Psychological Disorders – Core Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, disorders, theories, brain regions, and risk factors from the lecture on psychological disorders.

Psychopathology

The scientific study of psychological disorders, including their symptoms, causes (etiology), and treatments.

Psychological Disorder

A condition marked by abnormal thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are atypical, dysfunctional, or dangerous.

Cultural Expectations

Social norms that help determine whether a behavior is viewed as disordered within a particular culture.

Harmful Dysfunction

Wakefield’s concept that a disorder involves a breakdown of an internal mechanism that is also harmful to the person.

American Psychological Association (APA) Definition (of disorder)

Requires significant disturbances outside cultural norms that reflect dysfunction and cause distress or disability.

Diagnosis

The process of correctly identifying and labeling a set of symptoms as a recognized disorder.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

Authoritative U.S. classification system that categorizes and describes psychological disorders.

Diagnostic Features

An overview of the core characteristics of a disorder provided in the DSM-5.

Diagnostic Criteria

Specific symptoms that must be present for a DSM-5 diagnosis.

Prevalence

The percentage of a population that is thought to have a given disorder at a specified time.

Comorbidity

The co-occurrence of two or more disorders in the same individual.

International Classification of Diseases (ICD)

WHO manual used globally to classify diseases and health conditions, including mental disorders.

Supernatural Perspective

Historical view that psychological disorders were caused by forces beyond scientific understanding, such as witchcraft or possession.

Biological Perspective

Approach that links psychological disorders to genetic, neurochemical, and brain-structure factors.

Diathesis-Stress Model

Framework stating that a predisposition (diathesis) plus environmental stress leads to disorder development.

Fear

Immediate response to an imminent threat.

Anxiety

Apprehension and avoidance regarding a potential future threat.

Anxiety Disorders

A class of disorders involving excessive, persistent fear and anxiety with related behavioral disturbances.

Specific Phobia

Excessive, persistent fear of a specific object or situation.

Acrophobia

Irrational fear of heights.

Aerophobia

Irrational fear of flying.

Arachnophobia

Irrational fear of spiders.

Claustrophobia

Irrational fear of enclosed spaces.

Agoraphobia

Anxiety disorder involving intense fear of situations where escape might be difficult during a panic attack.

Rachman’s Three Learning Pathways

Classical conditioning, vicarious learning, and verbal information pathways for phobia acquisition.

Behavioral Inhibition

Temperamental tendency to show fear and restraint in unfamiliar situations; risk factor for social anxiety disorder.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Extreme fear of negative evaluation in social situations leading to avoidance.

Safety Behaviors

Actions taken to reduce social-anxiety risk, such as avoiding eye contact; often maintain the disorder.

Panic Attack

Abrupt episode of intense fear reaching a peak within minutes, with physical and cognitive symptoms.

Panic Disorder

Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks plus persistent worry or behavior change related to the attacks.

Locus Coeruleus

Brainstem region rich in norepinephrine implicated in panic disorder.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Chronic, excessive, and uncontrollable worry occurring more days than not for at least six months.

Obsessions

Intrusive, unwanted thoughts or urges causing distress, characteristic of OCD.

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed to reduce distress from obsessions.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Disorder featuring obsessions, compulsions, or both, recognized as irrational but hard to control.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Preoccupation with a nonexistent or slight flaw in appearance, leading to repetitive behaviors.

Hoarding Disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding possessions, resulting in cluttered living spaces.

Orbitofrontal Cortex

Frontal-lobe region involved in decision-making; hyperactive in OCD during symptom provocation.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Disorder following traumatic exposure, involving intrusive memories, avoidance, negative mood, and hyperarousal.

Flashback

Vivid reliving of a traumatic event experienced by individuals with PTSD.

Trauma Experience

Actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence that can precipitate PTSD.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Episodic mood disorder with persistent sadness and loss of interest plus other symptoms for at least two weeks.

Seasonal Pattern (Depression)

Depressive episodes occurring only during a particular season, commonly winter.

Peripartum Onset

Depression occurring during pregnancy or within four weeks after childbirth.

Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia)

Chronic depressed mood most of the day for at least two years, with fewer symptoms than MDD.

Manic Episode

A week-long period of abnormally elevated or irritable mood with increased energy and activity.

Bipolar Disorder

Mood disorder marked by alternating episodes of depression and mania.

Depressive Schemas

Beck’s concept of negative cognitive templates involving themes of loss and worthlessness.

Hopelessness Theory

Suggests stable, global negative attributions for bad events produce hopelessness leading to depression.

Rumination

Repetitive, passive focus on one’s depressive symptoms, prolonging depressed mood.

Suicidal Ideation

Thoughts about death, plans for suicide, or suicide attempts.

Schizophrenia

Severe disorder with hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, abnormal behavior, and negative symptoms.

Hallucination

Perceptual experience without external stimulus; auditory type most common in schizophrenia.

Delusion

Strongly held false belief contrary to reality.

Negative Symptoms (Schizophrenia)

Reductions in normal behaviors, e.g., avolition, alogia, asociality, anhedonia.

Dopamine Hypothesis

Theory that excess dopamine activity contributes to schizophrenia’s positive symptoms.

Enlarged Ventricles

Brain structural abnormality often found in individuals with schizophrenia.

5-HTTLPR Gene

Serotonin-regulating gene; short alleles plus stress linked to depression vulnerability.

Avolition

Lack of motivation to initiate and carry out activities; a negative symptom of schizophrenia.

Alogia

Reduced speech output; a negative symptom of schizophrenia.

Amygdala

Brain region for emotional processing; overactive in depression to negative stimuli.

Prefrontal Cortex

Region involved in emotion regulation; underactive in depression, hindering control of negative emotions.

Lithium

Mood stabilizer drug that reduces norepinephrine activity; primary medication for bipolar disorder.