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Review
Mental Health
Term | Definition |
---|---|
abnormal motor behaviour | Alterations in behaviour, including bizarre and agitated behaviours. Grossly disorganized behaviours may include mutism, stupor, or catatonic excitement. |
acute dystonia | Acute sustained contraction of muscles, usually of the head and neck. |
acute stress disorder | A short-term reaction to a highly traumatic event. Occurs within one month of event and resolves within four weeks. |
affect | The outward representation of a person's internal state of being, manifested in facial expression, tone of voice, and body language. |
agoraphobia | Fear of being in an open, crowded, or public place, such as a field, tunnel, bridge, congested street, or busy department store, where escape is perceived as difficult or help as not available in the case of a sudden incapacitation. |
alcohol withdrawal | A physical reaction to the cessation or reduction of alcohol (ethanol) intake that develops within a few hours of the last intake. |
anhedonia | The loss of ability to experience joy or pleasure in living. |
antianxiety (anxiolytic) drugs | Drugs that enhance GABAA receptors or increase 5-HT, norepinephrine, or both. |
anxiety | A feeling of apprehension, uneasiness, uncertainty, or dread resulting from a real or perceived threat. |
assertive community treatment (ACT) | An intensive type of case management developed in response to the community-living needs of people with serious, persistent psychiatric symptoms. |
asylums | Retreats from society designed with the hope that, with early intervention and several months of rest, people with mental illness could be cured. |
binge eating disorder | An eating disorder characterized by repeated episodes of binge eating, after which patients experience significant distress but, in most cases, do not use compensatory behaviours. |
bipolar I disorder | A chronic, recurrent illness marked by shifts in mood, energy, and ability to function and in which at least one episode of mania alternates with major depression. Psychosis may accompany the manic episode. |
bipolar II disorder | A chronic, recurrent illness marked by shifts in mood, energy, and ability to function, hypomanic episode(s) alternate with major depression. Psychosis is not present. Hypomania tends to be euphoric and often increases functioning; depression tends to put |
bulimia nervosa | An eating disorder characterized by repeated episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviours, such as self-induced vomiting; misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other medications; fasting; or excessive exercise. |
clang associations | The stringing together of words because of their rhyming sounds, without regard to their meaning. |
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) | A commonly employed, effective, and well-researched therapeutic tool based on both cognitive psychology and behavioural theory that is used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, phobias, pain problems). |
community treatment orders (CTOs) | Mandatory treatment provided in a less restrictive community setting. |
command hallucinations | “Voices” that direct the person to take an action. |
panic attack | The sudden onset of extreme apprehension or fear, usually associated with feelings of impending doom. The feelings of terror present during a panic attack are so severe that normal function is suspended, the perceptual field is severely limited, and misin |
physical dependency | A physiological state of cellular adaptation that arises when the central and peripheral nervous systems become habituated to a psychoactive agent such that the person physically needs the drug to function or to avoid the physical pain of withdrawal. |
pica | The persistent eating of nonnutritive substances without an aversion to eating food. Infants and toddlers may eat paint, plaster, string, or cloth. |
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | An acute emotional response to a traumatic event or situation involving severe environmental stress. |
positive symptoms | The presence of something that is not normally present (e.g., hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behaviour, paranoia). |
word salad | A jumble of words that is meaningless to the listener—and perhaps to the speaker as well—because of an extreme level of disorganization. |
tangentiality | A departure from the main topic to talk about less important information; going off on tangents in a way that takes the conversation off-topic. |
second-generation antipsychotic drugs | Drugs used to treat psychosis that target both the positive and possibly the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and may produce fewer extrapyramidal side effects. |