Chapter 15 Flashcards
mental disorder
Any behavior or emotional state that causes an individual great suffering, is self-destructive, seriously impairs the person’s ability to work or get along with others, or makes a person unable to control the impulse to endanger others.
projective tests
Psychological tests used to infer a person’s motives, conflicts, and unconscious dynamics on the basis of the person’s interpretations of ambiguous stimuli.
objective tests (inventories)
Standardized objective questionnaires requiring written responses; they typically include scales on which people are asked to rate themselves.
generalized anxiety disorder
A continuous state of anxiety marked by feelings of worry and dread, apprehension, difficulties in concentration, and signs of motor tension.
panic disorder
An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurring panic attacks, periods of intense fear, and feelings of impending doom or death, accompanied by physiological symptoms such as rapid heart rate and dizziness.
phobia
An exaggerated, unrealistic fear of a specific situation, activity, or object.
agoraphobia
A set of phobias, often set off by a panic attack, involving the basic fear of being away from a safe place or person.
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
A disorder in which a person who has experienced a traumatic or life-threatening event has symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia, reliving of the trauma, and increased physiological arousal.
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
An anxiety disorder in which a person feels trapped in repetitive, persistent thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive, ritualized behaviors (compulsions),
major depression
A disorder involving disturbances in emotion (excessive sadness), behavior (loss of interest in one’s usual activities), cognition (thought’s of hopelessness), and body function (fatigue and loss of appetite).
bipolar disorder
A mood disorder in which episodes of both depression and mania (excessive euphoria) occur.
vulnerability-stress model
Approaches that emphasize how individual vulnerabilities interact with external stresses or circumstances to produce specific mental disorders, such as depression.
borderline personality disorder
A disorder characterized by extreme negative emotionality and an inability to regulate emotions; it often results in intense but unstable relationships, impulsiveness, self-mutilating behavior, feelings of emptiness, and a fear of abandonment by others.
antisocial personality disorder (APD)
A personality disorder characterized by a lifelong pattern of irresponsible, antisocial behavior such as law-breaking, violence, and other impulsive, reckless acts.
psychopathy
A personality disorder characterized by fearlessness; lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse; the use of deceit; and coldheartedness.
