Psych Unit 5 Pt. 1

Psychopathology

The scientific study of mental disorders and different types of maladaptive behaviors associated with various disorders; the study of mental disorders and abnormal behavior

Mental illness

Any condition characterized by cognitive and emotional disturbances, abnormal behaviors, impaired functioning, or any combination of these; a dysfunctional and maladaptive pattern of behavior

Psychiatric disorder

Aligned with medical definitions and clinical conditions; will use a medical/clinical approach to diagnosis and treatment more than behavioral or cognitive approaches

Abnormal psychology

Dedicated to the study and treatment of psychological disorders or mental illness; studies "atypical" behavior, as well as various psychological disorders and psychopathology; studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder

Maladaptive behavior

Behavior that causes harm by making it difficult to fulfill the normal functions of everyday life; actions or responses that are ineffective in helping individuals cope with their environment

Personal distress

A person’s individual perception of his or her own emotional distress; the person reports feeling pain and discomfort associated with the abnormality; the emotional suffering and discomfort that an individual experiences as a result of their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are often associated with mental disorders

Atypical behavior

Behavior that deviates from what is considered socially or culturally normal; patterns of thoughts, feelings, or actions that deviate from what is considered typical or socially acceptable

Violation of cultural norms

Behavior that so deviates from what is culturally accepted that it is considered unacceptable and intolerable

Insanity

The inability to know right from wrong or the inability to control one’s actions during a criminal event; a legal term and is used to determine whether an individual is to be held accountable or liable for criminal behavior; a defendant's claim that they were so mentally disturbed at the time of their criminal act that they should not be held accountable for it; not a mental health or psychological term

Mental incompetence

A legal term applied when criminal suspects are deemed mentally ill and unable to understand the criminal proceedings or aid in their own defense

Psychosis

A mental disorder so severe that one loses touch with reality; a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions lose contact with external reality; characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

Supports the diagnosis and treatment of patients with mental illnesses, including substance use disorders, and also supports prevention and research; acts as an advocate for psychiatrists and their patients

Psychological disorder

A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning; impacts one's cognition, emotion, or behavior, and these behaviors are maladaptive

Dysfunctional disorder

A clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, often leading to distress or impairment in important areas of functioning

Mental disorder

A condition characterized by cognitive, emotional, or behavioral disturbances that significantly impair functioning or cause distress, often deviating from social norms

Trephining

Holes are drilled into a living person’s skull in order to release demonic spirits thought to be causing the person’s disordered behaviors; the surgical procedure of creating an opening in the skull

Demonology

The systematic study of belief in demons and evil spirits, frequently depicted in folklore and mythology as invading the mind, gaining possession of the soul, and producing disordered behavior

Four humors

Body fluids, including blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm; an excess of which was thought to cause certain illnesses and personality traits; blood represents cheer and courage, phlegm represents apathy, yellow bile represents anger, and black bile represents melancholy

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition

The source of criteria for defining psychological disorders; considers environmental events, medical conditions, and potential genetic links for behavior as part of the diagnostic criteria

Lobotomies

Surgical procedures to damage or remove the frontal lobe; neurosurgical procedures that involve severing connections in the brain's prefrontal lobe to treat various mental illnesses

Electroconvulsive “shock” therapy

Used in the most serious cases of depression; involves the administration of a short-duration electric current between the temples that causes a seizure; the seizure in turn causes the brain to release a significant amount of neurotransmitters that immediately improve mood; used when medications have failed to alleviate the symptoms; also used in serious cases of schizophrenia when medication has failed to show improvement; the use of electric shock to produce convulsions and treat drug-resistant or particularly severe psychiatric disorders

Etiology

The study of causes or origins; used to understand the root cause of a particular behavior, mental disorder, or disease

Eclectic

Selecting what appears to be best from various styles, doctrines, or methods; integrating several therapeutic strategies and techniques based on what will be most beneficial for the client

Medical model

An approach to understanding psychological disorders that views them as illnesses or diseases, and emphasizes the importance of diagnosis, treatment, and potential cure; presupposes that psychological disorders have a biological cause; disorders caused by genetics, brain damage, dysfunction of the brain’s neurotransmitter system, or a combination of these neurobiological factors

Psychological models

Incorporate a number of different approaches to explain psychological disorders, including psychodynamic, psychosocial, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic models

Psychodynamic model

Maintains that abnormal behaviors are caused by repressed memories of childhood trauma and unconscious conflicts; based on the Freudian belief that all psychological problems or disorders stem from repressing past trauma, memories, or thoughts in the unconscious mind to avoid anxiety

Behavioral model

Based wholly on the theory that all behavior, whether adaptive or maladaptive, is learned; explain how behaviors are acquired and maintained; maintains that abnormal behaviors are the products of learning, just like any other behaviors

Illness anxiety disorder (IAD)

A psychiatric disorder defined by excessive worry about having or developing a serious undiagnosed medical condition; a psychological disorder where a person is excessively worried about having a serious illness

