compulsions
The person's need to perform repetitive behaviors
Agoraphobia
A morbid fear of open spaces (as fear of being caught alone in some public place)
Antisocial personality disorder
A personality disorder in which the person exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist
Anxiety disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety
Bipolar disorder
A mood disorder in which the person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania. was once known as Manic Depression.
Catatonia
a form of schizophrenia characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed stuporous state for long periods
Major depressive disorder
A mood disorder in which a person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminishes interest or pleasure in most activities
Positive symptoms
Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral excesses or peculiarities, such as hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior, and wild flights of ideas
psychological disorder/psychopathology
a mental or behavioral pattern or anomaly that results in distress
mania
A mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state. extravagant shopping sprees may happen or a flight of ideas
Catatonic stupor
an immobile, expressionless, coma-like state associated with schizophrenia
Persistent Depressive Disorder
depressive disorder characterized by a chronically sad and melancholy mood for two or more years
Specific Phobia
fear of objects or specific situations or events
Nonmaleficence
do no harm
Free association
in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing
ADHD
A psychological disorder marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
Delusions
False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders
Dissociative amnesia
The sudden loss of memory for significant personal information
Dissociative disorders
Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings. the person may become "detached" from themselves
Dissociative fugue
The sudden loss of memory for one's personal history, accompanied by an abrupt departure from home and the assumption of a new identity
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
diathesis stress theory
an individual is born with a genetic predisposition towards a mental health problem- the problem is only expressed if the individual is exposed to certain environmental triggers.
dopamine
neurotransmitter that influences voluntary movement, attention, alertness; lack of dopamine linked with Parkinson's disease; too much is linked with schizophrenia
DSM-V
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition: A reference for coding psychiatric disorders or conditions. Organized by symptoms
Generalized anxiety disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal
Hallucinations
False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus
Mood disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes
Negative symptoms
Schizophrenic symptoms that involve behavioral deficits, such as flattened emotions, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired attention, and poverty of speech
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
An anxiety disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions)
obsessions
persistent ideas, thoughts, or impulses that are unwanted and inappropriate, causing marked distress
Panic disorder
An anxiety disorder characterized by unpredictable panic attacks. May be triggered by the amygdala.
Personality disorders
Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning
phobia
An anxiety disorder characterized by a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or situation
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
A disorder in which a person has lingering memories, nightmares, and other symptoms for weeks after a severely threatening, uncontrollable event
Prevalence
The percentage of a population that exhibits a disorder during a specified time period
Schizophrenia
psychological disorder marked by disturbances in thought that spill over to affect perceptual, social, and emotional processes (split from reality)
paranoia
A tendency toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness; irrational fear; delusions of persecution
Stress
The process by which we appraise and respond to things that challenge/threaten us
Eustress
A positive stress that energizes a person and helps a person reach a goal
Distress
negative stress that exceeds an individual's ability to cope effectively, leading to feelings of anxiety, frustration, or overwhelmed
General Adaptation System
Seyle's concept that the body responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion
Coping
alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods
Problem-focused coping
Alleviating stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.
Emotion-focused coping
Alleviating stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction
Feel-good, Do-good phenomenon
people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood
Maladaptiveness
Abnormal indicator involving acting in ways that make others fearful or interfere with their daily lifestyle
Posttraumatic growth
positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises
Biopsychosocial model
a model of health that integrates the effects of biological, behavioral, and social factors on health and illness
Diathesis-stress model
a diagnostic model that proposes that a disorder may develop when an underlying vulnerability is coupled with a precipitating event
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors
Catatonic excitement
excessive motor activity, purposeless and not influenced by external stimuli
Social anixiety disorder
intense fear and avoidance of social situations (formerly social phobia)
Acrophobia
fear of heights
Disassociative disorders
disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings
Disassociative amnesia
loss of memory for personal information, either partial or complete
Disassociative identity disorder (DID)
A rare disassociative 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 an irrational fear of weight gain leads people to starve themselves
Bulimia nervosa
an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise
Borderline personality disorder
condition marked by extreme instability in mood, identity, and impulse control
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 medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system
Eclectic approach
an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy
Fidelity
to follow the standards of conduct, have responsibility
Pyschodynamic 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
Dream-analysis
the therapist interprets the symbolic meaning of the client's dreams
Cognitive therapy
therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions
Behavioral therapy
focuses on changing behavior by identifying problem behaviors, replacing them with appropriate behaviors, and using rewards or other consequences to make the changes
Exposure therapy
therapy that confronts clients with what they fear with the goal of reducing the fear
Systematic desensitization
A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias.
Aversion therapy
treatment that uses punishment to decrease the frequency of undesirable behaviors
Token economy
an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats
Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
a confrontational cognitive therapy, developed by Albert Ellis, that vigorously challenges people's illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions
Humanistic therapy
Focuses on removing obstacles that block personal growth and potential.
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.)
Antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder that blocks dopamine activity
Tardive dyskinesia (TD)
a late-onset, irreversible neurologic side effect of antipsychotic medications; characterized by abnormal, involuntary movements of body parts
Antianxiety drugs
drugs used to control anxiety and agitation
Antidepressant drugs
drugs used to treat depression; also increasingly prescribed for anxiety.
Lithium carbonate
a chemical used to counteract mood swings of bipolar disorder
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
the use of strong magnets to briefly interrupt normal brain activity as a way to study brain regions
Deep Brain stimulation
electrical stimulation applied through surgically implanted electrodes; used to treat some anxiety and mood disorders
Psychosurgery
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior