Sports Psychology

series glossary of key terms

Anxiety: Fear or worry that may be accompanied by uncomfortable physical symptoms, such as sweating, shaking, or an upset stomach. Bereavement: Suffering from the death of a loved one. A person who is suffering this way is bereaved . Body dysmorphia: A mental illness in which a person obsessively focuses on a perceived physical flaw, whether it actually exists or not. Boundaries: Limits on what kinds of behavior you will or will not accept or what kinds of actions you will or won’t do. Bullying: Coercing, intimidating, and/or physically hurting someone by words and/or actions. Clinical psychology: the branch of psychology that assesses and treats mental illness and abnormal behavior. Cognition: The mental action of acquiring knowledge through thought, experience, and the senses. Cognitive dissonance: A state of mind in which a person holds two opposing ideas as true, even though one must be false for the other to be true. Comorbidity: The presence of another medical condition in addition to the main condition. Compassion: Sympathy for, and awareness of, another person’s pain, along with a desire to help that person. Someone with these qualities is called compassionate . Contraindications: Reasons a patient should not take a specific medication or treatment, because it might cause them harm. Control group: A group of subjects in an experiment that does not receive treatment. It allows psychologists to measure the results of a specific treatment by comparing the control group with a group that does receive treatment. Debilitating: Causing an inability to function. Debriefing: In psychology, a structured voluntary discussion that puts an abnormal or extreme event into perspective. Delirious: Referring to a very disturbed mental state of anxiety and restlessness, seeing things that are not there, hearing imaginary voices, and/or confused thinking and speech. Delusion: A strong belief that is in contradiction to reality and does not respond to rational argument. Diagnosis: Identifying a disease by its signs and symptoms. Dissertation: A written presentation of an original research project required in order to earn a doctoral degree. Empathy: The ability to put yourself in another person’s position so you can see and feel things from their perspective. Enablers: People who make it easy for those with addiction or other issues to continue without getting help. Endorphins: Hormones released from the brain and the nervous system that reduce pain and cause a pleasant feeling.

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Sports Psychology