Cognitive model

Sees psychological disorders as illogical, irrational, or maladaptive thought processes; focuses on examining someone’s way of thinking to understand his or her behavior; the person’s perceptions, attitudes, areas of focus or directed attention, memories, and information-processing are evaluated in order to make an accurate diagnosis of a mental disorder

Fight-or-flight response

An automatic physiological reaction to an event perceived as stressful or frightening; the body prepares itself either for combat or escape

Humanistic model

Based on the belief that mental illness stems predominantly from issues involving low self-esteem, a poor self-concept, and the feelings and maladaptive behaviors that result from the inability to be one’s authentic self

Conditions of worth

The conditions one believes they have to meet to be worthy of their family’s love; the state in which an individual considers love and respect to be conditional on meeting the approval of others; belief derives from the child’s sense of being worthy of love on the basis of parental approval

Diathesis-stress model

Recognizes a combination of biological and environmental causes of psychological disorders; suggests that the development of psychological disorders is influenced by both a genetic predisposition and environmental stressors; proposes that individuals with a genetic vulnerability are more likely to develop a disorder when exposed to stressful life events

Diathesis

The predisposition or biologically-based vulnerability to a particular mental illness; a predispositional factor, or a set of factors, that makes possible a disordered state

Stressors

Specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the person's well-being; environmental events that can trigger the onset of a biologically-based disorder

Protective factors

Steps that can be taken to decrease the likelihood that a specific disorder will present itself; involves modifying the environment to reduce exposure to stressors or teaching the vulnerable person adaptive coping skills to help reduce or eliminate symptoms of the disorder; conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that mitigate or eliminate risks and promote positive outcomes

Sociocultural model

Emphasizes societal and cultural influences in the individual’s environment; examines how social and cultural factors influence an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Cultural syndromes

Categories of similar symptoms and explanations of causes that occur in a culturally-specific context and are recognized within the culture; patterns of symptoms or behaviors that are recognized within specific cultural contexts, which can affect how individuals experience and express psychological distress

Cultural idioms of distress

Involve expressions of distress that do not necessarily involve specific symptoms or disorders but provide shared ways of experiencing and expressing personal and social concerns within a culture

Taijin kyofusho

A social anxiety disorder specific to Japan in which a man or woman experiences intense fear that his or her body, a bodily function, or appearance will embarrass others

Susto

Specific to areas of Latin America, this psychological condition includes severe anxiety along with physical symptoms caused by what is believed to be a religious-magic traumatic event that separates the soul from the body; symptoms may include apathy, insomnia, irritability, and physical symptoms such as diarrhea

Amok

Originating in Southeast Asia, this condition begins as a period of brooding and manifests as a sudden and possibly homicidal explosion of rage usually caused by a perceived insult

Hwabyung/Hwabyeong

Specific to the Korean peninsula, an overwhelming feeling of anger related to perceived unfairness; often caused by the buildup of unresolved anger that has been suppressed for a long time; the trigger is usually a family-related event, and symptoms include heat sensation, respiratory symptoms, and heart palpitations

Cultural relativism

A concept that explains the intersection between psychopathology and culture; psychological disorders can only be fully understood within the context of the culture in which they occur; the concept that a person's beliefs, values, and behaviors should be understood within the context of their own culture, rather than being judged by the standards of another culture

George L. Engel

Developed the biopsychosocial approach; believed that to understand and respond adequately to patients' suffering—and to give them a sense of being understood—clinicians must attend simultaneously to the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of illness

Biopsychosocial approach

An integrated model that combines the biological (medical), psychological, and sociocultural models and is believed by most professionals to be a more thorough approach to use when explaining, diagnosing, and treating psychological disorders

Any mental illness (AMI)

Mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders diagnosed according to specific DSM-5 criteria

Serious mental illness (SMI)

Mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders as defined above but that result in serious functional impairment that substantially interferes with major life activities

Lifetime prevalence

The percentage of the population that at some point in their lives will have experienced the condition; the total proportion of individuals in a population who have ever experienced a particular disorder at any point in their lives

David Rosenhan

Conducted a study in which researchers pretended to have symptoms of mental illness and were admitted into psychiatric hospitals to examine the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses; highlighted the potential dangers and inaccuracies of psychiatric diagnoses

Pseudopatients

Individuals who are not mentally ill but are admitted to psychiatric hospitals as if they are, to study the diagnostic process and treatment practices

Schizophrenic

A severe mental disorder characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior; a serious mental illness characterized by incoherent or illogical thoughts, bizarre behavior and speech, and delusions or hallucinations, such as hearing voices

Down Syndrome

Associated with individuals born with an extra 21st chromosome; a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra 21st chromosome; characterized by physical growth delays, characteristic facial features, and mild to moderate intellectual disability

ADD/ADHD

Common behavioral symptoms are persistent patterns of inattentiveness and/or hyperactivity and impulsiveness; a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, impulsivity, or hyperactivity that interfere with functioning or development