Vocabulary List Final PDF

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TERM DEFINITION ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acculturation Difficulty A problem adapting to or finding appropriate ways to adapt to a different culture or environment. Adjustment Disorder An imprecise term referring to emotional or behavioral symptoms that develop in response to an identifiable stressor Affect Behavior that expresses a subjectively experienced feeling state (emotion). Affect Affect is responsive to changing emotional states; whereas mood refers to a pervasive and sustained emotion. Affect Common Affects are euphoria, anger, and sadness. Some types of affect disturbance are: blunted, flat, inappropriate, restricted, constricted, aggressive, or agitation. Agoraphobia Anxiety about being in places or situations in which escape might be difficult or embarrassing or in which help may not be available should a panic attack occur. Anhedonia The inability to experience pleasure from activities that usually produce pleasurable feelings. Anorexia Nervosa An Eating Disorder characterized by refusal or inability to maintain minimum normal weight for age and height combined with intense fear of gaining weight, denial of seriousness of current low weight, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation. Antisocial Behavior Conduct indicating indifference to another's person or property; criminal behavior, dishonesty, or abuse are examples. Anxiety Apprehension, tension, or uneasiness from anticipation of danger, the source of which is largely unknown or unrecognized. Primarily of intra-psychic origin, in distinction to fear, which is the emotional response to consciously recognized and usually external threat or danger. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder A child whose inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity cause problems may have this disorder. Symptoms appear before age 7 and are inconsistent with the subject's developmental level and are severe enough to impair social or academic functioning. Autistic Disorder A disorder of development consisting of gross and sustained impairment in social interactions and communication; restricted or stereotyped patterns of behavior, interest, and activities; and abnormal development prior to age 3 manifested by delays or abnormal functioning in social development, language or play. Bipolar Disorder A group of mood disorders that includes bipolar disorders, single episode; bipolar disorder, recurrent and cyclothymic disorder. A bipolar episode includes a manic episode at some time during its course. Brief Psychotherapy Any form of psychotherapy whose end point is defined either in terms of the number of sessions or in terms of specified objectives. Comorbidity The simultaneous appearance of two or more illnesses, such as the occurrence of Schizophrenia and substance use disorder. The association may reflect a causal relationship between one disorder and another. Compensation A defense mechanism operating unconsciously by which one attempts to make up for real or fancied deficiencies. Compulsion Repetitive ritualistic behaviors (such as hand washing) that aims to prevents or reduce distress or prevent some dreaded event or situation. Conduct Disorder A disruptive behavior disorder of childhood characterized by repetitive and persistent violations of the rights of others or of age-appropriate social norms or rules. Symptoms may include bullying, truancy, staying out beyond curfew before age 13, using alcohol or substances before age 13, breaking into other's homes, firesetting, cruelty to animals or people, stealing or use of weapons. Coping Mechanisms Ways of adjusting to environmental stress without altering one's goals or purposes; includes both conscious and unconscious mechanisms. Coprophagia Eating of filth or feces. Countertransference The therapist's emotional reactions to the patient are based on the therapist's unconscious needs and conflicts, as distinguished from their conscious responses to the patient's behavior cyclothymic disorder one of the bipolar disorders characterized by numerous hypomanic episodes and frequent periods of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure. decompensation The deterioration of existing defenses (see defense mechanism), leading to an exacerbation of pathological behavior delusion A false belief based on an incorrect inference about external reality and firmly sustained despite clear evidence to the contrary grandiose delusion An exaggerated belief of one\'s importance, power, knowledge, or identity nihilisitic delusion A conviction of nonexistence of the self, part of the self, or others, or of the world. \"I no longer have a brain\" is an example. persecutory delusion The conviction that one (or a group or institution close to one) is being harassed, attacked, persecuted, or conspired against. somatic delusion A false belief involving the functioning of one\'s body, such as the conviction of a postmenopausal woman that she is pregnant, or a person\'s conviction that his nose is misshapen and ugly when there is nothing wrong with it. depersonalization n Feelings of unreality or strangeness concerning either the environment, the self, or both. depression When used to describe a mood, depression refers to feelings of sadness, despair, and discouragement. dissociation The splitting off of clusters of mental contents from conscious awareness, a mechanism central to hysterical conversion