Therapy technique where therapists guide clients to examine/change the dysfunctional attitudes and styles of interpretation they have developed due to traumatic experiences.

Prolonged exposure

A treatment approach in which clients confront not only trauma-related objects and situations but also their painful memories of traumatic experiences.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

An exposure treatment in which clients move their eyes in a rhythmic manner from side to side while flooding their minds with images of objects and situations they ordinarily avoid.

Psychological debriefing

A form of crisis intervention in which victims are helped to talk about their feelings and reactions to traumatic incidents. Also called critical incident stress debriefing.

Psychological first aid (PFA)

A disaster response intervention that seeks to reduce the initial distress of victims and foster their adaptive functioning, but without procedures that may be premature, intrusive, or inflexible.

Dissociative disorders

Disorders marked by major changes in memory that do not have clear physical causes.

Memory

The faculty for recalling past events and past learning.

Dissociative amnesia

A disorder marked by an inability to recall important personal events and information.

Amnestic episode

A period of forgotten events, typically beginning with some very disturbing occurrence; During an episode people may appear confused or wander aimlessly.

Dissociative fugue

A form of dissociative amnesia in which persons travel to a new location and may assume a new identity, simultaneously forgetting their past.

Dissociative identity disorder

A dissociative disorder in which a person develops two or more distinct personalities. Also known as multiple personality disorder.

Subpersonalities

The two or more distinct personalities found in individuals suffering with dissociative identity disorder. Also known as alternate personalities.

Iatrogenic

Induced unintentionally by a physician/practitioner or by medical treatment/diagnostic procedures.

Repression

The most basic ego defense mechanism: people fight off anxiety by unconsciously preventing painful memories, thoughts, or impulses from reaching awareness.

State-dependent learning

Learning that becomes associated with the conditions under which it occurred, so that it is best remembered under the same conditions.

Self-hypnosis

The process of hypnotizing oneself, sometimes for the purpose of forgetting unpleasant events.

Hypnotic therapy

A treatment in which the patient undergoes hypnosis and is then guided to recall forgotten events or perform other therapeutic activities. Also known as hypnotherapy.

Fusion

The final merging of two or more subpersonalities in dissociative identity disorder.

Depersonalization-derealization disorder

A dissociative disorder marked by the presence of persistent and recurrent episodes of depersonalization, derealization, or both.

Depersonalization

A feeling of separation from one’s body, as if observing oneself from the outside.

Derealization

A feeling that one’s external world is unreal or strange.