Note
Studied by 12 people
12 13
Psychological Disorders & Related Terms:
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 extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Medical model – The concept that diseases, including psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and, in most cases, cured through hospital treatment.
DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) – The American Psychiatric Association’s classification system for psychological disorders.
Anxiety disorders – Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) – A 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 episodes of intense dread accompanied by physical symptoms like chest pain or choking.
Phobia – An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.
Social anxiety disorder – An intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of such.
Agoraphobia – Fear or avoidance of situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable during a panic attack.
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, hypervigilance, and social withdrawal after a traumatic experience.
Posttraumatic growth – Positive psychological changes resulting from struggling with challenging life circumstances.
Mood disorders – Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.
Major depressive disorder – A mood disorder marked by two or more weeks of depressed mood, diminished interest, and other symptoms.
Mania – A hyperactive, wildly optimistic state in which dangerously poor judgment is common.
Bipolar disorder – A mood disorder in which a person alternates between depression and mania.
Rumination – Compulsive overthinking about problems and their causes.
Schizophrenia – A disorder marked by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished 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 accompany psychotic disorders.
Hallucinations – False sensory experiences, such as hearing voices that do not exist.
Somatic symptom disorder – A disorder in which a person experiences bodily symptoms without a physical cause.
Conversion disorder – A disorder in which a person experiences specific physical symptoms with no physiological basis.
Illness anxiety disorder – A disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a serious disease.
Dissociative disorders – Disorders in which a person experiences disruptions in conscious awareness and identity.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) – A rare disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities.
Anorexia nervosa – An eating disorder in which a person maintains a starvation diet despite being significantly underweight.
Bulimia nervosa – An eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging (vomiting, excessive exercise, or fasting).
Binge-eating disorder – An eating disorder marked by binge eating episodes followed by guilt, distress, or disgust.
Personality disorders – Inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.
Antisocial personality disorder – A personality disorder in which a person exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward family or friends.
Therapy & Treatment:
Psychotherapy – Treatment involving psychological techniques to help someone overcome difficulties or achieve personal growth.
Biomedical therapy – Treatment involving medication or medical procedures that affect the nervous system.
Eclectic approach – A method of therapy that combines techniques from various schools of psychology.
Psychoanalysis – Freud’s therapeutic technique that aims to bring repressed thoughts into consciousness.
Resistance – In psychoanalysis, blocking anxiety-inducing thoughts from consciousness.
Interpretation – In psychoanalysis, the analyst’s explanation of dream meanings, resistances, and other behaviors.
Transference – In psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer of emotions linked with other relationships onto the therapist.
Psychodynamic therapy – Therapy derived from psychoanalysis but with a focus on unconscious forces and childhood experiences.
Insight therapies – A category of therapies that improve psychological functioning by increasing self-awareness.
Client-centered therapy – Rogers’ humanistic therapy, which uses active listening and an accepting environment to facilitate growth.
Active listening – Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies.
Unconditional positive regard – A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude that Rogers believed would foster self-acceptance.
Behavior therapy – Therapy that applies learning principles to eliminate unwanted behaviors.
Counterconditioning – A therapy that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors.
Exposure therapies – Behavioral techniques that treat anxieties by exposing people to what they fear.
Systematic desensitization – A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli.
Virtual reality exposure therapy – A treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their fears.
Aversive conditioning – A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior.
Token economy – An operant conditioning procedure in which people earn tokens for desired behaviors that can later be exchanged for rewards.
Cognitive therapy – Therapy that teaches new, adaptive ways of thinking.
Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT) – Ellis’ confrontational therapy that challenges irrational thoughts.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) – A therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing thoughts) with behavior therapy (changing actions).
Group therapy – Therapy conducted with groups, rather than individuals, to provide social support.
Family therapy – Therapy that treats the family as a system and helps improve relationships.
Regression toward the mean – The tendency for extreme scores to return to average over time.
Meta-analysis – A statistical procedure for combining results of different studies.
Evidence-based practice – Clinical decision-making based on research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preferences.
Therapeutic alliance – A bond of trust between therapist and client that helps in successful therapy.
Resilience – The ability to cope with stress and recover from adversity.
Psychopharmacology – The study of drug effects on mind and behavior.
Antipsychotic drugs – Drugs used to treat schizophrenia and severe thought disorders.
Antianxiety drugs – Drugs used to control anxiety and agitation.
Antidepressant drugs – Drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) – A treatment for severely depressed patients involving electrical brain stimulation.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) – A treatment involving repeated magnetic pulses to the brain.
Psychosurgery – Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue to alter behavior.
Lobotomy – A now-rare psychosurgical procedure that cut nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion centers.
Important Psychologists:
Sigmund Freud – Founder of psychoanalysis.
Carl Rogers – Humanistic psychologist; developed client-centered therapy.
Mary Cover Jones – Pioneer in exposure therapy.
Joseph Wolpe – Developed systematic desensitization.
B.F. Skinner – Behaviorist known for operant conditioning.
Albert Ellis – Developed Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).
Aaron Beck – Developed cognitive therapy, particularly for depression.