and dissociative disorder; the separation of an idea from its emotional significance and affect as seen in the inappropriate affect of schizophrenic patients dysphoria Unpleasant mood. dysthymic disorder One of the depressive disorders, characterized by a chronic course (i.e.,. seldom without symptoms) with lowered mood tone and a range of other symptoms that may include feelings of inadequacy, loss of self-esteem, or self-deprecation: feelings of hopelessness or despair; feelings of guilt, brooding about past events, or self-pity; low energy and chronic tiredness; being less active or talkative than usual; poor concentration and indecisiveness; and inability to enjoy pleasurable activities eating disorder Marked disturbance in eating behavior. In DSM-IV, this category includes anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorder not otherwise specified. echolalia Parrot-like repetition of overheard words or fragments of speech. It may be part of a developmental disorder, a neurologic disorder, or schizophrenia. Echolalia tends to be repetitive and persistent and is often uttered with a mocking, mumbling, or staccato intonation fetal alcohol syndrome A congenital disorder resulting from alcohol teratogenicity (i.e., the production, actual or potential, of pathological changes in the fetus, most frequently in the form of normal development of one or more organ systems; commonly referred to as birth defects), with the following possible dysmorphic categories: central nervous system dysfunction, birth deficiencies (such as low birth weight), facial abnormalities, and variable major and minor malformations fetishism One of the paraphilias, characterized by marked distress over, or acting on, sexual urges involving the use of nonliving objects (fetishes), such as underclothing, stockings, or boots. flashback Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder or post-hallucinogen perception disorder; reexperiencing, after ceasing the use of a hallucinogen, one or more of the perceptual symptoms that had been part of the hallucinatory experience while using the drug. flight of ideas An early continuous flow of accelerated speech with abrupt changes from one topic to another, usually based on understandable associations, distracting stimuli, or playing on words gender identity disorder One of the major groups of sexual and gender identity disorders, characterized by a strong and persistent identification with the opposite sex (cross-gender identification) and discomfort with one\'s assigned sex or a sense of inappropriateness in that gender role Hallucination A sensory perception in the absence of an actual external stimulus; to be distinguished from an illusion, which is a misperception or misinterpretation of an external stimulus. Hallucinations may involve any of the senses\.... hyperactivity Excessive motor activity that may be purposeful or aimless; movements and utterances are usually more rapid than normal hypomania A psychopathological state and abnormality of mood falling somewhere between normal euphoria and mania. It is characterized by unrealistic optimism, pressure of speech and activity, and a decreased need for sleep. Some people show increased creativity during hypornanic states, whereas others show poor judgment, irritabifity and irascibility. identity crisis A loss of the sense of the sameness and historical continuity of one\'s self and an inability to accept or adopt the role one perceives as being expected by society. This is often expressed by isolation, withdrawal, extremism, rebefliousness, and negativity, and is typicafly triggered by a sudden increase in the strength of instructional drives in a milieu of rapid social evolution and technological change impulse control disorders Failing to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform some act that is harmful to oneself or to others. The impulse may be resisted consciously, but it is consonant with the person, immediate, conscious wish. The act may be premeditated or unplanned. The person may display regret or guilt for the action or its consequences labile Rapidly shifting (as applied to emotions); unstable mania is a mood disorder characterized by excessive elation, inflated self-esteem and grandiosity, hyperactivity, agitation, and accelerated thinking and speaking. -mania a Formerly used as a nonspecific term for any type of \"madness.\" Currently used as a suffix to indicate a morbid preoccupation with some kind of idea or activity, and/or a compulsive need to behave in some deviant way. Some examples are as follows: egomania Pathological preoccupation with self. kleptomania Compulsion to steal. nymphomania Abnormal and excessive need or desire in the woman for sexual intercourse; see satyriasis. pyromania Compulsion to set fires; an impulse control disorder. trichotillomania Compulsion to pull one\'s own hair out; an impulse disorder manic episode A distinct period of time (usually lasting at least I week) of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood accompanied by such symptoms as inflated self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep, overtalkativeness or pressured speech, flight of ideas or feeling that thoughts are racing, inattentiveness and distractibility, increased goal-directed activity (e.g., at work or school, socially or sexually), and involvement in pleasurable activities with high potential for painful consequences (e.g., buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, foolish