agoraphobia

fear of being outside; from the Greek fear of the marketplace

anxiety

a vague feeling of dread or apprehension; it is a response to external or internal stimuli that can have behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms

anxiety disorders

a group of conditions that share a key feature of excessive anxiety, with ensuing behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and physiological responses

assertiveness training

techniques using statements to identify feelings and communicate needs and concerns to others; helps the person negotiate interpersonal situations, fosters self-assurance, and ultimately assists the person to take more control over life situations

avoidance behavior

behavior designed to avoid unpleasant consequences or potentially threatening situations

decatastrophizing

a technique that involves learning to assess situations realistically rather than always assuming a catastrophe will happen

defense mechanisms

cognitive distortions that a person uses unconsciously to maintain a sense of being in control of a situation, to lessen discomfort, and to deal with stress; also called ego defense mechanisms

fear

feeling afraid or threatened by a clearly identifiable, external stimulus that represents danger to the person

flooding

a form of rapid desensitization in which a behavioral therapist confronts the client with the phobic object (either a picture or the actual object) until it no longer produces anxiety

mild anxiety

a sensation that something is different and warrants special attention

moderate anxiety

the disturbing feeling that something is definitely wrong; the person becomes nervous or agitated

panic anxiety

intense anxiety, may be a response to a life-threatening situation

panic attacks

between 15 and 30 minutes of rapid, intense, escalating anxiety in which the person experiences great emotional fear as well as physiological discomfort

panic disorder

composed of discrete episodes of panic attacks, that is, 15 to 30 minutes of rapid, intense, escalating anxiety in which the person experiences great emotional fear as well as physiological discomfort

phobia

an illogical, intense, and persistent fear of a specific object or social situation that causes extreme distress and interferes with normal functioning

positive reframing

a cognitive–behavioral technique involving turning negative messages into positive ones

primary gain

the relief of anxiety achieved by performing the specific anxiety-driven behavior; the direct internal benefits that being sick provides, such as relief of anxiety, conflict, or distress

secondary gain

the external benefits received from others because one is sick, such as attention from family members, comfort measures, and being excused from usual responsibilities or tasks

severe anxiety

an increased level of anxiety when more primitive survival skills take over, defensive responses ensue, and cognitive skills decrease significantly; person with severe anxiety has trouble thinking and reasoning

stress

the wear and tear that life causes on the body

Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS)

tool used to screen for symptoms of movement disorders (side effects of neuroleptic medications)

Alogia

a lack of any real meaning or substance in what the client says

Anhedonia

having no pleasure or joy in life; losing any sense of pleasure from activities formerly enjoyed

Avolition

absence of will, ambition, or drive to take action or accomplish tasks

Catatonia

psychomotor disturbance, either motionless or excessive motor

Command hallucinations

disturbed auditory sensory perceptions demanding that the client take action, often to harm self or others, and are considered dangerous; often referred to as “voices”

Cultural concepts of distress

ways in which people experience distress in the context of their lives and surroundings

Delusions

a fixed, false belief not based in reality

Dystonic reactions

(definition not provided — you may want to supply this)

Echolalia

repetition or imitation of what someone else says; echoing what is heard

Echopraxia

imitation of the movements and gestures of someone an individual is observing

Idioms of distress

how people communicate distress to one another

Latency of response

refers to hesitation before the client responds to questions

Neuroleptics

also known as neuroleptics; used to treat the symptoms of psychosis such as the delusions and hallucinations seen in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and the manic phase of bipolar disorder

Polydipsia

excessive water intake

Psychosis

cluster of symptoms including delusions, hallucinations, and grossly disordered thinking and behavior

Anergia

lack of energy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

used to treat depression in select groups such as clients who do not respond to antidepressants or those who experience intolerable medication side effects at therapeutic doses

Euthymic

normal or level mood

Hypertensive crisis

a life-threatening condition that can result when a client taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) ingests tyramine-containing foods and fluids or other medications

Hypomania

a period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood lasting 4 days; does not impair the ability to function and does not involve psychotic features

Kindling

the snowball-like effect seen when a minor seizure activity seems to build up into more frequent and severe seizures

Labile emotions

rapid and extreme mood changes

Mania

a distinct period during which mood is abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable

Mood disorders

pervasive alterations in emotions that are manifested by depression or mania or both

Pressured speech

unrelenting, rapid, often loud talking without pauses

Psychomotor agitation

increased body movements and thoughts

Ruminate

to think repeatedly or dwell on negative thoughts or problems

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

mood disorder with two subtypes; in one, most commonly called winter depression or fall-onset SAD, people experience increased sleep, appetite, and carbohydrate cravings; weight gain; interpersonal conflict; irritability; and heaviness in the extremities beginning in late autumn and abating in spring and summer; the other subtype, called spring-onset SAD, is less common and includes symptoms of insomnia, weight loss, and poor appetite lasting from late spring or early summer until early fall

Suicidal ideation

thinking about killing oneself

Suicide

the intentional act of killing oneself

Suicide precautions

removal of harmful items; increased supervision to prevent acts of self-harm

Antisocial personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others and with the central characteristics of deceit and manipulation

Avoidant personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of social discomfort and reticence, low self-esteem, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

pervasive and enduring pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affect; marked impulsivity; frequent self-mutilation behavior

Character

consists of concepts about the self and the external world

Cognitive restructuring

therapy that focuses on changing the way one thinks about or interprets one’s self, relationships, and/or environment

Confrontation

technique designed to highlight the incongruence between a person’s verbalizations and actual behavior; used to manage manipulative or deceptive behavior

