Ch.14 Defintions - Psychological disorders

Mental disorder

A persistent disturbance or dysfunction in behavior, thoughts, or emotions that causes significant distress or impairment

Medical model

An approach that conceptualizes abnormal psychological experiences as illnesses that, like physical illnesses, have biological and environmental causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures 

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DIsorders

A classification system that describes the symptoms used to diagnose each recognized mental disorder and indicates how that disorder can be distinguished from other, similar problems 

Comorbidity

The co-occurence of two or more disorders in a single individual 

Biopsychosocial perspective 

Explains mental disorders as the result of interactions among biological, psychological, and social factors 

Diathesis-stress model 

A person may be predisposed to a psychological disorder that remains unexpressed until triggered by stress 

Research Domain Criteria Project

An initiative that aims to guide the classification and understanding of mental disorders by revealing the basic processes that give rise to them

Anxiety disorders

The class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature 

Phobic disorders

Characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific obhects, activities, or situations 

Specific phobia

An irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function 

Social phobia 

An irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed

Preparedness theory 

People are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears

Panic disorder

The sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror

Agoraphobia

A specific phovia involving a fear of public places

Generalized anxiety disorder

A chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviors (compulsions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with an individual’s functioning

Posttraumatic stress disorder 

Chronic physiological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma, and avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind 

Mood disorders

Mental disorders that have mood disturbance as their predominant feature and take two main forms: depression and bipolar disorder 

Major depressive disorder

A severely depressed mood and/or inability to experience pleasure that lasts two or more weeks and is accompanied by feeling of worthlessness, lethargy and sleep and appetite disturbance 

Seasonal affective disorder

Recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern

Helplessness theory

Individuals who are prone to depression automatically attribute negative experiences to causes that are internal, stable, and global

Bipolar disorder

A condition characterized by cycles of abnormal, persisten high mood (mania) and low mood (depression)

Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder characterized by the profound disruption of basic psychological processes; a distorted perception of reality; altered or blunted emotion, and disturbances in thought, motivation, and behavior 

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Thoughts and behaviors, such as hallucinations and delusions, not seen in those without the disorder

Hallucination 

False perceptual experiences that have a compelling sense of being real despite the absence of external stimulation 

Delusion

False beliefs, often bizarre and grandiose, that are maintained in spite of their irrationality 

Negative symptoms

Deficits in or disruptions of emotions and behaviors

Disorganized symptoms

Disruptions or deficits in abilities of speech, movement, and cognition 

Disorganized speech

A severe disruption of verbal communication in which ideas shift rapidly and icoherently among unrelated topics

Grossly disorganized behavior 

Behavior that is inappropriate for the situation or ineffective in attaining goals

Catatonic behavior 

A marked decrease in all movement or an increase in muscular rigidity and overactivity

Cognitive symptoms

Deficits in cognitive abilities, specifically in executive functioning, attention, and working memory, present in those with schizophrenia 

Dopamine hypothesis

The idea that schizophrenia involves an excess of dopamine activity 

Autism spectrum disorder

A condition beginning in early childhood in which a personshows persistent communication deficits, as well as restricted, and repetitive patterns of behvaiors, interests, or activities 

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

A persistent pattern of severe problems with inattention and/or hyperactivity or impulsiveness that cause significant impariments in functioning

Conduct disorder

A persistent pattern of deviant behavior involving aggression to people or animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, or serious rule violations 

Personality disorders

Enduring patterns of thinking, feeling, or relating to others or controlling impulses that deviate from cultural expectations and cause distress or impaired functioning 

Antisocial personality disorder

A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood 

Suicide

Intentional self-inflicted death

Suicide attempt

People engage in potentially harmful behavior with some intention of dying 

Nonsuicidal self-injury

Direct, deliberate destruction of body tissue in the absence of any intent to die