Unit 12 & 13: Abnormal Psychology and Therapy

syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individuals cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior

a psychological disorder marked by the appearance of age seven of one or more of three key symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity

concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases cured often through treatment in a hospital

the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition; widely used system for classifying and diagnosing psychological disorders

insisted that mental illness was not “demon possession” but an actual sickness of the mind caused by severe stresses and inhumane conditions; changed the treatment of mental patients to a more moral, humane style

psychological disorders characterized by distressing persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

an anxiety disorder in which a person is continually tense, apprehensive, and in a state of automatic nervous system arousal

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

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

intense fear of social situations, leading to avoidance of such situations

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

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

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

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

psychological disorders characterized by emotional extremes

mood disorder in which a person experiences, in the absence of drugs or another medical condition, two weeks or more with five or more symptoms, with at least one being depressed modd or loss of interest or pleasure

mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

mood disorder in which a person alternates between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania

compulsive fretting or worrying, overthinking about our problems and their causes, attributed to the continuous firing of a frontal lobe area that sustains attention

psychological disorder characterized by delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations (false sensory experiences), disorganized speech and/or diminished inappropriate emotional expression

disorder marked by a persons loss of contact with reality, experiencing irrational ideas and distorted perceptions

false beliefs (of persecution[that someone is out to get you], grandeur [thinking you are someone you are not], and referenc[believeing something with no connection to you is about you, song on the radio, news article]) that may accompany psychotic disorders

false sensory experience, such as seeing things that arent there or hearing voices

psychological disorder in which the symptoms take a somatic (bodily) form without cause

disorder in which a person experiences very specific genuine physical symptoms for which no physiological basis can be found

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

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

rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities

an eating disorder in which a person, usually adolescent female, maintains a starvation diet being significantly underweight

eating disorder in which a person alternates binge eating (usually high calorie foods) with purging (by vomiting or laxative use), excessive exercise or fasting

significant binge eating episodes followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the purging that marks bulimia nervosa

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

personality disorder in which a person, usually a man, exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward loved ones; one may be aggressive and ruthless, or a clever con artists

the absence of appropriate behaviors present in people such as toneless voices, expressionless faces, or mute and rigid bodies

the presence of inappropriate behaviors not present in normal people such as hallucinations, disorganized talk

slow developing; people with chronic often exhibit persistent and incapacitating negative symptoms of social withdrawal, recovery is less likely

rapidly developed following particular life stressors, recovery is much more likely

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulty or achieve personal growth

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology

an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client’s problems, uses techniques, from various forms of therapy

freud’s therapeutic technique; he believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, and dreams, and transference’s — and the therapist’s interpretations of them — released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self insight

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

the psychoanalyst’s noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight

the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships, such as love or hatred for a parent

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self insight

variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses

humanistic therapy developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening with an Accepting, Genuine, Empathetic environment to facilitate client growth

feature of client centered therapy that’s empathetic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies

caring, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients to develop self awareness and self acceptance

behavior therapy procedures that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors

behavioral techniques such as systematic desensitization and VR exposure therapy that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginative or actual situations to the things they fear and avoid

type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety triggering stimuli

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to electronic simulations of their greatest fears

type of counter conditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as alcohol)

operant conditioning technique in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for rewards

therapy that teaches people new more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

confrontational cognitive therapy, developed by Albert Ellis, that vigorously challenges people’s illogical, self defeating attitudes and assumptions

popular, integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals permitting therapeutic beliefs from group interaction

therapy that treats family as a system. views an individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other members

tendency for usual events or emotions to regress to their average state