Psychology is related to almost everything that involves people. This section aims to provide an introduction to some of the wide variety of terms and issues you may encounter. Please note, the content included here is not intended to be used for clinical or diagnostic purposes.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders, characterised by inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Symptoms of ADHD tend to be noticed at an early age and most cases are diagnosed when children are 6 to 12 years old.
The symptoms of ADHD usually improve with age, but many adults who are diagnosed with the condition at a young age continue to experience problems.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal, if unpleasant, part of life, which can affect us all in different ways and at different times. Whereas stress is most often linked to a specific external factor (or factors), those experiencing anxiety are not always aware of the cause.
Anxiety usually manifests itself as a feeling of profound agitation and unease about an imminent unpleasant experience, often accompanied by physical symptoms such as breathlessness, sweating, and a racing heartbeat. In the most severe cases these symptoms can be extremely debilitating.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
What is Autism? Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them, and people with autism may experience over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.
Autism is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but many have accompanying learning disabilities and will require a lifetime of specialist support.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder (also known as Bipolar Affective Disorder) is a condition in which individuals suffer from extreme shifts in mood, leading to periodic episodes of depression and mania which can have a detrimental effect on their ability to conduct and cope with everyday life.
During an episode of depression, sufferers are known to experience overwhelming feelings of worthlessness and lethargy, potentially leading to instances of self-harm or thoughts of suicide.
During episodes of mania individuals may feel superficially happy and energised, however these periods often coincide with a lack of inhibition, an inability to rest or sleep, and occasionally the manifestation of certain symptoms of psychosis (such as seeing/hearing things which are not there).
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
A form of psychotherapy that integrates theories of cognition and learning with treatment techniques derived from cognitive therapy and behaviour therapy. CBT assumes that cognitive, emotional, and behavioural variables are functionally interrelated. Treatment is aimed at identifying and modifying the client’s maladaptive thought processes and problematic behaviours through cognitive restructuring and behavioural techniques to achieve change.
Depression
A state of depressed and flattened mood often accompanied by a loss of interest, or inability to find pleasure, in normally enjoyable activities. It can also be linked to weight loss or weight gain, insomnia, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, diminished ability to think or concentrate or recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
It can appear as a symptom of many mental disorders and has numerous different variants with similar but different dominant symptoms or underlying causes.
Eating Disorders
A specific class of mental condition characterised by disturbances or problems associated with feeding or eating (such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa).
Problems with food can begin when it is used to cope with boredom, anxiety, or feelings of anger, loneliness, sadness, or shame. Food becomes a problem when it is used to cope with painful situations or feelings, or to relieve stress often without the person even realising it.
It is unlikely that an eating disorder will result from a single cause. It is much more likely when a number of factors, events, feelings, or pressures combine and leave an individual feeling unable to cope. These can include: low self-esteem, family relationships, problems with friends, bereavement, problems at work, college or university, lack of confidence, sexual or emotional abuse, etc. Many people talk about simply feeling ‘too fat’ or ‘not good enough’.
Forgiveness
n. Wilfully putting aside feelings of resentment toward an individual who has committed a wrong, been unfair or hurtful, or otherwise harmed one in some way. Forgiveness is not equated with reconciliation or excusing another, and it is not merely accepting what happened or ceasing to be angry. Rather, it involves a voluntary transformation of one’s feelings, attitudes, and behaviour toward the individual, so that one is no longer dominated by resentment and can express compassion, generosity, or the like toward the individual. Forgiveness is sometimes considered an important process in psychotherapy.
Gender Dysphoria
Gender Dysphoria is a condition where an individual experiences clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning due to a perceived mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. It is sometimes known as gender identity disorder (GID), gender incongruence or transgenderism.
Health Psychology
Health psychology promotes changes in people’s attitudes, behaviour and thinking about health and illness.
Health psychologists aim to help people to cope with illness and unpleasant medical treatments. They also deal with topics such as stopping smoking, skin care in the sun and promoting safer-sex to promote good health and prevent illness.
Impulse Disorder (Impulse Control Disorder)
A form of personality disorder where the individual is unable to resist the urge, impulse, or temptation, to engage in a particular action or actions – often socially undesirable or physically damaging – as part of a wider set of problems characterised by a lack of emotional or behavioural self-control.
Disorders of this kind are more common among teenagers and young adults.
James- Lange Theory
The James–Lange theory refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions and is one of the earliest theories of emotion, developed independently by two 19th-century scholars, William James and Carl Lange.
