Chapter 13 Flashcards
Medical model
Abnormal psychological experiences are conceptualized as illnesses that, like physical illnesses, have biological and environmental causes, defined symptoms, and possible cures.
Mental disorder
A persistent disturbance or dysfunction in behavior, thoughts, or emotions that causes significant distress or impairment.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
A classification system that describes the features used to diagnose each recognized mental disorder and indicates how the disorder can be distinguished from other, similar problems.
Comorbidity
The co-occurrence of two or more disorders in a single individual.
Biopsychosocial perspective
Explains mental disorders as the result of interactions among biological, psychological, and social factors.
Research Domain Criteria Project (RDoC)
A new initiative that aims to guide the classification and understanding of mental disorders by revealing the basic processes that give rise to them.
Anxiety disorder
The class of mental disorder in which anxiety is the predominant feature.
Phobic disorders
Disorders characterized by marked, persistent, and excessive fear and avoidance of specific objects, activities, or situations.
Specific phobia
A disorder that involves an irrational fear of a particular object or situation that markedly interferes with an individual’s ability to function.
Social phobia
A disorder that involves an irrational fear of being publicly humiliated or embarrassed.
Preparedness theory
The idea that people are instinctively predisposed toward certain fears.
Panic disorder
A disorder characterized by the sudden occurrence of multiple psychological and physiological symptoms that contribute to a feeling of stark terror.
Agoraphobia
A specific phobia involving a fear of public places.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
A disorder characterized by chronic excessive worry accompanied by three or more of the following symptoms: restlessness, fatigue, concentration problems, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
A disorder in which repetitive, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and ritualistic behaviors (compulsions) designed to fend off those thoughts interfere significantly with and individual’s functioning.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
A disorder characterized by chronic physiological arousal, recurrent unwanted thoughts or images of the trauma, and avoidance of things that call the traumatic event to mind.
Mood disorder
Mental disorder that have mood disturbance as their predominant feature.
Major depressive disorder (or unipolar depression)
A disorder characterized by a severely depressed mood and/ or inability to experience pleasure that lasts 2 or more weeks and is accompanied by feelings of worthlessness, lethargy, and sleep and appetite disturbance.
Dysthymia
The same cognitive and bodily problems as in depressions are present, but they are less severe and last longer, persisting for at least 2 years.
Double depression
A moderately depressed mood that persists for at least 2 years and is punctuated by periods of major depression.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
Recurrent depressive episodes in a seasonal pattern.
Helplessness theory
The idea that individuals who are prone to depression automatically attribute negative experiences to causes that are internal (I.e. their own fault), stable (i.e. unlikely to change), and global (i.e., widespread).
Bipolar disorder
A condition characterized by cycles of abnormal, persistent high mood (mania) and low mood (depression).
Expressed emotions
A measure of how much hostility, criticism, and emotional over-involvement are used when speaking about a family member with a mental disorder.
