Term
| psychopathological functioning |
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Definition
Disruptions in emotional, behavioural,
or thought processes that lead to personal distress or block one’s ability
to achieve important goals. |
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Term
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Definition
The area of psychological investigation concerned
with understanding the nature of individual pathologies of mind,
mood, and behaviour. |
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Term
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Definition
The label given to a psychological abnormality by
classifying and categorizing the observed behaviour pattern into an
approved diagnostic system. |
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Term
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Definition
The current diagnostic and statistical manual of the
American Psychological Association that classifies, defines, and
describes mental disorders. |
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Term
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Definition
| The experience of more than one disorder at the same time. |
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Term
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Definition
Mental disorders in which a person does not have
signs of brain abnormalities and does not display grossly irrational
thinking or violate basic norms but does experience subjective distress;
a category dropped from DSM-III. |
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Term
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Definition
Severe mental disorders in which a person
experiences impairments in reality testing manifested through thought,
emotional, or perceptual difficulties; no longer used as diagnostic
category after DSM-III. |
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Term
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Definition
The legal (not clinical) designation for the state of an individual
judged to be legally irresponsible or incompetent. |
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Term
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Definition
| The causes of, or factors related to, the development of a disorder. |
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Term
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Definition
Mental disorders marked by psychological arousal,
feeling of tension, and intense apprehension without apparent reason. |
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Term
| generalized anxiety disorder |
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Definition
An anxiety disorder in which an individual
feels anxious and worried most of the time for at least six months when
not threatened by any specific danger or object. |
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Term
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Definition
An anxiety disorder in which sufferers experience
unexpected, severe panic attacks that begin with a feeling of intense
apprehension, fear, or terror. |
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Term
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Definition
An extreme fear of being in public places or open spaces
from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing. |
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Term
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Definition
A rational reaction to an objectively identified external danger that
may induce a person to flee or attack in self-defence. |
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Term
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Definition
A persistent and irrational fear (of a specific object, activity, or
situation) that is excessive and unreasonable, given the reality of the
threat. |
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Term
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Definition
A persistent, irrational fear that arises in anticipation of a
public situation in which an individual can be observed by others. |
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Term
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Definition
Phobias that occur in response to specific types of
objects or situations. |
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Term
| obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) |
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Definition
A mental disorder characterized
by obsessions—recurrent thoughts, images, or impulses that recur or
persist despite efforts to suppress them—and compulsions—repetitive,
purposeful acts performed according to certain rules or in a ritualized
manner. |
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Term
| post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) |
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Definition
An anxiety disorder characterized
by the persistent re-experience of traumatic events through distressing
recollections, dreams, hallucinations, or dissociative flashbacks;
develops in response to rape, life-threatening events, severe injury, and
natural disasters. |
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Term
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Definition
A mood disturbance such as severe depression or
depression alternating with mania. |
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Term
| major depressive disorder |
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Definition
A mood disorder characterized by intense
feelings of depression over an extended time, without the manic
high phase of bipolar depression. |
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Term
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Definition
A mood disorder characterized by alternating periods of
depression and mania. |
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Term
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Definition
A component of bipolar disorder characterized by extreme
elation, unbounded euphoria without sufficient reason, and grandiose
thoughts or feelings about personal abilities. |
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Term
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Definition
A general pattern of nonresponding in the presence
of noxious stimuli that often follows after an organism has previously
experienced noncontingent, inescapable aversive stimuli. |
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Term
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Definition
A chronic, inflexible, maladaptive pattern of
perceiving, thinking, and behaving that seriously impairs an
individual’s ability to function in social or other settings. |
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Term
| borderline personality disorder |
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Definition
A disorder defined by instability and
intensity in personal relationships as well as turbulent emotions and
impulsive behaviours. |
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Term
| antisocial personality disorder |
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Definition
A disorder characterized by stable patterns
of irresponsible or unlawful behaviour that violates social norms. |
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Term
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Definition
A disorder in which people have physical illnesses or
complaints that cannot be fully explained by actual medical conditions. |
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Term
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Definition
A disorder in which individuals are preoccupied with
having or getting physical ailments despite reassurances that they are
healthy. |
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Term
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Definition
A disorder characterized by unexplained physical
complaints in several categories over many years. |
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Term
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Definition
A disorder in which psychological conflict or stress
brings about loss of motor or sensory function. |
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Term
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Definition
A personality disorder marked by a disturbance in
the integration of identity, memory, or consciousness. |
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Term
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Definition
The inability to remember important personal
experiences, caused by psychological factors in the absence of any
organic dysfunction. |
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Term
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Definition
A disorder characterized by a flight from home or
work accompanied by a loss of ability to recall the personal past. |
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Term
| dissociative identity disorder (DID) |
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Definition
A dissociative mental disorder
in which two or more distinct personalities exist within the same
individual; formerly known as multiple personality disorder. |
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Term
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Definition
Severe form of psychopathology characterized by
the breakdown of integrated personality functioning, withdrawal from
reality, emotional distortions, and disturbed thought processes. |
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Term
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Definition
False or irrational beliefs maintained despite clear evidence to
the contrary. |
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Term
| diathesis-stress hypothesis |
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Definition
A hypothesis about the cause of certain disorders,
such as schizophrenia, that suggests that genetic factors predispose an
individual to a certain disorder, but that environmental stress factors
must impinge in order for the potential risk to manifest itself. |
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Term
| attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) |
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Definition
A disorder of childhood
characterized by inattention and hyperactivity–impulsivity. |
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Term
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Definition
A developmental disorder characterized by severe
disruption of children’s ability to form social bonds and use language. |
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Term
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Definition
The negative reaction of people to an individual or group because
of some assumed inferiority or source of difference that is considered
unacceptable. |
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