Introduction to Health Psychology and Psychological Disorders

Dissociative disorders

A controversial, rare group of disorders characterized by a disruption of or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, & behavior.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

A rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct & alternating identities (formerly called multiple personality disorder).

Dissociative Amnesia

A disorder in which people with intact brains reportedly experience memory gaps; people with dissociative amnesia may report not remembering trauma-related specific events, people, places, or aspects of their identity & life history.

Personality Disorders

Group of disorders characterized by enduring inner experiences or behavior patterns that differ from someone's cultural norms & expectations, are pervasive & inflexible, begin in adolescence or early adulthood, are stable over time, & cause distress & impairment.

Cluster A Personality Disorders

People appear eccentric or odd; includes paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, & schizotypal personality disorder.

Cluster B Personality Disorders

People appear dramatic, emotional, or erratic; includes borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, & antisocial personality disorder.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even towards friends & family; may be aggressive & ruthless or a clever con artist.

Cluster C Personality Disorders

People appear anxious or fearful; includes avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, & obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

Feeding & Eating Disorders

A group of disorders characterized by altered consumption or absorption of food that impairs health & psychological functioning (feeding disorders typically occur in infants & young children, whereas eating disorders affect people who self-feed).

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight, & has an inaccurate self-perception; sometimes accompanied by excessive exercise.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder in which a person's binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) is followed by inappropriate weight-loss-promoting behavior, such as vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Central nervous system abnormalities (usually in the brain) that start in childhood & alter thinking & behavior (as in intellectual limitations or a psychological disorder).

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

A disorder that appears in childhood & is marked by limitations in communication & social interaction, & by rigidly fixated interests & repetitive behaviors.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A psychological disorder marked by extreme inattention and/or hyperactivity & impulsivity.

Deinstitutionalization

The process, begun in the late 20th century, of moving people with psychological disorders out of institutional facilities.

Psychotherapy

Treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist & someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth.

Biomedical Therapy

Prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology.

Eclectic Approach

An approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to unconscious forces & childhood experiences, & seeks to enhance self-insight.

Free Association

In psychodynamic therapy, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes & says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing.

Dream Interpretation

In psychodynamic therapy, the analyst's noting of supposed hidden (latent) dream meanings.

Insight Therapies

Therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives & defenses (humanistic, psychoanalytic, & psychodynamic therapies).

Person-Centered Therapy

Humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within an accepting, genuine, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth (also called client-centered therapy).

Active Listening

Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, & seeks clarification; a feature of Rogers' person-centered therapy

Unconditional positive regard

A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness & self-acceptance (also called unconditional regard).

Behavior therapy

Therapy that uses learning principles to reduce unwanted behaviors (also called applied behavior analysis).

Counterconditioning

Behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies & aversive conditioning.

Exposure therapies

Behavioral techniques, such systematic desensitization & virtual reality exposure therapy, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginary or actual situations) to the things they fear & avoid.

Systematic desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli; commonly used to treat phobias.

Virtual reality exposure therapy

A counterconditioning technique that treats anxiety through creative electronic simulations in which people can safely face specific fears, such as flying, spiders, or public speaking.

Aversive conditioning

Associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol).

Token economy

An operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token (reward) for exhibiting behavior & can later exchange tokens for privileges or treats.

Cognitive therapy

Therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events & our emotional reactions.

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

A confrontational cognitive therapy that vigorously challenges people's illogical, self-defeating attitudes & assumptions.

Cognitive triad

Negative thoughts about oneself, the world, & the future; assumed by cognitive psychologists to be the underlying cause of depression.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

A popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior).

Group therapy

Therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, providing benefits from group interaction.

Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion.

Evidence-based practice

Clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise & client characteristics & preferences.

Therapeutic alliance

A bond of trust & mutual understanding between a therapist & client, who work together constructively to overcome the client's problem.

Psychopharmacology

The study of the effects of drugs on mind & behavior.

Antipsychotic drugs

Drugs used to treat schizophrenia & other forms of severe thought disorders.

Antianxiety drugs

Drugs used to control anxiety & agitation.

Antidepressant drugs

Drugs used to treat depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive & related disorders, & posttraumatic stress disorders (several widely used antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - SSRIs).

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

A biomedical therapy for severe depression in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized person.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

The application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity.

Psychosurgery

Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue to change behavior.

Hypnosis

A social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur; in a therapeutic context, the hypnotist attempts to use suggestion to reduce unpleasant physical sensations & emotions.

Dissociation

A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts & behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.

Posttraumatic growth

Positive psychological changes following a struggle with extremely challenging circumstances & life crises.