Mental Health Terms Flashcards
Antidepressants
drugs are used to alleviate the symptoms of depression and are also sometimes used to treat other psychological disorders, including anxiety disorders, seasonal affective disorder, and some eating disorders.
Affect
A person’s affect is the expression of emotion or feelings displayed to others through facial expressions, hand gestures, voice tone, and other emotional signs such as laughter or tears.
Antisocial personality disorder
also known as psychopathy, sociopathy, dissocial personality disorder, or dyssocial personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder (APD) is a diagnosis applied to persons who routinely behave with little or no regard for the rights, safety, or feelings of others.
Anxiety/ anxiety disorders
are a group of mental disturbances characterized by anxiety as a central or core symptom. Although anxiety is a commonplace experience, not everyone who experiences it has an anxiety disorder.
Apathy
can be defined as an absence or suppression of emotion, feeling, concern or passion. Apathy is an indifference to things generally found to be exciting or moving.
Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) is a chronic developmental disorder characterized by attention problems, including distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsive behaviors, and the inability to remain focused on tasks or activities.
Autism
is a complex developmental disorder distinguished by difficulties with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and behavioral problems, including repetitive behaviors and narrow focus of interest.
Behavior therapy- or behavior modification
is an empirically based psychological treatment approach founded on the principles of operant conditioning. The goal is to replace undesirable behaviors with more desirable ones through positive or negative reinforcement of adaptive behavior.
Biofeedback
or applied psychophysiological feedback is a patient-guided treatment that teaches an individual to control muscle tension, pain, body temperature, brain waves, and other bodily functions and processes through relaxation, visualization, and other cognitive control techniques.
Bipolar disorder
formerly known as manic depression is a psychiatric disorder characterized by severe and unusual changes in energy level, mood, and interactions with others.
Body image
is a mental opinion or description that individuals have of their own physical appearance. It is a subjective concept, based on comparisons to socially constructed standards or ideals
Cognitive behavior therapy
(CBT) is an action-oriented form of psychosocial therapy that assumes that maladaptive, or faulty, thinking patterns cause maladaptive behavior and negative emotions. The treatment focuses on changing individuals’ thoughts (cognitive patterns) in order to change their behavior and emotional state.
Delusional/ delusional disorders
is a psychotic condition characterized by recurrent or persistent non-bizarre delusions, without other obvious symptoms of mental illness. Delusions are false beliefs, based on a mistaken interpretation of reality
Depression
is the general name for a family of illnesses known as depressive disorders. As an illness, depression can affect not only the personal mood and internal thoughts of a person, but also the outwardly physical functions of affected individuals
Desensitization
is a treatment method which weakens the learned association between anxiety and feared objects or situations by strengthening another response—in this case, relaxation—that is incompatible with anxiety
Ego
is that portion of the personality that imposes realistic limitations on the id.
Emotional intelligence
ability to perceive and constructively act on both one’s own emotions and the feelings of others.
Empathy
The capacity to vicariously experience and understand the thoughts and feelings of another person by putting oneself in that person’s place.
Extroversion
A term used to characterize people who are typically outgoing, friendly, and open toward others.
Forgetting curve
is a treatment method which weakens the learned association between anxiety and feared objects or situations by strengthening another response—in this case, relaxation—that is incompatible with anxiety
ID
The id is the part of the personality that includes such basic biological impulses or drives as eating, drinking, eliminating wastes, avoiding pain, attaining sexual pleasure, and aggression. The id operates on the “pleasure principle,” seeking to satisfy these basic urges immediately with no regard to consequences.
Impulse control disorders
A psychological disorder characterized by the repeated inability to refrain from performing a particular action that is harmful either to oneself or others.
Inferiority complex
A psychological condition that exists when a person’s feelings of inadequacy are so intense that daily living is impaired.
Introversion
is a treatment method which weakens the learned association between anxiety and feared objects or situations by strengthening another response—in this case, relaxation—that is incompatible with anxiety
Mania
is a treatment method which weakens the learned association between anxiety and feared objects or situations by strengthening another response—in this case, relaxation—that is incompatible with anxiety
Mental imagery
A picture created by the imagination with no visual stimulus required.
Narcissism
Excessive preoccupation with self and lack of empathy for others
Obsessive compulsive disorder
is a treatment method which weakens the learned association between anxiety and feared objects or situations by strengthening another response—in this case, relaxation—that is incompatible with anxiety
Panic disorders
An acute feeling of intense fear, accentuated by increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, and mild convulsions.
Passive aggressive personality
Its main distinguishing feature is indirect resistance to the demands or expectations of others through stubbornness, forgetfulness, inefficiency, procrastination, and other covert means.
Placebo
substances with no known pharmacological value that are given to members of a control group in an experiment.
Post traumatic stress disorder
A psychological disorder that develops in response to an extremely traumatic event that threatens a person’s safety or life.
Psychosis
A symptom of mental illness characterized by a radical change in personality and a distorted or diminished sense of objective reality.
Rapid eye movement
is a treatment method which weakens the learned association between anxiety and feared objects or situations by strengthening another response—in this case, relaxation—that is incompatible with anxiety
Self esteem
an important component of emotional health, self-esteem encompasses both self-confidence and self-acceptance.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
An initial expectation that is confirmed by the behavior it elicits.
Superego
In psychoanalytic theory, the part of the human personality, that represents a persons inner values and morals; also known as conscience.