This theory states that within human beings as a response to experiences in the world, the autonomic nervous system creates physiological events such as muscular tension, a rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions, then, are feelings which come about as a result of these physiological changes, rather than being their cause. James and Lange arrived at the theory independently. Lange specifically stated that vasomotor changes are emotions. (Ex. A person rationalizes that because he/she is crying, he/she must be sad.) James elucidated his concept as:
“My theory … is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion. Common sense says, we lose our fortune, are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; we are insulted by a rival, are angry and strike. The hypothesis here to be defended says that this order of sequence is incorrect … and that the more rational statement is that we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble … Without the bodily states following on the perception, the latter would be purely cognitive in form, pale, colorless, destitute of emotional warmth. We might then see the bear, and judge it best to run, receive the insult and deem it right to strike, but we should not actually feel afraid or angry.”
This order of causality is a difficult one. The theory has been largely disfavored in modern times. Some evidence to support it, however, may come from the fact that sufferers of various psychological challenges such as panic disorders often experience psychoemotional trauma after physiological responses arise in the body, responses which individuals are conditioned to associate with a particular emotional state but which can, via therapy, be dissociated.
Kleptomania
A form of Impulse-Control Disorder which manifests itself in a consistent pattern of theft and a desire to steal things of little to no monetary value or personal use. It is important to note that in cases of Kleptomania the act of stealing is not done as a response to any sort of delusion or hallucination, and is not linked to any sort of manic episode or as part of any other compulsive, conduct, or antisocial personality disorder
Kleptomania is more common in women, and is often difficult to differentiate from normal criminal acts of theft (such as shoplifting). Occasionally the individual may be found to have hoarded large amounts of stolen items, or even to have surreptitiously returned them to their original owners.
Learned Helplessness
A theory of behavioural learning based on research by Martin Seligman, wherein individuals suffer from a debilitating sense of negativity, apathy, and powerlessness in the belief that they are helpless or unable to influence the outcome of events around them. This often arises as a result of some traumatic event or as a consequence of a persistent period of failure and is thought to be widely associated with Depression.
Mania
The term Mania refers to clinically defined periods of over-active and/or highly excitable behaviour, wherein normal reasoning and risk-processing may be impaired. It is most frequently associated with Bipolar Disorder. During periods of mania individuals may suffer from a lack of inhibition and impulse control, an inability to rest or sleep, and may also occasionally show symptoms of psychosis (such as seeing/hearing things which are not there).
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
A personality disorder with the following characteristics:
- ) a long-standing pattern of grandiose self-importance and an exaggerated sense of talent and achievements;
- fantasies of unlimited sex, power, brilliance, or beauty;
- an exhibitionistic need for attention and admiration;
- either cool indifference or feelings of rage, humiliation, or emptiness as a response to criticism, indifference, or defeat; and
- various interpersonal disturbances, such as feeling entitled to special favours, taking advantage of others, and inability to empathize with the feelings of others.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A disorder characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that prompt the performance of neutralizing rituals (compulsions). Typical obsessions involve themes of contamination, dirt, or illness (fearing that one will contract or transmit a disease) and doubts about the performance of certain actions (e.g., an excessive preoccupation that one has neglected to turn off a home appliance). Common compulsive behaviours include repetitive cleaning or washing, checking, ordering, repeating, and hoarding. The obsessions and compulsions—which are recognized by affected individuals (though not necessarily by children) as excessive or unreasonable—are time consuming (more than 1 hour per day), cause significant distress, and interfere with functioning. Although OCD has traditionally been considered an anxiety disorder, it is increasingly thought to be in a separate diagnostic category. DSM–5 classifies it under the category obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, along with trichotillomania, and excoriation disorder (skin-picking) among others.
Phobia
A phobia is an irrational and chronic fear of something that would not normally trouble most people, be it spiders, heights, clowns, etc.
Any phobia may produce a state of panic when the sufferer is confronted with the phobic object/situation. A wide variety of physical symptoms can be experienced such as nausea, sweating, increased heartbeat, and loss of balance/equilibrium.
For this reason, many people are forced to enter into a pattern of avoidance which can vary enormously in severity - from someone who would not want to touch a spider to someone who cannot even look at a picture of a spider in a magazine without undergoing a severe reaction
The latter demonstrates just how debilitating even a simple phobia can be, as phobic individuals can find it necessary to greatly alter or adapt their daily lives around the pressures and constraints of this irrational fear.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a disorder arising as a delayed and drawn-out response after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. It is characterised by intense fear, distressing flashbacks, recurrent dreams, panic attacks and heightened (often debilitating) awareness.
