 | Term | Definition |
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Psychopathology |
The scientific study of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders; also, abnormal or maladaptive behavior |
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Statistical Abnormality |
Abnormality defined on the basis of an extreme score on some simension, such as IQ or anxiety |
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Social Nonconformity |
Failure to conform to societal norms or the usual minimum standards for social conduct |
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Maladaptive Behavior |
Behavior that makes it difficult to adapt to the environment and meet the demands of day-to-day life |
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Mental Disorder |
A significant impairment in psychological functioning |
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Psychotic Disorder |
A severe mental disorder characterized by a retreat from reality, ay hallucinations and delusions, and by social withdrawal |
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Mood Disorder |
A major disturbance in mood or emotion, such as depression or mania |
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Anxiety Disorder |
Disruptive feelings of fear, apprehension, or anxiety, or distortions in behavior that are anxiety related |
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Somatoform Disorder |
Physical symptoms that mimic disease or injury for which there is on identifiable physical cause |
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Dissociative Disorder |
Temporary amnesia, multiple personality, or depersonalization |
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Personality Disorder |
A maladaptive personality pattern |
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Substance-Related Disorder |
Abuse or of dependence on a mood- or behavior-altering drug |
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Neurosis |
An outdated term once used to refer, as a group, to anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, dissociative disorders, and some forms of depression |
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Insanity |
A legal term that refers to a mental inability to manage one's affairs or to be aware of the consequences of one's actions |
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Antisocial Personality |
A person who lacks a conscience, is emotionally shallow, impulsive, and selfish, and tends to manipulate others |
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Adjustment Disorder |
An emotional disturbance caused by ongoing stressors within the range of common experience |
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder |
The person is in a chronic state of tension and worries about work, relationships, ability, or impending disaster |
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Panic Disorder (w/o Agoraphobia) |
The person is in a chronic state of anxiety and also has brief moments of sudden, intense, unexpected panic |
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Panic Disorder (with Agoraphobia) |
A chronic state of anxiety and brief moments of sudden panic. The person fears that these panic attacks will occur in public places or unfamiliar situations |
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Agoraphobia (without panic) |
The person fears that something extremely embarrassing will happen to them if they leave the house of enter unfamiliar situations |
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Specific Phobia |
An intense, irrational fear of specific objects, activities, ir situations |
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Social Phobia |
An intense, irrational fear of being observed, evaluated, embarrassed, or humiliated by others in social situations |
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder |
An extreme preoccupation with certain thoughts and compulsive performance of certain behaviors |
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Stress Disorder |
A significant emotional disturbance caused by stresses outside the range of normal human experience |
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Acute Stress Disorder |
A psychological disturbance lasting up to 1 month following stresses that would produce anxiety in anyone who experienced them |
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder |
A psychological disturbance lasting more than 1 month following stresses that would produce anxiety in anyone who experienced them |
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Dissociative Amnesia |
Loss of memory (partial or complete) for important information related to personal identity |
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Dissociative Fugue |
Sudden travel away from home, plus confusion about one's personal identity |
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Dissociative Identity Disorder |
The presence of two or more distinct personalities (multiple personality) |
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Hypochondriasis |
A preoccupation with fears of having a serious disease. Ordinary physical signs are interpreted as proof that the person has a disease, but no physical disorder can be found |
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Somatization Disorder |
Afflicted persons have numerous physical somplaints. Typically, they have consulted many doctors, but on organic cause for their distress can be identified |
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Pain Disorder |
Pain that has no identifiable physical cause and appears to be of psychological origin |
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Conversion Disorder |
A bodily symptom that mimics a physical disability but is actually caused by anxiety or emotional distress |
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Anxiety Reduction Hypothesis |
Explains the self-defeating nature of avoidance responses as a result of the reinforcing effects of relief from anxiety |
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Psychosis |
A withdrawal from reality marked by hallucinations and delusions, disturbed thought and emotions, and personality disorganization |
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Delusion |
A false belief held against all contrary evidence |
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Hallucination |
An imaginary sensation, such as seeing, hearing, or smelling things that don't exist in the real world |
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Dementia |
Serious mental impairment in old age caused by physical deterioration of the brain |
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Alzheimer's Disease |
An age-related disease characterized by memory loss, mental confusion, and, in its later stages, a nearly total loss of mental abilities |
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Delusional Disorder |
A psychosis marked by severe delusions of grandeur, jealousy, persecution, or similar preoccupations |
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Paranoid Psychosis |
A delusional disorder centered especially on delusions of persecution |
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Schizophrenia |
A psychosis characterized by delusions, hallucinations, apathy, and a "split" between thought and emotion |
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Disorganized Schizophrenia |
Schizophrenia marked by incoherence, grossly disorganized behavior, bizzare thinking, and flat or grossly inappropriate emotions |
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Catatonic Schizophrenia |
Schizophrenia marked by stupor, rigidity, unresponsiveness, posturing, mutism, and, sometimes, agitated purposeless behavior |
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Paranoid Schizophrenia |
Schizophrenia marked by a preoccupation with delusions or by frequent auditory hallucinations related to a single theme, especially grandeur or persecution |
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Undifferentiated Schizophrenia |
Schizophrenia lacking the specific features of catatonic, disorganized, or paranoid types |
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Psychological Trauma |
A psychological injury or shock, such as that caused by violence, abuse, neglect, separation, and so forth |
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Stress-Vulnerability Model |
A ______ attributes psychosis to a combination of environmental stress and inherited susceptibility |
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Mood Disorder |
Major disturbances in mood or emotion, such as depression or mania |
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Depressive Disorders |
Emotional disorders primarily involving sadness, despondency, and depression |
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Bipolar Disorders |
Emotional disorders involving both depression and mania or hypomania |
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Dysthymic Disorder |
Moderate depression that persists for 2 years or more |
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Cyclothymic Disorder |
Moderate manic and depressive behavior that persists for 2 years or more |
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Major Mood Disorders |
Disorders marked by lasting extremes or mood or emotion and sometimes accompanied by psychotic symptoms |
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Major Depressive Disorder |
A mood disorder in which the person has suffered one or more intense episodes of depression |
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Bipolar I Disorder |
A mood disorder in which a person has episodes of mania (excited, hyperactive, energetic, grandiose behavior) and also periods of deep depression |
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Bipolar II Disorder |
A mood disorder in which a person is mostly depressed (sad, despondent, guilt-ridden) but has also had one of more episodes of mild mania (hypomania) |
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Endogenous Depression |
Depression that appears to be produced from within (perhaps by chemical imbalances in the brain), rather than as a reaction to life events |
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Maternity Blues |
A brief and relatively mild state of depression often experienced by mothers 2 to 3 days after giving birth |
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Postpartum Depression |
A mild to moderately severe depression that begins within 3 months following childbirth |
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Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) |
Depression that occurs only during fall and winter; presumably related to decreased exposure to sunlight |
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Phototherapy |
A treatment for S.A.D. that involves exposure to bright, full-spectrum light |
