Chapter 15 - Psychological disorders - Important terms

Question 1

Demonic model

Answer 1

view of mental illness in which odd behaviour, hearing voices, or talking to oneself was attributed to evil spirits infesting the body

Question 2

Medical model

Answer 2

View of mental illness as due to a physical disorder requiring medical treatment

Question 3

Asylum

Answer 3

Institution for people with mental illnesses created in the fifteenth century

Question 4

moral treatment

Answer 4

approach to mental illness calling for dignity, kindness, and respect for those with mental illness

Question 5

deinstitutionalization

Answer 5

governmental policy in the 1960s and 1970s that focused on releasing hospitalized psychiatric patients into the community and closing mental hospitals

Question 6

labelling theorists

Answer 6

Scholars who argue that psychiatric diagnoses exert powerful negative effects on people’s perceptions and behaviours

Question 7

Diagnositc and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Answer 7

diagnostic system containing the APA criteria for mental disorders

Question 8

Prevalence

Answer 8

percentage of people within a population who have a specific mental disorder

Question 9

Comorbidity

Answer 9

co-occurrence of two or more diagnoses within the same person

Question 10

Categorical model

Answer 10

model in which a mental disorder differs from normal functioning in kind rather than degree

Question 11

Dimensional model

Answer 11

Model in which a mental disorder differs from normal functioning in degree rather than kind

Question 12

insanity defence

Answer 12

legal defence proposing that people shouldn’t be held legally responsible for their actions if they weren’t of “sound mind” when committing them

Question 13

involuntary commitment

Answer 13

procedure of placing some people with mental illnesses in a psychiatric hospital or other facility based on their potential danger to themselves or others, or their inability to care for themselves

Question 14

somatic symptom disorder

Answer 14

condition marked by physical symptoms that suggest an underlying medical illness, but that are actually psychological in origin

Question 15

illness anxiety disorder

Answer 15

an individual’s continual preoccupation with the notion that he or she has a serious physical disease

Question 16

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Answer 16

continual feelings of worry, anxiety, physical tension, and irritability across many ares of life functioning

Question 17

Panic attack

Answer 17

Brief, intense episode of extreme fear characterized by sweating, dizziness, light-headedness, racing heartbeat, and feelings of impeding death or going crazy

Question 18

panic disorder

Answer 18

repeated and unexpected panic attacks, along with either persistent concerns about future attacks or a change in personal behaviour in an attempt to avoid them

Question 19

phobia

Answer 19

intense fear of an object or situation that’s greatly out of proportion to its actual threat

Question 20

agoraphobia

Answer 20

fear of being in a place or situation from which escape is difficult or embarrassing, or in which help is unavailable in the event of a panic attack

Question 21

specific phobia

Answer 21

intense fear of objects, places, or situations that is greatly out of proportion to their actual threat

Question 22

social anxiety disorder

Answer 22

intense fear of negative evaluation in social situations

Question 23

PTSD

Answer 23

marked emotional disturbance after experiencing or witnessing a severely stressful event

Question 24

OCD

Answer 24

condition marked by repeated and lengthy (At least one hour per day) immersion in obsessions, compulsions, or both

Question 25

obsession

Answer 25

persistent idea, thought, or impulse that is unwanted and inappropriate, causing marked distress

Question 26

compulsion

Answer 26

repetitive behaviour or mental act performed to reduce or prevent stress

Question 27

anxiety sensitivity

Answer 27

fear of anxiety-related situations

Question 28

major depressive episode

Answer 28

state in which a person experiences a lingering depressed mood or diminished interest in pleasurable activities, along with symptoms that include weight loss and sleep difficulties

Question 29

cognitive model of depression

Answer 29

theory that depression is caused by negative beliefs and expectations

Question 30

learned helplessness

Answer 30

tendency to feel helpless in the face of events we can’t control

Question 31

manic episode

Answer 31

experience marked by dramatically elevated mood, decreased need for sleep, increased energy, inflated self-esteem, increased talkativeness, and irresponsible behaviour

Question 32

bipolar disorder

Answer 32

condition marked by a history of at least one manic episode

Question 33

personality disorder

Answer 33

condition in which personality traits, appearing first in adolescence, are inflexible, stable, expressed in a wide variety of situations, and lead to distress or impairment

Question 34

borderline personality disorder

Answer 34

condition marked by extreme instability in mood, identity, and impulse control

Question 35

psychopathic personality

Answer 35

condition marked by superficial charm, dishonesty, manipulativeness, self-centredness, and risk taking

Question 36

antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)

Answer 36

condition marked by a lengthy history of irresponsible and/or illegal actions

Question 37

dissociative disorder

Answer 37

condition involving disruptions in consciousness, memory, identity, or perception

Question 38

depersonalization/derealization disorder

Answer 38

condition marked by multiple episodes of depersonalization

Question 39

dissociative amnesia

Answer 39

inability to recall important personal information - most often related to a stressful experience - that can’t be explained by ordinary forgetfulness

Question 40

dissociative fugue

Answer 40

sudden, unexpected travel away from home or the workplace, accompanied by amnesia for significant life events

Question 41

Dissociative identity disorder

Answer 41

condition characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states that recurrently take control of the person’s behaviour

Question 42

schizophrenia

Answer 42

severe disorder of thought and emotion associated with a loss of contact with reality

Question 43

delusion

Answer 43

strongly held, fixed belief that has no basis in reality

Question 44

psychotic symptom

Answer 44

psychological problem reflecting serious distortions in reality

Question 45

hallucination

Answer 45

sensory perception that occurs in the absence of an external stimulus

Question 46

catatonic symptom

Answer 46

motor problem, including extreme resistance to complying with simple suggestions, holding the body in bizarre or rigid postures, or curling up in the fetal position

Question 47

diathesis-stress model

Answer 47

perspective proposing that mental disorders are a joint product of genetic vulnerability, called a diathesis, and stressors that trigger this vulnerability

Question 48

autism spectrum disorder

Answer 48

DSM-5 category that includes autistic disorder and Asperger’s disorder

Question 49

ADHD

Answer 49

childhood condition marked by excessive inattention, impulsivity, and activity