15. Psychological Disorders

Question 1

DSM-5

Answer 1

Commonly used abbreviation for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, which defines a wide variety of mental disorders and establishes criteria for diagnosing them.

Question 2

psychological disorder

Answer 2

A disturbance in a person’s emotions, drives, thought processes, or behavior that (a) involves serious and relatively prolonged distress and/or impairment in ability to function, (b) is not simply a normal response to some event or set of events in the person’s environment, and (c) is not explainable as an effect of poverty, prejudice, or other social forces that prevent the person from behaving adaptively, nor as a deliberate decision to act in a way that is contrary to the norms of society.

Question 3

reliability

Answer 3

Degree to which a measurement system produces similar results each time it is used with a particular subject or set of subjects under a particular set of conditions (p. 47). Regarding diagnoses of disorders, the degree to which different diagnosticians, all trained in the use of the diagnostic system, reach the same conclusions when they independently diagnose the same individuals.

Question 4

validity

Answer 4

Degree to which a measurement system actually measures the characteristic that it is supposed to measure (p. 48). Regarding diagnoses of psychological disorders, the degree to which the disorders identified are clinically meaningful; that is, the degree to which the diagnostic labels predict real-world behaviors and treatment outcomes.

Question 5

ADHD

Answer 5

Common acronym for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a frequently diagnosed disorder in children, characterized by impulsiveness and difficulties in focusing attention on tasks.

Question 6

Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 6

A disorder found primarily in older adults, characterized by progressive deterioration in cognitive functioning and the presence of deposits in the brain referred to as amyloid plaques.

Question 7

predisposing causes of a psychological disorder

Answer 7

Those conditions that are in place well before the onset of a psychological disorder and that make the person susceptible to the disorder. They may include genetic predisposition, early childhood experiences, and the sociocultural environment in which one develops

Question 8

precipitating causes of a psychological disorder

Answer 8

The events that most immediately bring on a psychological disorder in a person who is sufficiently predisposed for the disorder.

Question 9

perpetuating causes of a psychological disorder

Answer 9

Those consequences of a psychological disorder—such as the way other people treat the person who has it—that help keep the disorder going once it begins

Question 10

anxiety disorders

Answer 10

The class of psychological disorders in which fear or anxiety is the most prominent symptom. It includes generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and phobias

Question 11

generalized anxiety disorder

Answer 11

A psychological disorder characterized by prolonged, severe anxiety that is not consistently associated in the person’s mind with any particular object or event in the environment or any specific life experience

Question 12

phobia

Answer 12

Any psychological disorder characterized by a strong, irrational fear of some particular category of object or event

Question 13

panic disorder

Answer 13

A psychological disorder characterized by the repeated occurrence of panic attacks at unpredictable times and with no clear relationship to environmental events. Each attack involves an intense feeling of terror, which usually lasts several minutes and is accompanied by signs of high physiological arousal

Question 14

agoraphobia

Answer 14

A fear of public places

Question 15

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Answer 15

A psychological disorder characterized by a repeated, disturbing, irrational thought (the obsession) that can only be terminated (temporarily) by performing some action (the compulsion)

Question 16

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Answer 16

A psychological disorder that is directly and explicitly tied to a particular traumatic incident or set of incidents (such as torture) that the affected person has experienced

Question 17

depressive disorders

Answer 17

The class of mood disorders characterized by prolonged or frequent bouts of depression. see dysthymia, major depression.

Question 18

bipolar and related disorders

Answer 18

Mood disorders that are characterized by episodes of abnormally high mood (mania) and abnormally low mood (depression). See bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder.

Question 19

major depression

Answer 19

A psychological disorder characterized by severe depression that lasts essentially without remission for at least 2 weeks.

Question 20

dysthymia

Answer 20

A psychological disorder characterized by feelings of depression that are less severe than those in major depression but which last for at least a 2-year period

Question 21

rumination

Answer 21

Repetitively and passively focusing on symptoms of distress and on the possible causes and consequences of these symptoms.

Question 22

bipolar I disorder

Answer 22

The most severe type of bipolar disorder, characterized by at least one episode of mania and one episode of major depression.

Question 23

bipolar II disorder

Answer 23

The type of bipolar disorder in which the manic phase is less extreme than it is in bipolar I disorder and is referred to as hypomania rather than mania.

Question 24

schizophrenia

Answer 24

A serious class of psychological disorders that is characterized by disrupted perceptual and thought processes, often including hallucinations and delusions.

Question 25

concordance

Answer 25

In behavioral genetics research, an index of heritability found by identifying a set of individuals who have a particular trait or disorder and then determining the percentage of some specific class of their relatives (e.g., identical twins) who have the same trait or disorder.

Question 26

personality disorder

Answer 26

Stable pattern of behavior that impairs a person’s sense of self, goals, and capacity for empathy and/or intimacy

Question 27

paranoid personality disorder

Answer 27

A personality disorder in which people are deeply distrustful of other people and are suspicious of their motives

Question 28

schizoid personality disorder

Answer 28

A personality disorder in which people display little in the way of emotion, either positive or negative, and tend to avoid social relationships.

Question 29

schizotypal personality disorder

Answer 29

A personality disorder in which people show extreme discomfort in social situations, often bizarre patterns of thinking and perceiving, and behavioral eccentricities.

Question 30

antisocial personality disorder

Answer 30

A personality disorder in which people consistently violate or disregard the rights of others. People with this disorder are sometimes referred to as sociopaths or psychopaths

Question 31

borderline personality disorder

Answer 31

A personality disorder characterized by instability, including in emotions—swinging in and out of extreme moods and self-image—often showing dramatic changes in identity, goals, friends, and even sexual orientation.

Question 32

histrionic personality disorder

Answer 32

A personality disorder in which people continually seek to be the center of attention, behaving as if they are always “on stage,” using theatrical gestures and mannerisms; they are often described as “emotionally charged,” displaying exaggerated moods and emotions.

Question 33

narcissistic personality disorder

Answer 33

A personality disorder in which people are self-centered, seek admiration from others, tend to lack empathy, and are grandiose and confident in their own exceptional talents or characteristics

Question 34

avoidant personality disorder

Answer 34

A personality disorder in which people are excessively shy, being uncomfortable and inhibited in social situations. They feel inadequate and are extremely sensitive to being evaluated, experiencing a dread of criticism.

Question 35

dependent personality disorder

Answer 35

A personality disorder in which people show an extreme need to be cared for. They are clingy and fear separation from significant people in their lives, believing they cannot care for themselves.

Question 36

obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Answer 36

A personality disorder in which people are preoccupied with order and control, and as a result are inflexible and resist change