| Term | Definition |
|---|
| discomfort, bizzare, inefficient | a workable definition of abnormality or disorder involving three criteria |
| inflexibility | people in need of psychological help often show this lack of ability to "go with the flow", they have a fixed set or responses to daily stimuli |
| threatening environment | people with mental illnesses see the world this way, as dangerous and "out to get them" |
| DSM-IV | a book that classifies the symptoms of mental problems into formal categories |
| anxiety disorders | group of disorders whose major symptom is a feeling of dread, uneasiness, worry, and fear |
| anxiety | a generalized feeling of apprehension and pending disaster |
| panic disorder | disorder in which one cannot relax and is plagued by frequent and overhelming attacks of anxiety |
| specific phobia | major anxiety reaction when faced witha specific object or situation (snake, spider, heights, etc.) |
| agoraphobia | disorder involving intense anxiety felt when leaving a familiar environment |
| obsession | an endless preoccupation with an urge or thought (often causes anxiety) |
| compulsion | symbolic, ritualized behavior that a person does to reduce anxiety |
| obsessive-compulsive disorder | disorder involving having continued anxiety producing thoughts about performing a certain act over and over |
| somatoform disorders | disorders in which psychological issues are expressed in bodily symptoms in the absence of any real physical problem |
| conversion disorder | disorder in which a serious psychological trauma is changed into a symbolic physical dysfunction (numbness, blindness, etc.) |
| hypochondriasis | disorder characterized by excessive concern over one's health and exaggerating the seriousness of minor complaints (often thinks he/she has a serious disease) |
| dissociative disorders | group of disorders in which a part of one's life or consciousness becomes disconnected from other parts |
| amnesia | disorder in which traumatic events "disappear" from conscious memory |
| selective forgetting | "forgetting" only things that are very traumatic |
| fugue | condition of having amnesia for your current life and starting a new life somewhere else |
| dissociative identity disorder | condition in which a person divides himself into two or more separate personalities that can act independently |
| mood disorders | category of disorders characterized by an abnormal emotional state |
| dysthymic disorder | a moderate depression, not associated with suicide, very common, lasts years |
| major depression | extremely low emotional state involving loss of appetite, motivation, and energy - associated with suicidal thoughts and hopelessness |
| mania | a rare mood disorder involving extreme agitation, restlessness, rapid speech, and trouble concentrating (usally part of another disorder) |
| flight of ideas | a confused state in which thoughts and speech go in all directions with no unifying concept (can't finish one thought 'cause they're all coming at once) |
| bipolar disorder | disorder with up and down mood swings, usually longer periods of depression and short but wild epiodes of mania |
| serotonin | neurotransmitter, low levels of which is commonly associated with depression |
| psychosis | a mental state involving major problems with emotional responses, disorganized thought, and distorted perceptions of the world (can be a part of more than one type of mental disorder) |
| thought disorder | a serious distortion of the ability to think and speak in a clear coherent way (leads to loose associations of ideas and speaking gibberish) |
| hallucination | and sight or sound perceived but that is not actually happening |
| delusion | a beilief in something that is not true (and is illogical) - ex. - you are Jesus, the CIA is poisoning your Coke |
| schizophrenia | most serious mental disorder involving loss of contact with reality, thought disorders, hallucinations, delusions, emotional problems, etc, |
| word salad | speech in which words are mixed together incoherently, but which is based on a reasonable intended sentence |
| clang associations | psychotic speech in which words are rhymed and spoken for their appealing sound |
| catatonic schizophrenia | schizophrenia characterized by disturbances of movement |
| paranoid schizophrenia | schizophrenia characterized by strong delusions of persecution and extreme suspiciousness |
| undifferentiated schizophrenia | schizophrenia that lacks any distinguishing symptoms |
| psychotic episodes | periods of psychotic behavior alternating with periods of clarity and calm |
| rule of thirds | idea that one third of schizophrenics improve with treatment, one third get better and worse repeatedly, and one third do not respond well to treatment |
| dopamine | high levels of this neurotransmitter are linked with development of schizophrenia |
| personality disorder | disorder in which the person's whole fundamental personality is unpleasant or peculiar in some debilitating way |
| antisocial personality disorder | disorder in which the person has no sense of right and wrong, often a criminal (don't respond to treatment) |
| borderline personality disorder | disorder marked by unstable emotions and relationships, dependency and manipulative, self-destructive behavior |
Combine with other sets
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