AP Psych Unit 5: Health, Disorders & Treatment

Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Methods used to reduce or eliminate symptoms and improve functioning, including talk therapies, behavioral techniques, and biological treatments.

Deinstitutionalization

The movement to reduce use of large state psychiatric hospitals and shift people with severe mental illness into community-based, less restrictive care.

Nonmaleficence

Duty to help others and avoid causing harm in research, assessment, and therapy.

Fidelity

Being trustworthy and responsible; keeping commitments, maintaining professional boundaries, and managing roles responsibly.

Integrity

Promoting honesty and accuracy; avoiding deception or fraud in teaching, research, and practice.

Respect for People's Rights and Dignity

Respecting each person's worth, privacy, confidentiality, and right to self-determination; being sensitive to cultural and individual differences.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Insight therapy based on Freud that focuses on unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences to help understand current problems.

Free Association

Psychodynamic technique where the client says whatever comes to mind without censorship to reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings.

Dream Analysis

Interpreting the content of dreams to uncover unconscious wishes, conflicts, and meanings.

Cognitive Therapy Techniques

Methods that focus on identifying and changing distorted or irrational thought patterns that cause emotional distress.

Cognitive Restructuring

A cognitive technique where clients learn to notice, challenge, and replace maladaptive thoughts with more realistic, helpful ones.

Fear Hierarchies

A ranked list of situations involving a feared object or situation, from least to most anxiety-provoking, used to guide exposure.

Cognitive Triad (Beck)

A pattern of negative thinking about the self, the world, and the future, common in depression.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Behavioral therapy that uses principles of reinforcement and punishment to increase desired behaviors and reduce problematic ones, often used with autism.

Exposure Therapy

Behavioral treatment where a person is repeatedly and safely exposed to the feared object or situation until anxiety decreases.

Systematic Desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that pairs gradual exposure to a feared stimulus with relaxation techniques.

Aversion Therapy

Behavioral technique that pairs an unwanted behavior with an unpleasant stimulus so the behavior becomes associated with discomfort.

Token Economy

Operant conditioning system where desirable behaviors earn tokens that can be exchanged for rewards or privileges.

Biofeedback

Using monitoring devices to give a person feedback about physiological states so they can learn to control them, often for anxiety or tension.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Therapy that combines cognitive techniques with behavioral strategies to treat disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

A form of CBT that emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness; often used for borderline personality disorder.

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Albert Ellis's therapy that challenges irrational beliefs and teaches clients to replace them with more rational, adaptive thoughts and behaviors.

Humanistic Therapy

Therapy that emphasizes personal growth, free will, and self-actualization, focusing on conscious experiences rather than unconscious conflicts.

Person-Centered Therapy

Carl Rogers's humanistic therapy in which the therapist offers genuineness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard to help clients reach their own solutions.

Active Listening

Person-centered technique where the therapist echoes, restates, and clarifies what the client says to show understanding and encourage deeper exploration.

Unconditional Positive Regard

Nonjudgmental acceptance and support of the client regardless of what they say or do, helping them feel valued and safe to explore feelings.

Group Therapy

Therapy where several clients meet together with one or more therapists, providing support, feedback, and learning from others' experiences.

Individual Therapy

One-on-one therapy between a client and a therapist, allowing personalized attention and a private therapeutic relationship.

Effective Uses of Hypnosis

Hypnosis can help reduce pain and anxiety and assist with some habit changes; it is not reliable for recovering accurate memories or age regression.

Biological (Biomedical) Therapies

Treatments that act directly on the nervous system, such as medications, brain stimulation, and psychosurgery.

Psychoactive (Psychotropic) Medications

Drugs that affect brain chemistry and alter mood, thinking, or behavior; used to treat psychological disorders.

Antidepressants

Medications used to treat depressive disorders by altering levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine; SSRIs block serotonin reuptake.

Antianxiety Medications

Drugs (such as benzodiazepines) that reduce tension and anxiety by slowing central nervous system activity via GABA.

Lithium

A mood-stabilizing medication primarily used to treat bipolar disorder and reduce manic episodes.

Antipsychotic Medications

Drugs used mainly to treat schizophrenia by blocking dopamine to reduce hallucinations and delusions.

Tardive Dyskinesia

A sometimes irreversible movement disorder involving involuntary facial or limb movements resulting from long-term use of some antipsychotic drugs.

Psychosurgery

Surgical destruction or alteration of brain tissue to change behavior, used only rarely today for severe, treatment-resistant disorders.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

A noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields applied to the scalp to stimulate brain areas; used especially for depression when other treatments fail.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

A biomedical treatment for severe depression in which a brief electrical current is passed through the brain to produce a controlled seizure, under anesthesia.

Lobotomy

An early psychosurgery procedure in which connections in the frontal lobes were cut; now abandoned because of serious side effects.

Health Psychology

The subfield of psychology that studies how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health, illness, and health-related behaviors.

Wellness

A broad state of optimal physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease.

Stress

The process by which we perceive and respond to events (stressors) that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Hypertension / Headaches

Chronic stress can contribute to high blood pressure and tension or migraine headaches as physical stress reactions.

Immune Suppression

Long-term stress can weaken the immune system, making people more vulnerable to illness.

Eustress

Positive, motivating stress that can improve performance (e.g., feeling pumped before a game).

Distress

Negative, harmful stress that feels overwhelming and impairs functioning.

ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)

Serious negative experiences in childhood (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) that increase risk for later physical and mental health problems.

