Barrons Psychology copy Flashcards
abnormal psychology
the study of people who suffer from psychological disorders
abnormality
- maladaptive and/or disturbing to the individual2. disturbing to others3. unusual, unshared by many others of the same population4. irrational, doesn’t make sense to the average person
insane
a legal term used to describe people who, because of a psychological disorder, cannot be held fully responsible for their crimesNGRI= not guilty by reason of insanity
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
a book used by psychologists to determine if someone has a psychological disorderdoes not include discussion of causes or treatments because different factions of psychology have different ideas about the causes and treatmentslatest version is the DSM-IV-TR
intern’s syndrome
the tendency to see in oneself the characteristics of disorders about which one is learning
phobia
anxiety disorderan intense, unwarranted fear of a situation or object
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
anxiety disorderconstant, low-level anxiety
panic disorder
anxiety disorderacute episodes of intense anxiety without any apparent provocation, panic attacks tend to increase in frequency, people suffer more anxiety from anticipating the attacks
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
anxiety disorderwhen persistent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) cause someone to feel the need (compulsion) to engage in a particular action
post-traumatic stress disorder
anxiety disorderflashbacks or nightmares following a person’s involvement in or an observation of an extremely troubling event, these memories cause anxiety
somatoform disorders
when a person manifests a psychological problem through a physiological problem
hypochondriasis
somatoform disorderminor problems are thought to be severe physical illness, frequent physical problems with no apparent cause
conversion disorder
somatoform disordera severe physical problem with no biological cause
dissociative disorders
disruptions in conscious processes
psychogenic amnesia
dissociative disorderwhen a person cannot remember things and a physiological basis cannot be foundcompare: organic amnesia
organic amnesia
when a person cannot remember things and there is a biological reasoncompare: psychogenic amnesia
fugue
dissociative disorderhaving psychogenic amnesia and finding oneself in an unfamiliar environment
dissociative identity disorder
dissociative disorderseveral personalities that may represent different ages and both sexes, people with DID commonly have a history of sexual abuse or some other childhood traumarare outside of US; DIDers may be role-playing b/c of their therapists’ questions and media portrayals
major (unipolar) depression
mood or affective disorderunhappiness for more than two weeks without a clear reasonother symptoms: loss of appetite, fatigue, change in sleeping patterns, lack of interest in normally enjoyable activities, feeling of worthlessnesslinked with low levels of serotonin and norepinephrine
seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
dissociative disorderdepression only during certain times of the year, usually winter
bipolar disorder (manic depression)
dissociative disorderdepressed and manic (feelings of high energy) episodeslinked with more receptors for acetylcholine
Aaron Beck
cognitive theorist who believes that the cognitive triad causes depression
cognitive triad
theorized by Aaron Beckunreasonably negative ideas that people have about themselves, their world and their futuresfailure is attributed to internal, global and stable causessuccess is attributed to external, specific and unstable causes
schizophrenia
disordered, distorted thinking often demonstrated through delusions and/or hallucinations
