Psychopathology
Any pattern of emotions, behaviors, or thoughts inappropriate to the situation and leading to personal distress or the inability to achieve important goals. other terms having essentially the same meaning include mental illness, mental disorder, and psych
Hallucinations
False sensory experiences that may suggest mental disorder. They can have other causes, such as drugs or sensory isolation
Delusions
Extreme disorders of thinking involving persistent false beliefs. They are the hallmark of paranoid disorders
Affect
A term referring to emotion or mood
Medical model
The view that mental disorders are diseases that, like ordinary physical diseases, have objective physical causes and require specific treatments
Social-cognitive-behavioral approach
A psychological alternative to the medical model that views psychological disorder through a combination of the social, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives
DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
published by the American Psychiatric Association; the most widely accepted psychiatric classification system in the United States
Neurosis
Before the DSM-IV, this term was used as a label for subjective distress or self-defeating behavior that did not show signs of brain abnormalities or grossly irrational thinking
Psychosis
A disorder involving profound disturbances in perception, rational thinking, or affect
Mood disorders
Abnormal disturbances in emotion or mood, including bipolar disorder or unipolar disorder. Mood disorders are also called affective disorders
Major depression
A form of depression that does not alternate with mania
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
A form of depression believed to be caused by deprivation of sunlight
Bipolar disorder
A mental abnormality involving swings of mood from mania to depression
Anxiety disorders
Mental problems characterized mainly by anxiety. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, specific phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
A psychological problem characterized by persistent and pervasive feelings of anxiety, without any external cause
Panic disorder
A disturbance marked by panic attacks that have no obvious connection with events in the person's present experience. Unlike generalized anxiety disorder, the victim is usually free of anxiety between panic attacks
Agoraphobia
A fear of public places and open spaces, commonly accompanying panic disorder
Phobias
A group of anxiety disorders involving a pathological fear of a specific object or situation
Preparedness hypothesis
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
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
A condition characterized by patterns of persistent, unwanted thoughts and behaviors
Somatoform disorders
Psychological problems appearing in the form of bodily symptoms or physical complaints, such as weakness or excessive worry about disease. These include conversion disorder and hypochondriasis
Conversion disorder
A type of somatoform disorder, marked by paralysis, weakness, or loss of sensation but with no discernible physical cause
Hypochondriasis (aka Hypochondria)
A somatoform disorder involving excessive concern about health and disease
Dissociative disorder
A group of pathologies involving "fragmentation" of the personality, in which some parts of the personality have become detached, or dissociated, from other parts
Dissociative amnesia
A psychologically induced loss of memory for personal information, such as one's identity or residence
Dissociative fugue
Essentially the same as dissociative amnesia, but with the addition of "flight" from one's home, family, and job. Literally means "flight.
Depersonalization disorder
An abnormality involving the sensation that mind and body have separated, as in an "out-of-body" experience
Dissociative identity disorder
A condition in which an individual displays multiple identities, or personalities; formerly called "multiple personality disorder
Anorexia nervosa
An eating disorder involving persistent loss of appetite that endangers an individual's health, and stemming from emotional or psychological reasons rather than from organic causes
Bulimia nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by eating binges followed by "purges," induced by vomiting or laxatives; typically initiated as a weight-control measure
Schizophrenia
A psychotic disorder involving distortions in thoughts, perceptions, and/or emotions
Diathesis-stress hypothesis
In reference to schizophrenia, the proposal that says taht genetic factors place the individual at risk while environmental stress factors transform this potential into an actual schizophrenic disorder
Personality disorders
Conditions involving chronic, pervasive, inflexible, and maladaptive pattern of thinking, emotion, social relationships, or impulse control
Narcissistic personality disorder
Characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance, a preoccupation with fantasies of success or power, and a need for constant attention or admiration
Antisocial personality disorder
Characterized by a long-standing pattern of irresponsible behavior indicating a lack of conscience and a diminished sense of responsibility to others
Borderline personality disorder
An unstable personality given to impulsive behavior
Autism
A developmental disorder marked by disabilities in language, social interaction, and the ability to understand another person's state of mind
Dyslexia
A reading disability, thought by some experts to involve a brain disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
A developmental disability involving a short attention span, distractibility, and extreme difficulty in remaining inactive for any period.
