Chapter 8: Dissociative and Somatic Symptom Disorders

Question 1

hysteria

Answer 1

an emotional condition marked by extreme excitability and bodily symptoms for which there is no medical explanation

Question 2

dissociation

Answer 2

the separation of mental processes - such as perception, memory, and self-awareness - and behaviors that are normally integrated

Question 3

amnesia

Answer 3

memory loss, which is usually temporary in dissociative disorder but, in rare cases, may be permanent

Question 4

identity problem

Answer 4

a dissociative symptom in which a person isn’t sure who he or she is or may assume a new identity

Question 5

derealization

Answer 5

a dissociative symptom in which the external world is perceived or experienced as strange or unreal

Question 6

depersonalization

Answer 6

a dissociative symptom in which the perception or experience of self - either one’s body or one’s mental processes - is altered to the point where the person feels like an observer, as though seeing oneself from the “outside”

Question 7

dissociative disorder

Answer 7

a category of psychological disorders in which consciousness, memory, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, or identity are dissociated to the point where the symptoms are pervasive, cause significant distress, and interfere with daily functioning

Question 8

dissociative amnesia

Answer 8

a dissociative disorder in which the sufferer has a significantly impaired memory for important experiences or personal information that cannot be explained by ordinary forgetfulness

Question 9

depersonalization-derealization disorder

Answer 9

a dissociative disorder, the primary symptom of which is persistent feeling of being detached from one’s mental processes, body, or surrounding

Question 10

dissociative identity disorder (DID)

Answer 10

a dissociative disorder characterized by the presence or two or more distinct personality states, or an experience of possession trance, which gives rise to a discontinuity in the person’s sense of self and agency

Question 11

somatic symptoms disorder

Answer 11

a category of psychological disorders characterized by symptoms about physical well-being along with cognitive distortions about bodily symptoms and their meaning; the focus on these bodily symptoms causes significant distress or impaired functioning

Question 12

somatic symptom disorder (SSD)

Answer 12

a somatic symptom disorder characterized by at least one somatic symptoms that is distressing or disrupts daily life, about which the person has excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors

Question 13

conversion disorder

Answer 13

a somatic symptom disorder that involves sensory or motor symptoms that are incompatible with known neurological and medical conditions

Question 14

illness anxiety disorder

Answer 14

a somatic symptom disorder marked by a preoccupation with a fear or belief of having a serious disease in the face of either no or minor medical symptoms and excessive behaviors related to this belief