Studied by 3 people
psychological disorder
a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
a psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
medical model
the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.
DSM-5
the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.
anxiety disorders
psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.
generalized anxiety disorder
an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal.
panic disorder
an anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes-long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations. Often followed by worry over a possible next attack.
phobia
an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.
social anxiety disorder
intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of such. (Formerly
agoraphobia
fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic.
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for four weeks or more after a traumatic experience.
posttraumatic growth
positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises.
mood disorders
psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.
major depressive disorder
a mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two or more weeks with five or more symptoms, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.
mania
a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.
bipolar disorder
a mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania.
schizophrenia
a psychological disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished or inappropriate emotional expression.
psychosis
a psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions.
delusions
false beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders.
hallucination
false sensory experience, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.
somatic symptom disorder
a psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause.
conversion disorder
a disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found.
illness anxiety disorder
a disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease.
dissociative disorders
disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.
dissociative identity disorder (DID)
a rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. Formerly called multiple personality disorder.
anorexia nervosa
an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly (15 percent or more) underweight.
bulimia nervosa
an eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually of high-calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), excessive exercise, or fasting.
binge-eating disorder
significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging or fasting that marks bulimia nervosa.
personality disorders
psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.
antisocial personality disorder
a personality disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members. May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist.
psychotherapy
treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and 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, depending on the client’s problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy.
psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud’s therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the therapist’s interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight.
resistance
in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material.
interpretation
in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight.
transference
in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent).
psychodynamic therapy
therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight.
insight therapies
a variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses.
client-centered therapy
a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients’ growth. (Also called person-centered therapy.)
active listening
empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers’ client-centered therapy.
unconditional positive regard
a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed
would help clients to develop self- awareness and self-acceptance.
behavior therapy
therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.