Decatastrophizing

a technique that involves learning to assess situations realistically rather than always assuming a catastrophe will happen

Dependent personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of, which leads to submissive and clinging behavior and fears of separation

Depressive behavior

characterized by a pervasive pattern of depressive cognitions and behaviors in various contexts

Dysphoric

mood that involves unhappiness, restlessness, and malaise

Histrionic personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking

Limit setting

an effective technique that involves three steps: stating the behavioral limit (describing the unacceptable behavior), identifying the consequences if the limit is exceeded, and identifying the expected or desired behavior

Narcissistic personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy

Nonsuicidal self injury

intentional physical damage to the body, such as cutting or burning; results from self-harm urges or thoughts; injury is not an attempt at suicide

Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with perfectionism, mental and interpersonal control, and orderliness at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency

Paranoid personality disorder

characterized by pervasive mistrust and suspiciousness of others

Passive

aggressive behavior - characterized by a negative attitude and a pervasive pattern of passive resistance to demands for adequate social and occupational performance

Personality

an ingrained, enduring pattern of behaving and relating to self, others, and the environment; includes perceptions, attitudes, and emotions

Personality disorders

diagnosed when personality traits become inflexible and maladaptive and significantly interfere with how a person functions in society or cause the person emotional distress

Positive self talk

a cognitive–behavioral technique in which the client changes thinking about the self from negative to positive

Schema therapy

designed to help one deal with unmet emotional needs and identify the thought and behavior patterns that perpetuate their emotional distress and dysfunction

Schizoid personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of emotional expression in interpersonal settings

Schizotypal personality disorder

characterized by a pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort with and reduced capacity for close relationships as well as by cognitive or perceptual distortions and behavioral eccentricities

Temperament

refers to the biologic processes of sensation, association, and motivation that underlie the integration of skills and habits based on emotion

Thought stopping

a cognitive–behavioral technique to alter the process of negative or self-critical thought patterns

Time

out - retreat to a neutral place to give the opportunity to regain self-control

Alexithymia

difficulty identifying and expressing feelings

Anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by the client’s refusal or inability to maintain a minimally normal body weight, intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, significantly disturbed perception of the shape or size of the body, and steadfast inability or refusal to acknowledge the existence or seriousness of a problem

Binge eating

consuming a large amount of food (far greater than most people eat at one time) in a discrete period of usually 2 hours or less

Body image

how a person perceives their body, that is, a mental self-image

Body image disturbance

occurs when there is an extreme discrepancy between one’s body image and the perceptions of others and extreme dissatisfaction with one’s body image

Bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes (at least twice a week for 3 months) of binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors to avoid weight gain such as purging (self-induced vomiting or use of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or emetics), fasting, or excessively exercising

Enmeshment

lack of clear role boundaries between persons

Orthorexia nervosa

pathological obsession with healthy eating or a “pure” diet; dedication to extreme diets, often to the detriment of health

Pica

persistent ingestion of nonnutritive substances such as paint, hair, cloth, leaves, sand, clay, or soil

Purging

compensatory behaviors designed to eliminate food by means of self-induced vomiting

Rumination

repeatedly going over the same thoughts

Satiety

satisfaction of appetite

Self monitoring

a cognitive–behavioral technique designed to help clients manage their own behavior

Cyberchondria

excessive or repeated online searches for health-related information that is distressing or anxiety-provoking for the person

Disease conviction

preoccupation with the fear that one has a serious disease

Disease phobia

preoccupation with the fear that one will get a serious disease

Emotion

focused coping strategies - techniques to assist clients to relax and reduce feelings of stress

Fabricated or induced illness

factitious disorders characterized by physical symptoms that are feigned or inflicted on one’s self or another person for the sole purpose of gaining attention or other emotional benefits; also called factitious disorder, imposed on self or others

Factitious disorder, imposed on self or others

see fabricated or induced illness

Functional neurological symptom disorder

previously called conversion disorder or reaction; involves unexplained, usually sudden deficits in sensory or motor function related to an emotional conflict the client experiences but does not handle directly

Functional somatic syndrome

physical symptoms and limitations of function that have no medical diagnosis to explain their existence. See medically unexplained illness (MUS)

Hypochondriasis

see illness anxiety disorder

Hysteria

refers to multiple, recurrent physical complaints with no organic basis

Illness anxiety disorder

preoccupation with the fear that one has a serious disease or will get a serious disease; also called hypochondriasis

Internalization

keeping stress, anxiety, or frustration inside rather than expressing them outwardly

La belle indifférence

a seeming lack of concern or distress; a key feature of functional neurological symptom disorder

Malingering

the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms

Medically unexplained symptoms

physical symptoms and limitations of function that have no medical diagnosis to explain their existence. See functional somatic syndrome

Munchausen syndrome

a factitious disorder where the person intentionally causes injury or physical symptoms to self to gain attention and sympathy from health care providers, family, and others

Munchausen syndrome by proxy

when a person inflicts illness or injury on someone else to gain the attention of emergency medical personnel or to be a hero for “saving” the victim

Pain disorder

has the primary physical symptom of pain, which generally is unrelieved by analgesics and greatly affected by psychological factors in terms of onset, severity, exacerbation, and maintenance

Problem focused coping strategies

techniques used to resolve or change a person’s behavior or situation or to manage life stressors

Psychosomatic

used to convey the connection between the mind (psyche) and the body (soma) in states of health and illness

Somatic symptom disorder

characterized by multiple, recurrent physical symptoms in a variety of bodily systems that have no organic or medical basis; also called somatization disorder

Somatization

the transference of mental experiences and states into bodily symptoms