Mental Health Vocabulary

Front 1

anxiety

Back 1

overall apprehension (fearful expectation) that is vague in nature and is associated with feelings of uncertainty an helplessness

Front 2

mental health

Back 2

the successful adaptation to stressors from the internal or external environment, evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are age-appropriate and congruent with local and cultural norms

Front 3

mental illness

Back 3

maladaptive responses to stressors from the internal or external environment evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are incongruent with the local and cultural norms and interfere with the individual's social, occupational, and/or physical functioning.

Front 4

ego

Back 4

your consciousness of your own identity

the reality component of the personality that governs problem solving and rational thinking

Front 5

psychosis

Back 5

loss of ego boundaries

gross impairment of reality testing (loss of contact with reality)

Front 6

grief

Back 6

subjective state of emotional, physical, and social responses to the loss of a valued entity

Front 7

adaptation

Back 7

a physical or behavioral response to any change internally or externally that results in preservation of integrity or timely return to equilibrium

positive, healthy response

Front 8

maladaptation

Back 8

physical or behavioral response to internal or external change that disrupts the integrity of the individual.

negative, unhealthy

Front 9

stress

Back 9

individual's reaction (physical, mental, emotional) to any change that requires an adjustment or response

Front 10

stressor

Back 10

biological, psychological, social, or chemical factor that causes physical or emotional tension. May be a factor in the cause of certain illnesses

Front 11

stress

biological response

Back 11

fight or flight response. General adaption syndrome three stages:
alarm
resistance
exhaustion

Front 12

stress

environmental event

Back 12

thing or event that triggers the adaptive physiological and psychological response

emphasis on change from the existing stage of individual's life pattern

does not necessarily consider person's perception of change

Front 13

stress

transaction btwn individual and environment

Back 13

emphasizes the relationship between the individual and environment.

Personal characteristics and nature of environment are considered

Front 14

precipitating event

Back 14

stimulus arising from environment and is perceived by the individual in a specific manner

Front 15

primary appraisal

Back 15

irrelevant, benign positive, stressful

Hint 15

irrelevant= outcome holds no significance

benign positive= outcome is seen as producing pleasure

stress= harm/loss, threat, challenge

harm/loss= damage or loss

threat=anticipated damage or loss

challenge= potential for gain/growth (rather than risks)

Front 16

secondary appraisal

Back 16

when stress is produced in response to harm/loss, threat, or challenge

is an assessment of skills, resources, and knowledge that the person possesses to deal with the situation

Hint 16

Which coping strategies?
Will the option I choose be effective?
Do I have the ability to use that strategy?

Front 17

Predisposing factors

Back 17

a variety of elements that influence how an individual perceives and responds to stress

Hint 17

genetics, past experience-, existing conditions

Front 18

genetics as predisposing factor

Back 18

hereditary

family history of conditions, temperment,

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past experience as predisposing factor

Back 19

learned patterns that influence adaptation

previous exposure to stressor, learned coping responses, degree of adaptation to other stressors

Front 20

existing conditions as predisposing factor

Back 20

current health, motivation, maturity, severity of stressor, finances, age,

Front 21

pressured speech

Back 21

tendency to speak rapidly and frenziedly, as if motivated by an urgency not apparent to the listener

Front 22

distractible speech

Back 22

During mid speech, the subject is changed in response to a stimulus.

e.g. "Then I left San Francisco and moved to... where did you get that tie?"

Front 23

Tangentiality

Back 23

Replying to questions in an oblique, tangential or irrelevant manner.

e.g: "What city are you from?"
A: "Well, that's a hard question. I'm from Iowa. I really don't know where my relatives came from, so I don't know if I'm Irish or French."

Front 24

Loose association

Back 24

Ideas slip off the track on to another which is obliquely related or unrelated.

"The next day when I'd be going out you know, I took control, like uh, I put bleach on my hair in California."

Front 25

word salad

Back 25

Speech that is unintelligible because, though the individual words are real words, the manner in which they are strung together results in incoherent gibberish,

The question "Why do people comb their hair?" elicits a response like

"Because it makes a twirl in life, my box is broken help me blue elephant. Isn't lettuce brave? I like electrons. Hello, beautiful.