Insanity
A legal term, not a psychological or psychiatric one, referring to a person who is unable, because of a mental disorder or defect, to conform his or her behavior to the law
Psychopathology
Any pattern of emotions, behaviors, or thoughts inappropriate to the situation and leading to personal distress or the inability to achieve important goals. other terms having essentially the same meaning include mental illness, mental disorder, and psych
Hallucinations
False sensory experiences that may suggest mental disorder. They can have other causes, such as drugs or sensory isolation
Delusions
Extreme disorders of thinking involving persistent false beliefs. They are the hallmark of paranoid disorders
Affect
A term referring to emotion or mood
Medical model
The view that mental disorders are diseases that, like ordinary physical diseases, have objective physical causes and require specific treatments
Social-cognitive-behavioral approach
A psychological alternative to the medical model that views psychological disorder through a combination of the social, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives
DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
published by the American Psychiatric Association; the most widely accepted psychiatric classification system in the United States
Neurosis
Before the DSM-IV, this term was used as a label for subjective distress or self-defeating behavior that did not show signs of brain abnormalities or grossly irrational thinking
Psychosis
A disorder involving profound disturbances in perception, rational thinking, or affect
Mood disorders
Abnormal disturbances in emotion or mood, including bipolar disorder or unipolar disorder. Mood disorders are also called affective disorders
Major depression
A form of depression that does not alternate with mania
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
A form of depression believed to be caused by deprivation of sunlight
Bipolar disorder
A mental abnormality involving swings of mood from mania to depression
Anxiety disorders
Mental problems characterized mainly by anxiety. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, specific phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
A psychological problem characterized by persistent and pervasive feelings of anxiety, without any external cause
Panic disorder
A disturbance marked by panic attacks that have no obvious connection with events in the person's present experience. Unlike generalized anxiety disorder, the victim is usually free of anxiety between panic attacks
Agoraphobia
A fear of public places and open spaces, commonly accompanying panic disorder
Phobias
A group of anxiety disorders involving a pathological fear of a specific object or situation
Preparedness hypothesis
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
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
A condition characterized by patterns of persistent, unwanted thoughts and behaviors
Somatoform disorders
Psychological problems appearing in the form of bodily symptoms or physical complaints, such as weakness or excessive worry about disease. These include conversion disorder and hypochondriasis
Conversion disorder
A type of somatoform disorder, marked by paralysis, weakness, or loss of sensation but with no discernible physical cause
Hypochondriasis (aka Hypochondria)
A somatoform disorder involving excessive concern about health and disease
Dissociative disorder
A group of pathologies involving "fragmentation" of the personality, in which some parts of the personality have become detached, or dissociated, from other parts
Dissociative amnesia
A psychologically induced loss of memory for personal information, such as one's identity or residence
Dissociative fugue
Essentially the same as dissociative amnesia, but with the addition of "flight" from one's home, family, and job. Literally means "flight.
Depersonalization disorder
An abnormality involving the sensation that mind and body have separated, as in an "out-of-body" experience
Dissociative identity disorder
A condition in which an individual displays multiple identities, or personalities; formerly called "multiple personality disorder
Anorexia nervosa
An eating disorder involving persistent loss of appetite that endangers an individual's health, and stemming from emotional or psychological reasons rather than from organic causes
Bulimia nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by eating binges followed by "purges," induced by vomiting or laxatives; typically initiated as a weight-control measure
Schizophrenia
A psychotic disorder involving distortions in thoughts, perceptions, and/or emotions
Diathesis-stress hypothesis
In reference to schizophrenia, the proposal that says taht genetic factors place the individual at risk while environmental stress factors transform this potential into an actual schizophrenic disorder
Personality disorders
Conditions involving chronic, pervasive, inflexible, and maladaptive pattern of thinking, emotion, social relationships, or impulse control
Narcissistic personality disorder
Characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance, a preoccupation with fantasies of success or power, and a need for constant attention or admiration
Antisocial personality disorder
Characterized by a long-standing pattern of irresponsible behavior indicating a lack of conscience and a diminished sense of responsibility to others
Borderline personality disorder
An unstable personality given to impulsive behavior
Autism
A developmental disorder marked by disabilities in language, social interaction, and the ability to understand another person's state of mind
Dyslexia
A reading disability, thought by some experts to involve a brain disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
A developmental disability involving a short attention span, distractibility, and extreme difficulty in remaining inactive for any period.
Insanity
A legal term, not a psychological or psychiatric one, referring to a person who is unable, because of a mental disorder or defect, to conform his or her behavior to the law