AP Psych Unit 8 Psychological Disorders Part 1 of 2

Terms for the first half of the unit 12 Myer's AP psych text book.

Abnormal Behavior

A behavior that is statistically uncommon that causes a disturbance in one’s life. (Rylee)

Atypical Behavior

behavior that is atypical or statistically uncommon within a particular culture or that is maladaptive or detrimental to an individual or to those around that individual. (Google)

Deviance 

A system of actions or individual actions that depart from socially acceptable legal and ethical standards. (Google)

Dysfunction

Includes disturbances in a person's thinking, emotional regulation, or behavior that reflects significant dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. In other words, refers to a breakdown in cognition, emotion, and/or behavior. (Google)

Psychopathology 

The scientific exploration of abnormal mental states that, for more than a century, has provided a Gestalt for psychiatric disorders and guided clinical as well as scientific progress in modern psychiatry. (Google)

Psychosis 

A mental health problem that causes people to perceive or interpret things differently from those around them. This might involve hallucinations or delusions. (Google)

Diathesis-Stress Model

Posits that psychological disorders result from an interaction between inherent vulnerability and environmental stressors. Such interactions between dispositional and environmental factors have been demonstrated in psychopathology research. (Google)

Comorbidity 

Defined as the co-occurence of more than one disorder in the same individual. In its broadest sense, can include the co-occurrence of medical and psychiatric disorders, such as the dementia associated with organic conditions or the affective changes resulting from endocrinopathies (Google)

Dopamine

Known as the “feel-good” hormone. It gives you a sense of pleasure. It also gives you the motivation to do something when you're feeling pleasure. Part of your reward system. (Google)

Serotonin

A chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout your body. Plays a key role in such body functions as mood, sleep, digestion, nausea, wound healing, bone health, blood clotting and sexual desire. (Google)

Anxiety Disorders

Psychological  disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety. (Myer’s)

Agoraphobia

A fear of being in situations where escape might be difficult or that help wouldn't be available if things go wrong. (Google) 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

An anxiety disorder in which a person is continuously tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal. (Myer’s)

Panic Disorder

An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minute-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. (Myer’s)   

Social Anxiety Disorder

An intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. (Google)

Specific Phobia Disorder

An intense, irrational fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. (Google)

Neuro-Cognitive Disorders

 A collection of syndromes in which the prominent clinical feature is an acquired decline in cognitive functioning.(Google)

Alzhimer’s Disease 

A brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. (Google)

Lewy Body Dementia

A disease associated with abnormal deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain. These deposits affect chemicals in the brain whose changes, in turn, can lead to problems with thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. (Google)

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Depressive Disorders  

When your general emotional state or mood is distorted or inconsistent with your circumstances and interferes with your ability to function. (Google)

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder 

A condition in which children or adolescents experience persistent irritability and anger and frequent, intense temper outbursts. (Google)

Major Depression

A persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.  (Google)

Major Depressive Disorder 

A mood disorder in which, a person experiences in the absence of drugs or a medical condition, two or more weeks of a depressed mood, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished pleasure in most activities. (Myer’s)

Persistent Depressive Disorder  

A continuous, long-term form of depression.(Google)

Dissociative Disorders

A disorder in which consciousness gets separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings. (Myer’s)

Dissociative Alzheimer’s 

A person forgets key elements of their life and is therefore divorced from a full understanding of themselves and their current state. (Google)

Dissociative Identity Disorder

A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinctly and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder. (Myer’s)

Feeding and Eating Disorders

Not really about the food, but rather a coping mechanism gone wrong. (Google)

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder in which a person diets and becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve.  (Myer’s)

Binge-Eating Disorder

Significant binge-eating episodes, followed by destress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that would mark bulimia nervosa. (Myer’s)

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, use of laxatives, fasting, or excess exercise. (Myer’s)