McGraw-Hill OnlineMcGraw-Hill Higher EducationLearning Center
Student Center | Instructor Center | Information Center | Home
Glossary
Career Opportunities
Internet Primer
Study Skills Primer
Statistics Primer
Grade Summit
Author Audio Introduction
Chapter Objectives
Chapter Overview
Audio Lectures
Multiple Choice Quiz
Essay Quiz
True or False
Glossary
Flashcards
Internet Exercises
Interactive Activities
Web Links
FAQ
Feedback
Help Center


Essentials of Psychology
Benjamin B Lahey, University of Chicago

Abnormal Behavior


abnormal behavior  Actions, thoughts, and feelings that are harmful to the person or to others.
agoraphobia  (ag´´o-rah-fo¯´be¯-ah) An intense fear of leaving one's home or other familiar places.
antisocial personality disorder  A personality disorder characterized by smooth social skills and a lack of guilt about violating social rules and laws and taking advantage of others.
anxiety disorders  Psychological disorders that involve excessive levels of negative emotions, such as nervousness, tension, worry, fright, and anxiety.
bipolar affective disorder  (b?¯-po¯´lar) A condition in which the individual experiences periods of mania that alternate irregularly with periods of severe depression.
catatonic schizophrenia  (kat´´ah-ton´ik) A subtype of schizophrenia in which the individual spends long periods in an inactive, statuelike state.
conversion disorders  Somatoform disorders in which individuals experience serious somatic symptoms such as functional blindness, deafness, and paralysis.
delusions  False beliefs that distort reality.
depersonalization  (de-per´´sun-al-i-za¯´shun) The perceptual experience of one's body or surroundings becoming distorted or unreal in some way.
disorganized schizophrenia  A subtype of schizophrenia characterized by shallow silliness, extreme social withdrawal, and fragmented delusions and hallucinations.
dissociative amnesia  A dissociative disorder that involves a loss of memory and that has a psychological rather than a physical cause.
dissociative disorders  (dis-so¯´´se¯-a-tiv) A category of conditions involving sudden cognitive changes, such as a change in memory, perception, or identity.
dissociative fugue  (fu¯g) A period of "wandering" that involves a loss of memory and a change in identity.
dissociative identity disorder  A dissociative disorder in which the individual appears to shift abruptly and repeatedly from one "personality" to another.
generalized anxiety disorder  An uneasy sense of general tension and apprehension that makes the individual highly uncomfortable because of its prolonged presence.
hallucinations  False perceptual experiences that distort reality.
insanity  A legal definition concerning a person's inability to tell right from wrong, ability to understand the trial proceedings, or whether the person is a direct danger to self or others.
major depression  An affective disorder characterized by episodes of deep unhappiness, loss of interest in life, and other symptoms.
mania  (ma¯´ne¯-ah) A disturbance of mood in which the individual experiences a euphoria characterized by unrealistic optimism and heightened sensory pleasures.
mood disorders  Psychological disorders involving depression and/or abnormal elation.
obsessive-compulsive disorders  Disorders that involve obsessions (anxiety-provoking thoughts that will not go away) and/or compulsions (irresistible urges to engage in specific irrational behaviors).
panic anxiety disorder  A pattern of anxiety in which long periods of calm are broken by an intensely uncomfortable attack of anxiety.
paranoid schizophrenia  (par´-ah-noid) A subtype of schizophrenia in which the individual holds delusions of persecution and grandeur that seriously distort reality.
personality disorders  Psychological disorders that are believed to result from personalities that developed improperly during childhood.
phobia  An intense, irrational fear.
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  The condition caused by extremely stressful experiences in which the person later experiences anxiety and irritability; has upsetting memories, dreams, and realistic flashbacks of the experience; and tries to avoid anything that reminds him or her of the experience.
schizoid personality disorder  (skiz´oid) A personality disorder characterized by blunted emotions, lack of interest in social relationships, and withdrawal into a solitary existence.
schizophrenia  (skiz´´o-fren´-e¯-ah) A psychological disorder involving cognitive disturbance (delusions and hallucinations), disorganization, and reduced enjoyment and interests.
social phobia  A phobic fear of social interactions, particularly those with strangers and those in which the person might be viewed negatively.
somatization  (so¯´´mah-ti-za¯´shun) Intensely and chronically uncomfortable psychological conditions that involve numerous symptoms of somatic (body) illnesses without physical cause.
somatoform disorders  (so¯´´mah´to-form) Disorders in which the individual experiences the symptoms of physical health problems that have psychological rather than physical causes.
somatoform pain disorders  (so¯-ma´to-form) Somatoform disorders in which the individual experiences a relatively specific and chronic pain that has a psychological rather than physical cause.
specific phobia  A phobic fear of one relatively specific thing.