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Psychological Disorder - a disturbance in people’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that causes distress or suffering and impairs their daily lives

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

Diathesis-Stress Model - the concept that genetic predispositions (diathesis) combine with environmental stressors (stress) to influence psychological disorder

Epigenetics - “above” or “in addition to” genetics; the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (without a DNA change)

DSM-5-TR - the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders

Anxiety Disorders - a group of disorders characterized by excessive fear and anxiety and related maladaptive behaviors

Social Anxiety Disorder - intense fear and avoidance of social situations

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 may experience terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations; often followed by worry over a possible next attack

Agoraphobia - fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one may experience a loss of control and panic

Specific Phobia - an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - a disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts, actions, or both

Hoarding Disorder - a persistent difficulty parting with possessions, regardless of their value

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - a disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for 4 weeks or more after a traumatic experience

Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders - a group of disorders in which exposure to a traumatic or stressful event is followed by psychological distress

Depressive Disorders - a group of disorders characterized by an enduring sad, empty, or irritable mood, along with physical and cognitive changes that affect a person’s ability to function

Bipolar Disorders - a group of disorders in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania

Major Depressive Disorder - a disorder in which a person experiences five or more symptoms lasting two or more weeks, in the absence of drug use or a medical condition, at least one of which must be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure

Persistent Depressive Disorder - a disorder in which people experience a depressed mood on more days than not for at least two years

Bipolar I Disorder - the most severe form, in which people experience a euphoric, talkative, highly energetic, and overly ambitious state that lasts a week or longer

Mania - a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is common

Bipolar II Disorder- a less severe form of bipolar in which people move between depression and a milder hypomania

Rumination - compulsive fretting; overthinking our problems and their causes

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders - a group of disorders characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking or speech, disorganized or unusual motor behavior, and negative symptoms (such as diminished emotional expression)

Psychotic Disorders - a group of disorders marked by irrational ideas, distorted perceptions, and a loss of contact with reality

Delusion - a false belief, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

Chronic Schizophrenia - a form of schizophrenia in which symptoms usually appear by late adolescence or early adulthood; as people age, psychotic episodes last longer and recovery periods shorten

Acute Schizophrenia - a form of schizophrenia that can begin at any age, frequently occurs in response to a traumatic event, and from which recovery is much more likely