GAS (General Adaptation Syndrome)

Selye's three-stage response to stress: Alarm (fight-or-flight), Resistance (body copes), Exhaustion (resources depleted, illness risk increases).

Fight-or-Flight Response

Automatic sympathetic nervous system reaction to threat that prepares the body to confront or escape (increased heart rate, breathing, etc.).

Tend-and-Befriend Theory

Stress response (especially in some females) involving seeking social support, nurturing others, and building alliances.

Problem-Focused Coping

Trying to reduce stress by changing the stressor or our interaction with it (e.g., making a plan, studying earlier).

Emotion-Focused Coping

Trying to manage emotional distress rather than the problem itself (e.g., talking to a friend, distraction, relaxation).

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of strengths, virtues, and conditions that help individuals and communities thrive.

Well-Being / Subjective Well-Being

People's self-reported level of happiness and life satisfaction.

Resilience

The ability to adapt well and bounce back from adversity, trauma, or stress.

Gratitude

A positive emotion of thankfulness and appreciation that is linked to increased happiness and well-being.

Post-Traumatic Growth

Positive psychological changes that can occur after highly challenging life events, such as greater appreciation of life or stronger relationships.

Dysfunction

When thoughts, feelings, or behaviors interfere with daily functioning (work, school, relationships).

Distress (as a criterion)

The person experiences significant emotional pain or suffering from their symptoms.

Deviation from Social Norm

Behavior that is very different from what a culture considers typical or acceptable.

Diagnosis

Identifying a disorder based on symptoms and criteria; labels can guide treatment but may also lead to stigma or discrimination.

Stigma

Negative stereotypes and social rejection or shame attached to having a mental disorder.

DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual)

The main classification system used by mental health professionals in the U.S. to define and diagnose psychological disorders.

ICD (International Classification of Diseases)

A global diagnostic system published by the WHO that includes codes for mental and physical disorders.

Eclectic Approach

Using techniques from multiple psychological perspectives or therapies rather than a single approach.

Behavioral Perspective on Mental Disorders

Views disorders as learned patterns of behavior through conditioning, reinforcement, and modeling that can be changed.

Psychodynamic Perspective on Mental Disorders

Explains disorders in terms of unconscious conflicts, childhood experiences, and defense mechanisms.

Humanistic Perspective on Mental Disorders

Sees disorders as resulting from blocked personal growth, low self-esteem, or a gap between real and ideal self.

Cognitive Perspective on Mental Disorders

Emphasizes maladaptive thought patterns and distorted beliefs as causes of disorders.

Sociocultural Perspective on Mental Disorders

Focuses on roles of culture, social norms, family, and socioeconomic factors in the development of disorders.

Biological Perspective on Mental Disorders

Explains disorders through genetics, brain structure/function, and neurotransmitter imbalances.

Biopsychosocial Model

States that psychological disorders result from interacting biological, psychological, and social/cultural factors.

Diathesis-Stress Model

Suggests that people inherit a vulnerability (diathesis) which, combined with significant stress, increases the likelihood of a disorder.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Conditions that begin early in development and involve impairments in personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning.

ADHD

Characterized by patterns of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interfere with functioning.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Involves deficits in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior or interests.

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Severe disorders involving distorted thinking, perception, emotions, and behavior.

Delusions

False, firmly held beliefs not based in reality (e.g., persecution: others are plotting against you; grandeur: you have special powers).

Hallucinations

Perceptions without external stimuli (hearing voices, seeing things); auditory hallucinations are most common.

Disorganized Thinking / Speech

Illogical, fragmented, or tangential thinking reflected in bizarre or hard-to-follow speech.

Word Salad

Extreme disorganization of speech in which words are jumbled and make little or no sense.

Catatonia

Marked decrease in reactivity to environment; may include remaining motionless, rigid, or mute for long periods.

Positive Symptoms (Schizophrenia)

Added experiences like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech or behavior.

Negative Symptoms (Schizophrenia)

Reductions or losses of normal functions such as flat affect, reduced speech, and lack of motivation.

Flat Affect

Very limited emotional expression; face and voice appear emotionless.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

At least two weeks of intense depressed mood or loss of interest, plus fatigue, worthlessness, concentration problems, or thoughts of death.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

Chronic, less intense depressed mood lasting for years (dysthymia).

Mania

A state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, increased energy, little need for sleep, and impulsive or risky behavior.

Bipolar I Disorder

At least one full manic episode, often with major depressive episodes.

Bipolar II Disorder

At least one hypomanic episode (less severe than full mania) and one major depressive episode.

Specific Phobia

Intense, irrational fear of a particular object or situation (e.g., heights, spiders).

Agoraphobia

Fear of situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable (crowds, open spaces, public transport).

Panic Disorder

Recurrent unexpected panic attacks and persistent worry about having more attacks or their consequences.

Ataque de nervios

Culturally specific syndrome in some Latin cultures involving shouting, crying, trembling, and sense of loss of control, often after a stressor.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Intense fear of social situations in which one may be scrutinized or judged by others.

Taijin Kyofusho

Culturally specific anxiety disorder (Japan) involving fear of offending or embarrassing others by body odor or appearance.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Chronic, excessive worry about various aspects of life, plus restlessness, tension, and sleep problems.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Characterized by obsessions (unwanted intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive actions) aimed at reducing anxiety.

Hoarding Disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding possessions regardless of value, leading to cluttered living spaces.