PTSD is sometimes found in ex-military personnel who have been involved in conflict situations, but can also occur following traumatic childbirth, recurrent domestic violence, and other distressing events.
Quality of Life
T he extent to which a person obtains satisfaction from life. The following are important for a good quality of life: emotional, material, and physical well-being; engagement in interpersonal relations; opportunities for personal (e.g., skill) development; exercising rights and making self-determining lifestyle choices; and participation in society. Enhancing quality of life is a particular concern for those with chronic disease or developmental and other disabilities, for those undergoing medical or psychological treatment, and for the aged.
Relapse Prevention
Relapse prevention, or RP for short, is a cognitive-behavioural approach with the goal of identifying and preventing high-risk situations such as substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive behaviour, obesity, and depression.
Relapse is seen as both an outcome and as a transgression in the process of behaviour change. An initial setback, or lapse, may either translate into a return to the previous problematic behaviour, known as relapse, or into the individual turning again towards positive change, called prolapse
Self-Harm
The term ‘self-harm’ refers to when an individual purposefully damages or injures themselves, often in response to, or as an attempt to cope with, severe emotional distress.
Stress
Stress is the feeling of being under a level of mental or emotional pressure beyond your ability to cope. The root causes of stress will differ from person to person, and a stressful situation for one individual may not produce the same level of stress in another.
Stress can cause negative psychological and physical reactions, affecting how you feel, think, and behave. Common signs of stress include problems sleeping, loss of appetite, and difficulty concentrating. You may also experience feelings of anxiety, increased irritability, low self-esteem, and/or a constant sense of worry.
Although stress is not considered an illness in itself, it can lead to further illness if not addressed.
Tourette's Syndrome
This is a neurological condition (i.e. one which affect the brain and nervous system) which manifests itself in a profusion of involuntary physical and verbal tics.
These tics take the form of sudden and unconscious muscle contractions, ranging from short, sharp twitches or exclamations, to larger bodily movements and/or longer sounds/phrase
Trauma
Psychological trauma is something which can occur when an individual undergoes some sort of severely distressing or disturbing experience (whether it is an accident, the sudden loss of a loved one, physical or emotional abuse, etc) that they are unable to process in a healthy manner.
Reactions to psychological trauma can vary and may include (but are not limited to): unpredictable emotions and/or mood swings, lack of affect, flashbacks, headaches, nausea, etc
If not treated or addressed, psychological trauma of this kind can lead to a variety of further complications, such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, and self-harm
Ultimate Attribution Error
The ultimate attribution error is a term in Social Psychology which refers to a bias people commonly have towards members of an outgroup. Specifically, they view negative acts committed by outgroup members as a stable trait of the outgroup, and view positive acts committed by outgroup members as exceptions to normal behaviour. The term is a variation on another common cognitive error, the fundamental attribution error.
Ultimate Attribution Error is attributing behaviours of entire groups to their stereotypes. In Psychology, the Ultimate Attribution Error is considered one of the roots of prejudice.
Values Clarification
Any process intended to promote an individual’s awareness and understanding of his or her moral principles and ethical priorities and their relationships to behaviour in daily life.
Wernicke's Aphasia
Also known as ‘fluent aphasia’ or ‘receptive aphasia’, Wernicke’s Aphasia is a specific form of the condition where an individual’s ability to grasp the meaning of spoken words and sentences is impaired, although their ability to produce speech is often only mildly affected.
Xenophobia
Often used interchangeably with the term 'racism', xenophobia refers to an irrational fear or hatred of anything strange or foreign. However it is not considered a medical phobia and is instead regarded as socio-political in nature.
Yerkes-Dodson law
The generalization that task difficulty and arousal interact such that on difficult tasks low levels of arousal improve performance relative to high levels, but on easy tasks the reverse is true, with high arousal levels facilitating performance relative to low levels.
Zone of Proximal Development
In Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, the difference between a child’s actual level of ability and the level of ability that he or she can achieve when assisted by, or working in cooperation with, older or more experienced partners (e.g., adults or more knowledgeable peers). Vygotsky asserted that what children can do with the assistance of others is even more indicative of their developmental status than what they can do alone.