Psychopathology 1

Psychopathology

The scientific study of psychological disorders.

Psychological dysfunction

A breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning.

Distress

Significant emotional suffering or discomfort experienced by an individual.

Impairment in functioning

Difficulty living a normal life or completing everyday activities, such as attending work or school, making friends, or self-care.

Fallacy of a single cause

The mistaken assumption that one single factor is responsible for causing a psychological disorder.

Falsifiability

The ability for a hypothesis to be tested and potentially shown to be false.

Clinical description

An explanation of what a disorder looks like, including presenting issues, diagnosis, prevalence, course, and prognosis.

Prevalence

How common a psychological disorder is within a population.

Course

How a disorder develops or changes over time.

Prognosis

The expected future outcome or course of a disorder.

Chronic

A pattern where a disorder continues for a long period of time.

Episodic

A pattern where a disorder comes and goes in distinct episodes.

Time-limited

A disorder pattern that lasts for a limited duration of time.

Acute onset

A pattern of disorder onset that begins quickly or suddenly.

Insidious onset

A pattern of disorder onset that develops slowly and gradually.

Supernatural model

The historical explanation attributing psychological problems to supernatural forces such as gods, spirits, demons, or astronomy.

Biological/Biomedical model

An explanation focusing on physical or biological causes in the body as the source of psychological problems.

Trephination

A historical procedure involving making a hole in a person's skull by removing a small piece of the bone.

Lobotomy

A surgical procedure disrupting or removing connections involving parts of the brain, including the frontal lobes and prefrontal cortex.

Psychobiological model

A perspective that considers psychological problems as arising from an interaction of mind, body, and psychosocial influences.

Moral therapy

A historical approach to mental healthcare focused on providing humane, respectful care and improving living conditions for patients.

Dorothea Dix

A prominent figure in the mental hygiene movement who advocated for improving standards of care and mental health reform.

Psychoanalysis

A comprehensive psychological theory developed by Sigmund Freud asserting that internal unconscious conflicts direct human behavior.

Id

In Freud's theory, the structure of personality driven by basic desires and impulses seeking immediate satisfaction.

Ego

In Freud's theory, the realistic part of personality that mediates between raw desires and real-world constraints.

Superego

In Freud's theory, the moral component of personality representing internal rules, standards, and conscience.

Conscious

The level of the mind containing thoughts and perceptions that a person is currently aware of.

Subconscious

Mental information that is not in main conscious attention but can still exert influence on a person.

Unconscious

Thoughts, desires, and memories that exist outside of conscious awareness.

Catharsis

The process of releasing and expressing strong or repressed emotions.

Free association

A psychoanalytic technique in which a person expresses thoughts as they occur without censorship or filtering.

Projective tests

Assessment tools designed to reveal underlying personality traits or unconscious thoughts by presenting ambiguous materials.

Denial

A defense mechanism characterized by refusing to acknowledge or accept an obvious reality or fact.

Displacement

A defense mechanism involving transferring uncomfortable feelings from the original source onto a safer object or person.

Projection

A defense mechanism where an individual attributes their own unacceptable feelings or impulses onto someone else.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism where a person invents reassuring or self-serving explanations for their behavior instead of recognizing the true cause.

Reaction formation

A defense mechanism in which a person acts in a manner directly opposite to their actual underlying feelings.

Repression

A defense mechanism involving blocking unpleasant or disturbing thoughts from conscious awareness.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism where unacceptable drives or impulses are redirected into socially constructive activities.

Collective unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a shared layer of the unconscious containing inherited universal human memory patterns.

Archetypes

In Jungian psychology, common inherited character patterns or symbolic themes present across cultures and stories.

Persona

In Jungian psychology, the external social mask or version of oneself presented to others.

Shadow

In Jungian psychology, the rejected, hidden, or unacknowledged parts of one's personality.

Individuation

The process in Jungian psychology of integrating disparate aspects of the self to achieve psychological wholeness and balance.

Classical conditioning

A learning theory demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov where an association is formed between two stimuli.

Unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers an unlearned response.

Conditioned stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a learned response.

Operant conditioning

A form of learning articulated by B.F. Skinner where behaviors are modified by their consequences.

Positive reinforcement

Increasing the frequency of a behavior by presenting a desirable stimulus immediately after the behavior occurs.

Negative reinforcement

Increasing the frequency of a behavior by removing or stopping an unpleasant stimulus when the behavior occurs.

Punishment

A consequence applied following a behavior in order to decrease the likelihood of that behavior recurring.

Generalization

The tendency for a learned response to occur in the presence of stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Systematic desensitization

A behavioral technique involving progressive exposure to fear-inducing stimuli paired with relaxation methods.

Self-actualization

In Abraham Maslow's humanistic model, the highest level of human growth involving reaching one's full individual potential.

Unconditional positive regard

Carl Rogers' concept of offering complete acceptance, warmth, and non-judgmental respect to an individual.

Empathy

The capacity to understand and share the feelings and perspective of another person.

Cognitive Behavioral Theory

A psychological model emphasizing the dynamic interactions among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Core beliefs

Deeply ingrained foundational assumptions that an individual holds regarding themselves, others, and the world.

Schemas

Cognitive frameworks or mental structures that organize and interpret incoming information.

Automatic thoughts

Rapid, involuntary cognitive responses that pop into mind automatically in response to specific situations.

Cognitive distortions

Inaccurate, biased, or illogical patterns of thinking that can exacerbate emotional distress like anxiety and depression.

Psychopathology

The scientific study of psychological disorders.

Psychological Dysfunction

A breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning.

Supernatural Model

A historical conception of psychopathology that attributes psychological disorders to divinities, demons, spirits, or astronomy.

Biological/Biomedical Model

A historical conception of psychopathology that views disorders as physiological only, though it historically struggled to produce empirical evidence.

Trephination

A historical medical procedure that involved removing small parts of the skull.

Lobotomy

A historical treatment that involved removing connections between the prefrontal cortex and frontal lobes.

Mental Hygiene Movement

A movement led by Dorothea Dix that advocated for improved standards of care and the prevention and promotion of mental health.

Denial

A defense mechanism in which an individual refuses to acknowledge some aspect of objective reality or subjective experience that is apparent to others.

Displacement

A defense mechanism involving the transfer of a feeling about, or a response to, an object that causes discomfort onto another, usually less-threatening, object or person.

Projection

A defense mechanism where an individual falsely attributes their own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or thoughts to another individual or object.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that conceals the true motivations for actions, thoughts, or feelings through elaborate reassuring or self-serving but incorrect explanations.

Reaction Formation

A defense mechanism that substitutes behavior, thoughts, or feelings that are the direct opposite of unacceptable ones.

Repression

A defense mechanism that blocks disturbing wishes, thoughts, or experiences from conscious awareness.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism that directs potentially maladaptive feelings or impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

Oral Stage

The psychosexual stage occurring between infancy and two years old.

Anal Stage

The psychosexual stage occurring between 15 months and three years old.

Phallic Stage

The psychosexual stage occurring between three and six years old.

Latency Stage

The psychosexual stage occurring between six years old and puberty.

Genital Stage

The psychosexual stage occurring from puberty until death.

Collective Unconscious

A Jungian concept referring to inherited, universal patterns (archetypes) shared across cultures and myths.

Individuation

In Jungian psychology, the growth process of integrating opposing parts of the self into a balanced whole.

Cognitive Behavioral Theory

A model proposing that psychological disorder arises less from events themselves than from how they are interpreted, where thoughts, feelings, and behavior are mutually reinforcing.