Chapter 5 Flashcards
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The network of nerve fibers that connect the central nervous system to all the other organs of the body.
Endocrine System
The system of glands located throughout the body that help control important activities such as growth and sexual activity.
Sympathetic Nervous System
The nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system that quicken the heartbeat and produce other changes experienced as arousal and fear.
Parasympathetic Nervous System
The nerve fibers of the autonomic nervous system that help return bodily processes to normal.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) pathway
One route by which the brain and body produce arousal and fear.
Corticosteroids
A group of hormones, including cortisol, released by the adrenal glands at times of stress.
Acute Stress Disorder
An anxiety disorder in which fear and related symptoms are experienced soon after a traumatic event and last less than a month.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
An anxiety disorder in which fear and related symptoms continue to be experienced long after a traumatic event.
Rape
Forced sexual intercourse or another sexual act committed against a non-consenting person or intercourse with an underage person.
Torture
The use of brutal, degrading, and disorienting strategies to reduce victims to a state of utter helplessness.
eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
An exposure treatment in which clients move their eyes in a rhythmic manner from side to side while flooding their minds with images of objects and situations they ordinarily avoid.
Rap Group
A group that meets to talk about and explore members’ problems in an atmosphere of mutual support.
Psychological Debriefing
A form of crisis intervention in which victims are helped to talk about their feelings and reactions to traumatic incidents. Also called critical incident stress debriefing.
Dissociative Disorders
A group of disorders in which some parts of one’s memory or identity seem to be dissociated,or separated, from other parts of one’s memory or identity.
Memory
The faculty for recalling past events and past learning.
Dissociative Amnesia
A dissociative disorder marked by an inability to recall important personal events and information.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
A dissociative disorder in which a person develops two or more distinct personalities. Also known as multiple personality disorder.
Sub-personalities
The two or more distinct personalities found in individuals suffering with dissociative identity disorder. Also known as alternate personalities.
State-dependent Learning
Learning that becomes associated with the conditions under which it occurred, so that it is best remembered under the same conditions.
Self-hypnosis
The process of hypnotizing oneself, sometimes for the purpose of forgetting unpleasant events.
Hypnotic Therapy
A treatment in which the patient undergoes hypnosis and is then guided to recall forgotten events or perform other therapeutic activities. Also known as hypnotherapy.
Fusion
The final merging of two or more sub-personalities in multiple personality disorder.
Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder
A dissociative disorder marked by the presence of persistent and recurrent episodes of depersonalization, derealization, or both.
Stressor
An event that creates a sense of threat by confronting a person with a demand or opportunity for change of some kind.
Hypothalamus
A part of the brain that helps maintain various bodily functions,including eating and hunger.
Epinephrine
a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion. When released from the adrenal medulla, however,they act as hormones and travel through the bloodstream to various organs and muscles, further producing arousal and fear.
Norepinephrine
A neurotransmitter whose abnormal activity is linked to depression and panic disorder and depression.
Amnestic Episode
the forgotten period. During an amnestic episode, people may appear confused; in some cases they wander about aimlessly. They are already experiencing memory difficulties but seem unaware of them.
Dissociative Fugue
An extreme version of dissociative amnesia is called dissociative fugue. Here persons not only forget their personal identities and details of their past lives but also flee to an entirely different location. Some individuals travel a short distance and make few social contacts in the new setting (APA, 2013, 2012). Their fugue may be brief—a matter of hours or days—and end suddenly. In other cases, however, the person may travel far from home, take a new name, and establish a new identity, new relationships, and even a new line of work. Such people may also display new personality characteristics; often they are more outgoing.
Iatrogenic Disorder
Produced or caused inadvertently by a clinician. (iatrogenic)
Therapists create this disorder by subtly suggesting the existence of other personalities during therapy or by explicitly asking a patient to produce different personalities while under hypnosis.
Repression
A defense mechanism whereby the ego prevents unacceptable impulses from reaching consciousness.