Front 26

illogicality

Back 26

Conclusions are reached that do not follow logically (non sequiturs or faulty inferences)

"Do you think this will fit in that box?" draws a reply like "Well duh; it's brown, isn't it?"

Front 27

clanging

Back 27

Sounds, rather than meaningful relationships, appear to govern words.

"I'm not trying to make noise. I'm trying to make sense. If you can't make sense out of nonsense, well, have fun."

Front 28

neologisms

Back 28

New word formations.

e.g. "I got so angry I picked up a dish and threw it at the geshinker."

Front 29

word approximations

Back 29

Old words used in a new and unconventional way.

e.g. "His boss was a seeover."

Front 30

evasive interaction

Back 30

Attempts to annunciate ideas and/or feelings about another individual comes out as evasive or in a diluted form.

e.g. "I... er ah... you are uh... I think you have... uh-- acceptable erm... uh... hair."

Front 31

circumstantiality

Back 31

Speech that is very delayed at reaching its goal. Excessive long windedness.

e.g. "What is your name?" "Well, sometimes when people ask me that I have to think about whether or not I will answer because some people think it's an odd name even though I don't really because my mom gave it to me and I think my dad helped but it's as good a name as any in my opinion but yeah it's Tom."

Front 32

loss of goal

Back 32

Failure to show a train of thought to a natural conclusion.

e.g. "Why does my computer keep crashing?", "Well, you live in a stucco house, so the pair of scissors needs to be in another drawer."

Front 33

perserveration

Back 33

Persistent repetition of words or ideas.

e.g. "It's great to be here in Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada."

Front 34

echolalia

Back 34

Echoing of one's or other people's speech that may only be committed once, or may be continuous in repetition

e.g. "What would you like for dinner?", "That's a good question. That's a good question. That's a good question. That's a good question."

Front 35

blocking

Back 35

Interruption of train of speech before completion.

e.g. "Am I early?", "No, you're just about on-"

Front 36

stilted speech

Back 36

Speech excessively stilted and formal.

e.g. "The attorney comported himself indecorously."

Front 37

self-reference

Back 37

Patient repeatedly and inappropriately refers back to self.

e.g. "What's the time?", "It's 7 o'clock. That's my problem.

Front 38

phonemic paraphasia

Back 38

Mispronunciation; syllables out of sequence.

e.g. "I slipped on the lice broke my arm."

Front 39

semantic paraphasia

Back 39

Substitution of inappropriate word.

e.g. "I slipped on the coat, on the ice I mean, and broke my book."

Front 40

humors

Back 40

blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm

Hippocrates associated mental illness and insanity with an imbalance of these

Front 41

ship of fools

Back 41

During Middle Ages mentally ill people were put on a ship and told to search for their lost rationality

Front 42

mental health
according to Maslow

Back 42

self actualization (highest point on pyramid) is a psychologically healthy, fully human, highly evolved, and fully mature.

Front 43

incomprehensibility

as a factor of mental illness

Back 43

inability of the general population to understand the motivation behind the behavior

Front 44

cultural relativity

as a factor of mental illness

Back 44

behavior recognized as mentally ill in one society may be viewed as normal in another and vice-versa.

Front 45

anticipatory grieving

Back 45

begin work of grieving before loss actually occurs

can be a problem in case of family anticipating death of a loved one. May detach and the loved one will feel rejected

Front 46

bereavement overload

Back 46

accumulation of grief especially in the case of someone who has lost a lot within a short amount of time

elderly person losing friends, husband, independent function, possessions, pets

Front 47

resolution of grief

Back 47

when the person remember the loss and accept both the pleasures and disappointments of the association. Preoccupation with the lost entity has been replaced with energy and desire to pursue new situations and relationships.

Front 48

milieu therapy

Back 48

scientific structuring of th environment to effect behavioral change and to improve the psychological health and functioning of the individual

Front 49

therapeutic community

Back 49

care in inpatient facilities is shorter so this is a focus on making every interaction therapeutic.

Everything that happens to the client or within the environment is part of the treatment.

Front 50

goal of milieu therapy

Back 50

client to learn adaptive coping, interaction, and relationship skills that can be generalized to their own life

Front 51

conditions that promote a therapeutic community

Back 51

Basic physiological needs are fulfilled.

