Chapter 20 Student Resources

Flashcards

Key Terms

Social norms

explicit and implicit rules that specify what forms of behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes are acceptable within a given society.

Categorical classification

an all-or-none approach to diagnosis in which each mental disorder is regarded as a category applicable or not applicable to any given patient.

Major depressive disorder

a common mental disorder characterised by depressed mood, tiredness, lack of interest and pleasure in activities, and feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt.

Comorbidity

the simultaneous presence of two or more mental disorders in a given individual.

Cultural relativism

the notion we should view each culture from within that culture rather than the observer’s own culture.

Culture-bound syndromes

patterns of abnormal behaviour found in one or a small number of cultures.

Aetiology

the study of the origins and causes of mental disorders.

Diathesis-stress model

the notion that mental disorders are caused jointly by a diathesis (personal vulnerability) and a distressing event.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

a mental disorder triggered by a very distressing event and involving re-experiencing of the event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, and increased fear and arousal.

Concordance rate

in twin studies, the probability that if one twin has a disorder the other twin has the same disorder.

Cognitive schema

organised information stored in long-term memory and used by individuals to form interpretations of themselves and the world in which they live.

Cognitive triad

a depressed person’s negative views of the self, the world, and the future.

Social anxiety disorder

a disorder where the individual has excessive fear of social situations and often avoids them; also known as social phobia.