Discovering Psychology Chapter 13

Psychopathology

The scientific study of the origins, symptoms, and development of psychological disorders.

Psychological Disorder

A pattern of behavioral and psychological symptoms that causes significant personal distress, impairs the ability to function in one or more important areas of life, or both.

DSM-IV-TR

Abbreviation for the *Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders*, Fourth Edition, Text Revision; the book published by the American Psychiatric Association that describes the specific symptoms and diagnostic guidelines for different psychological disorders.

Anxiety

An unpleasant emotional state characterized by physical arousal and feelings of tension, apprehension, and worry.

Anxiety Disorders

A category of psychological disorders in which extreme anxiety is the main diagnostic feature and causes significant disruptions in the person's cognitive, behavioral, or interpersonal functioning.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

An anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, global, and persistent symptoms of anxiety; also called free-floating anxiety.

Panic Attack

A sudden episode of extreme anxiety that rapidly escalates in intensity.

Panic Disorder

An anxiety disorder in which the person experiences frequent and unexpected panic attacks.

Agoraphobia

An anxiety disorder involving the extreme and irrational fear of experiencing a panic attack in a public situation and being unable to escape or get help.

Phobia

A persistent and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity.

Specific Phobia

An excessive, intense, and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity that is actively avoided or endured with marked anxiety.

Social Phobia

An anxiety disorder involving the extreme and irrational fear of being embarrassed, judged, or scrutinized by others in social situations.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

An anxiety disorder in which chronic and persistent symptoms of anxiety develop in response to an extreme physical or psychological trauma.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

An anxiety disorder in which the symptoms of anxiety are tirggered by intrusive, repetitive thoughts and urges to perform certain actions.

Obsessions

Repeated, intrusive, and uncontrollable irrational thoughts or mental images that cause extreme anxiety and distress.

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts that are performed to prevent or reduce anxiety.

Mood Disorders

A category of mental disorders in which significant and persistent disruptions in mood or emotions cause impaired cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning; also called affective disorders.

Major Depression

A mood disorder characterized by extreme and persistent feelings of despondency, worthlessness, and hoplessness, causing impaired emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical functioning.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

A mood disorder in which episodes of depression typically occur during the fall and winter and subside during the spring and summer.

Dysthymic Disorder

A mood disorder involving chronic, low-grade feeligns of depression that produce subjective discomfort but do not seriously impair the ability to function.

Bipolar Disorder

A mood disorder involving periods of incapacitating depression alternating with periods of extreme euphoria and excitement; formerly called manic depression.

Manic Episode

A sudden, rapidly escalating emotional state characterized by extreme euphoria, excitement, physical energy, and rapid thoughts and speech.

Cyclothymic Disorder

A mood disorder characterized by moderate but frequent mood swings that are not severe enough to qualify as bipolar disorder.

Eating Disorder

A category of mental disorders characterized by severe disturbances in eating behavior.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by excessive weight loss, an irrational fear of gaining weight, and distorted body self-perception.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by binges of extreme overeating followed by self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, or other inappropriate methods to purge the excessive food and prevent weight gain.

Personality Disorder

Inflexible, maladaptive patterns of thoughts, emotions, behavior, and interpersonal functioning that are stable over time and across situations, and deviate from the expectations of the individual's culture.

Paranoid Personality Disorder

A personality disorder characterized by a pervasive distrust and supsiciousness of the motives of others without sufficient basis.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregarding and violating the rights of others; such individuals are also referred to as psychopaths or sociopaths.

Borderline Personality Disorder

A personality disorder characterized by instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and emotsions, and marked impulsivity.

Dissociative Experience

A break or disruption in consciousness during which awareness, memory, and personal identity become separated or divided.

Dissociative Disorder

A category of psychological disorders in which extreme and frequent disruptions of awareness, memory, and personal identity impair the ability to function.

Dissociative Amnesia

A dissociative disorder involving the partial or total inability to recall important personal information.

Dissociative Fugue

A dissociative disorder involving sudden and unexpected travel away from home, extensive amnesia, and identity confusion.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

A dissociative disorder involving extensive memory disruptions along with the presence of two or more distinct identities, or "personalities"; formerly called multiple personality disorder.

Schizophrenia

A psychological disorder in which the ability to function is impaired by severely distorted beliefs, perceptions, and thought processes.

Positive Symptoms

In schizophrenia, symptoms that reflect excesses or distortions of normal functioning, including delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thoughts and behavior.

Negative Symptoms

In schizophrenia, symptoms that reflect defects or deficits in normal functioning, including flat affect, alogia, and avolition.

Delusion

A falsely held belief that persists despite compelling contradictory evidence.

Hallucination

A false or distorted perception that seems vividly real to the person experiencing it.

Dopamine Hypothesis

The view that schizophrenia is related to, and may be caused by, excessive activity of the naurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.