The physical facilities are conductive to achievement of the goals of therapy.

A democratic form of self-government exists.

Responsibilities are assigned according to client capabilities.

A structured program of social and work-related activities is scheduled as part of the treatment program.

Community and family are included in the program of therapy in an effort to facilitate discharge from treatment

Front 52

basic assumptions about Milieu therapy

Back 52

The health in each individual is to be realized and encouraged to grow.

Every interaction is an opportunity for therapeutic intervention.

The client owns his or her own environment.

Each client owns his or her own behavior.

Peer pressure is a useful and powerful tool.

Inappropriate behaviors are dealt with as they occur.

Restrictions and punishment are to be avoided.

Front 53

delirium

Back 53

mental state with a disturbance of cognition manifested by confusion, excitement, disorientation, and a clouding of consciousness. Hallucinations and illusions are common.

Develops rapidly over a short period of time. Reversible.

re-orientation is appropriate. primary goal is to determine cause

Front 54

dementia

Back 54

loss of previous levels of cognitive, executive, and memory function in a state of full alertness

Reorientation not appropriate. Determining cause is not as important. If it is Alzheimer's then anticholinesterase meds can be used

Front 55

primary dementia

Back 55

like Alzheimer's in which the dementia itself is the major sign of brain disease

Front 56

secondary dementia

Back 56

caused or related to another illness, like HIV or cerebral trauma

Front 57

aphasia

Back 57

not speaking at all

Front 58

apraxia

Back 58

inability to carry out motor activities despite intact motor function

ataxia is one type...which largely involves gait

Front 59

confabulation

Back 59

creating imaginary events to fill in memory gaps

Front 60

sundowning

Back 60

dementia symptoms worsen in afternoon and evening

Front 61

emotional lability

Back 61

a fluctuation of emotions more marked and intense than the existing circumstances might be expected to produce

Front 62

dysarthria

Back 62

difficulty articulating words

Front 63

pseudodemntia

Back 63

depression in elderly. mimics dementia but
progression is more rapid
memory is more like forgetfulness, no confabulation
oriented to time and place, no wandering
gets better as the day progresses
appetite diminished
attention and concentration intact

Front 64

ataxia

Back 64

ymptom consisting of gross lack of coordination of muscle movements. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum.

Front 65

apraxia

Back 65

Apraxia is a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. It is a disorder of motor planning which may be acquired or developmental, but may not be caused by incoordination, sensory loss, or failure to comprehend simple commands

Front 66

ideas of reference

Back 66

Persons with ideas of reference may experience:
A feeling that people on television or radio are talking about or talking directly to them
Believing that headlines or stories in newspapers are written especially for them
Having the experience that people (often strangers) drop hints or say things about them behind their back
Believing that events (even world events) have been deliberately contrived for them, or have special personal significance for them
Seeing objects or events as being set up deliberately to convey a special or particular meaning
Thinking persons or groups of persons are plotting against them and that precautions must be taken to avert the threat

Front 67

alogia

Back 67

poverty of speech...a lack of unprompted speech...one-two word answers

Front 68

avolition

Back 68

general lack of desire, drive, or motivation to pursue meaningful goals

Front 69

four main "negative" symptoms of schizophrenia

Back 69

flat affect, alogia, and anhedonia, avolition

Front 70

anhedonia

Back 70

inability to experience pleasure from normally pleasurable life events such as eating, exercise, social interaction or sexual activities.

Front 71

erotomanic delusion

Back 71

believes someone usually of higher status is in love with them

Front 72

grandiose delusion

Back 72

irrational ideas regarding their own self worth, talent, knowledge, or power. May believe they have a special relationship with a famous person or they may assume the identity of that person

Front 73

jealous delusions

Back 73

center around the idea that the person's sexual partner is unfaithful without evidence

Front 74

persecutory deluison

Back 74

most common. believes that they are being malevolently treated, conspired against, drugged, poisoned etc.

Front 75

Somatic delusions

Back 75

believe they have a physical defect, disorder, or disease.
ie, foul odors, insects, parasites, mishapen body parts, dysfunctional parts.