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Abnormal Psychology

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The study of unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought (mental disorders).

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Psychological Disorder

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An illness of the mind involving thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that cause either self or others significant stress.

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Psychopathology

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The study of mental disorders; features of people's mental health considered collectively.

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DSM-V

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The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental disorders', 5th Edition; a widely used system for classifying psychological disorders.

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Positive Symptoms

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Feelings, thoughts, or behaviors that are usually not present in people in the normal population.

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Negative Symptoms

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Feelings, thoughts, or behaviors normally present that are absent or diminished in a person with a mental disorder.

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Insanity

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Mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. (Legal rather than a psychological concept).

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Consequences of Labeling

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-Creates preconceptions that guide our perceptions and our interpretations. -Changes reality by serving as self-fulfilling prophecies. -Helps professionals communicate about their cases, comprehend the underlying causes, and to discern effective treatment programs. -Inform patient self-understandings.

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Medical Model

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The concept that diseases (ex: psychological disorders) have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, an in most cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital.

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Biological Model

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Approach that argues that disorders have an organic or physical cause and are related to the physical structure and functioning of the brain.

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Psychoanalytic Model

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An approach that attempts to explain mental illness as a reflection of unconscious conflicts.

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Humanistic Model

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Describes mental illness as having an unmet need (ex: food or the desire to connect with other people and explore human potential) that disturbs our homeostatic norm.

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Cognitive Model

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Argues that the cause of abnormal behavior is faulty thought processes. Take the form of negative thoughts about oneself, negative expectations of the future, and a distorted or unrealistic perception of the world.

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Sociocultural Model

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An approach that examines the impact of society and culture on the psychological health of people.

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Social-Cognitive-Behavioral Model

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An approach that views psych disorders through a combination of the social, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives (vs. getting medicine).

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Bio-Psycho-Social Model

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An approach that studies how biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors interact to produce specific psychological disorders.

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Anxiety Disorders

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Psychological disorders characterized by distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce tension.

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Neurosis

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A relatively mild mental illness that is not caused by organic disease, involving symptoms of stress (depression, anxiety, obsessive behaviour, hypochondria) but not a radical loss of touch with reality.

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Generalized Anxiety Disorder

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A disorder characterized by excessive, prolonged worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry.

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Panic Disorder

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An anxiety disorder marked by unpredictable, minutes long episodes of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompany chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensations, often followed by worry over a possible next attack.

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Social Anxiety Disorder (aka. Social Phobia)

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Intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of such.

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Phobia

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An anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object, activity, or situation.

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Agoraphobia

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Fear or avoidance of situations, such as crowds or wide open places, where one has felt loss of control and panic.

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Preparedness Hypothesis

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The notion that we have an innate tendency, acquired through natural selection, to respond quickly and automatically to stimuli that posed a survival threat to our ancestors.

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

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A disorder characterized by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions).

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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A disorder characterized by haunting memories, nightmares, social withdrawal, jumpy anxiety, numbness of feeling, and/or insomnia that lingers for 4-weeks or more after a traumatic experience.

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Posttraumatic Growth

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Positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises.

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Adjustment Disorder

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Group of symptoms (stress/sadness) and physical symptoms that can occur after you go through a stressful life event.

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Mood/Depressive Disorders

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Psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes.

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Major (Unipolar) Depression

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A mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, 2 or more weeks with 5 or more symptoms, at least one of which must be either 1. depressed mood or 2. loss of interest or pleasure.

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Seasonal Affective Disorder

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A type of depression that is related to changes in seasons/weather.

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Bipolar Disorder

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A mood disorder in which a person alternates between feeling hopless and depressed, and the over excited state of mania.

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Mania

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A mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state.

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Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

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Abnormalities in one or more of: 1. Delusions 2. Hallucinations 3. Disorganized thinking 4. Disorganized/Abnormal motor behavior 5. Negative symptoms

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Psychosis

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A psychological disorder in which a person loses contact with reality, and experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions.

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Delusions

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False beliefs, often of persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychological disorders.

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Hallucinations

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False sensory experience, such as seeing something in the absence of an external visual stimulus.

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Paranoia

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A psychosis characterized by systematic delusions of persecution or grandeur usually without hallucinations.

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Word Salad

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A confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases, specifically as a form of speech indicative of advanced schizophrenia.

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Schizophrenia

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A psychological disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and/or diminished or inappropriate emotional expression.

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Catatonia

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Abnormality of movement and behavior arising from a disturbed mental state, causing someone to remain speechless and motionless for an extended period.

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Somatic Symptom Disorder

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A psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without apparent physical cause.

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Illness Anxiety Disorder (Hypochondriasis)

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A disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of disease.

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Conversion Disorder

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A disorder in which a person thinks that they are experiencing very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found.

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Dissociative Disorders

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Disorders in which conscious awareness becomes separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.

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Dissociative Amnesia

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A dissociative disorder that involves inability to recall important personal information that would not typically be lost with ordinary forgetting.

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Dissociative Identity Disorder

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Rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. (Aka. Multiple Personality Disorder)

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Dissociative Fugue

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Dissociative disorder characterized by amnesia coupled with sudden unexpected travel away from the individual's usual surroundings and denial of all memory of his/her whereabouts during the period of wandering.

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Depersonalization Disorder

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A dissociative disorder that consists of persistent or recurrent feelings of being detached from one's body or mental processes, usually with a feeling of being an outside observer of one's life or detached from one's surroundings.

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Anorexia Nervosa

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An eating disorder in which a person maintains a starvation diet despite being significant (15% or more) underweight.

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Bulimia Nervosa

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An eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), excessive exercise, or fasting.

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Binge-Eating Disorder

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Significant over-eating episodes, followed by feelings of guilt, disgust, or distress (but without the compensatory purging or tasting that marks Bulimia).

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Personality Disorders

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Psychological disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning.

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Avoidant Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder characterized by a long-standing pattern of feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to what other people think about them, and social inhibition.

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Dependent Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder characterized by a pervasive fear that leads to "clinging behavior".

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Schizoid Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency towards a solitary or sheltered lifestyle, secretiveness, emotional coldness, and apathy.

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Paranoid Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder characterized by having an constant mistrust and suspicion of others, even when there is no reason to be suspicious.

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Histrionic Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking emotions and need for approval.

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. (But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that is vulnerable to the slightest criticism)

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Antisocial Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder in which a person (usually a man) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward family and friends. (May be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist)

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Psychopath

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A person with amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, and failure to learn from experience (innate/nature).

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Sociopath

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A person with impulsive/erratic behaviors, difficulty forming attachments to others, little regard for the risks or consequences of their actions, and angered easily (environment/nurture).

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Borderline Personality Disorder

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Psychological disorder marked by a pattern of ongoing instability in moods, behavior, self-image, and functioning.

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Neurodevelopmental Disorders

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A group of disorders in which the development of the central nervous system is disturbed (ex: developmental brain dysfunction or impaired motor function).

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Intellectual Disability

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A disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem-solving) and in adaptive behavior, which covers a range of everyday social and practical skills.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder

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A neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs a child's ability to communicate and interact with others; includes disorders such as autism, Asperger's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder.

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Specific Learning Disorder

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Developmental disorder characterized by ongoing problems learning key academic skills, including reading, writing and math.

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ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)

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Chronic condition marked by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes impulsivity.

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Neurocognitive Disorders

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Disorders that involve decreased mental function due to a medical disease other than a psychiatric illness.

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Dementia

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Loss of brain function that affects memory, thinking, language, judgement, and behavior.

Unit 7: Abnormal Psychology – Flashcards

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