Body Dysmorphic Disorder  -  A type of somatoform disorder that is characterized by constant preoccupation with some imagined defect in physical appearance and usually focuses on a facial feature.

Comorbidity  -  The simultaneous manifestation of more than one disorder.

Continuous Forgetting  -  A type of dissociative amnesia wherein the individual forgets all events from a given time forward to the present.

Conversion Disorder  -  A type of somatoform disorder that is characterized by physical symptoms that mimic neurological diseases such as blindness, numbing or paralysis, although this makes no anatomical sense.

Depersonalization Disorder  -  A type of dissociative disorder that is characterized by persistent and pervasive feelings of being detached from oneself.

Dissociative Amnesia  -  A type of dissociative disorder characterized by the sudden inability to recall extensive and important personal information.

Dissociative Disorders  -  A category of psychological disorders characterized by persistent, maladaptive breakdowns in the integration of memory, consciousness, and identity.

Dissociative Fugue  -  A type of dissociative disorder that is characterized by sudden, unplanned travel from home, an inability to recall the past, and confusion about personal identity or the assumption of a new identity.

Dissociative Identity Disorder  -  A type of dissociative disorder that is characterized by the existence of two or more distinct identities in a single individual, with each personality potentially possessing separate names and histories.

Generalized Forgetting  -  A type of dissociative amnesia wherein all the experiences throughout an individual's lifetime have been forgotten.

Hypochondriasis  -  A type of somatoform disorder wherein the individual is preoccupied with the fear or belief that he or she is suffering from a physical illness.

Hysteria  -  An outdated diagnostic category that characterized both dissociative and somatoform disorders as the result of the uterus of the individual, who is frustrated with sexual desires, especially the desire to have a child, dislocating and causing problems in its new location.

Iatrogenesis  -  The creation of a disorder by an attempt to treat it.

Localized Forgetting  -  A type of dissociative amnesia wherein the individual has no recall for the events surrounding a particular time, usually centered on some traumatic event.

Pain Disorder  -  A type of somatoform disorder that is characterized by a preoccupation with pain.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)  -  A psychological disorder that is directly and specifically tied to the experience of some traumatic event, wherein the individual experiences symptoms of numbing, reexperience and hyper-arousal.

Repression  -  A defense mechanism by which the mind prevents anxiety-provoking ideas from becoming conscious by burying them deep within the psyche.

Self-Hypnosis Theory  -  A theory that attempts to explain the etiology of dissociative disorders. This theory basically claims that of those individuals exposed to abuse some are highly hypnotizable, so they somehow hypnotize themselves. The paradigm then for developing the abnormal behavior is that these individuals possess the vulnerability characteristic of being "easily hypnotizable," and the triggering, or stressful, event is sexual and/or physical abuse.

Somatoform Disorders  -  A category of disorders characterized by the presence of unusual physical symptoms in the absence of any known physical pathology.

Somatization Disorder  -  A type of somatoform disorder that is characterized by persistent, multiple somatic complaints, such as gastrointestinal symptoms, in the absence of organic impairments.

State-Dependent Learning  -  Learning that occurs in one state or affect or consciousness is best recalled in that same state of affect or consciousness.

Selective Forgetting  -  A type of dissociative amnesia wherein certain portions of time have been forgotten. This type of amnesia is discrete and does not have to surround a particular event.

Systematized Forgetting  -  A type of dissociative amnesia wherein the individual forgets certain classes of information.