business ventures). mental health A state of being that is relative rather than absolute. The best indices of mental health are simultaneous success at working, loving, and creating, with the capacity for mature and flexible resolution of conflicts between instincts, conscience, important other people, and reality mental status examination The process of estimating psychological and behavioral function by observing the patient, eliciting his or her self-description, and using formal questioning. obsessive-compulsive disorder An anxiety disorder characterized by obsessions, compulsions or both, that are time-consuming and interfere significantly with normal routine, occupational functioning, usual social activities, or relationships with others oppositional defiant order A pattern of negativistic and hostile behavior in a child that lasts at least 6 months. Symptoms may include losing one\'s temper; arguing with adults or actively refusing their requests; deliberately annoying others-, being easily annoyed, angry, and resentful being spiteful or vindictive overanxious disorder An anxiety disorder of childhood and adolescence, sometimes considered equivalent to the adult diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. Symptoms include multiple, unrealistic anxieties concerning the quality of one\'s performance in school and in sports; hobbies; money matters; punctuality; health; or appearance. panic attack A period of intense fear or discomfort, with the abrupt development of a variety of symploms and fears of dying, going crazy, or losing control that reach a crescendo within 10 minutes. The symptoms may include shortness of breath or smothering sensations-, dizziness, faintness, or feelings of unsteadiness; trembling or shaking; sweating; choking; nausea or abdominal distress; flushes or chills; and chest pain or discomfort. phobia Fear cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation, exposure to which almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response or panic attack even though the subject recognizes that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. The phobic stimulus is avoided or endured with marked distress posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) An anxiety disorder in which exposure to an exceptional mental or physical stressor is followed, sometimes immediately and sometimes not until 3 months or more after the stress, by persistent reexperiencing of the event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma or numbing of general responsiveness, and manifestations of increased arousal. The trauma typically includes experiencing, witnessing, or confirming an event that involves actual or threatened death or injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others, with an immediate reaction of intense fear, helplessness, or horror Reexperiencing the trauma may take several forms: recurrent, intrusive, and distressing recollections (images, thoughts, or perceptions) of the event; recurrent distressing dreams of the event; sudden feeling as if the event were recurring or being relived (including dissociative flashback episodes); or intense psychological distress or physiological reactivity if exposed to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble some part of the event. schizophrenia a A group of idiopathic psychotic disorders characterized by both positive and negative symptoms associated with disturbance in one or more major areas of functioning such as work, academic development or achievement, interpersonal relations, and self-care. Positive symptoms include delusions, which may be bizarre in nature; hallucinations, especially auditory; disorganized speech, inappropriate affect, and disorganized behavior. Negative symptoms include flat affect, avolition, alogia, and anhedonia. Duration is variable: ICD-10 requires that continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least I month; DSM-IV requires a minimum of 6 months separation anxiety disorder A disorder with onset before the age of 18 consisting of inappropriate anxiety concerning separation from home or from persons to whom the child is attached sleep terror disorder One of the parasomnias characterized by panic and confusion when abruptly awakening from sleep. This usually begins with a scream and is accompanied by intense anxiety. systematic desensitization A behavior therapy procedure widely used to modify behaviors associated with phobias. The procedure involves the construction of a hierarchy of anxiety producing stimuli by the subject, and gradual presentation of the stimuli until they no longer produce anxiety Tarasoff decision A California court decision that essentially imposes a duty on the therapist to warn the appropriate person or persons when the therapist becomes aware that the patient may present a risk of harm to a specific person or persons. thought disorder A disturbance of speech, communication, or content of thought, such as delusions, ideas of reference, poverty of thought, flight of ideas, preservation, loosening of associations, and so forth. tic An involuntary, sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic stereotyped motor movement or vocalization. Tourette\'s disorder A tic disorder consisting of multiple motor and vocal tics that occur in bouts, either concurrently or separately, almost every day or intermittently over a period of more than 12 months. trichotillomania Pathological hair pulling that results in noticeable hair loss.