Psych Vocab

Front 1

milieu

Back 1

environment or setting

Front 2

mental status exam

Back 2

examining patients minds

Front 3

DSM-IV

Back 3

taxonomy used by mental health clinicinas who dx psych disorders; provides standard nomenclature of mental disorders, defines characteristics

Front 4

transference:

Back 4

we project significant people onto others and then expect them to behave in that way; pt to analyst

Front 5

countertransference

Back 5

therapists feelings about client that stem from thereapists own life experiences and issues; baggage that therapist brings into session

Front 6

primary gain

Back 6

staying home when sick

Front 7

secondary gain

Back 7

"rewards" from being sick (watching tv, candy, etc)

Front 8

illusion

Back 8

distortion of sensory perception; erroneous perception of reality

Front 9

delusion:

Back 9

fixed, firm, false belief not based on reality

Front 10

hallucination

Back 10

false or distorted sensory experience that appear to be real perceptions; may be seen, heard, felt, smelled, tasted

Front 11

obsession:

Back 11

compulsive pre-occupation with fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion often accompanied with symptoms of anxiety

Front 12

ideas of reference

Back 12

belief that casual events, remarks, etc., refer to oneself

Front 13

ideas of influence:

Back 13

"devil made me do it"; someone's controling their thoughts

Front 14

thought insertion:

Back 14

thoughts being inserted into one's mind by someone else

Front 15

thought blocking:

Back 15

stopping abruptly in train of thought

Front 16

thought withdrawal

Back 16

..."what did I come in here for"?; delusional belief that others are taking client's thoughts away and client is powerless to stop it

Front 17

tangentiality:

Back 17

one digresses readily from one topic under discussion to another

Front 18

circumstantiality:

Back 18

off on tangent but comes back

Front 19

neologism:

Back 19

made up word ; meaning known only by user

Front 20

suicidal ideation:

Back 20

thoughts about suicide

Front 21

paranoid ideation

Back 21

belief that one is being harmed, persecuted, harassed or treated unfair

Front 22

word salad:

Back 22

flow of unconnected words

Front 23

confabulation:

Back 23

made up answers to fill the blanks

Front 24

flight of ideas

Back 24

switching topic mid-sentenc; racing, unconnected thoughts

Front 25

delusions of grandeur:

Back 25

thinking you are above

Front 26

compulsion

Back 26

repetitive, excessive, meaningless activity or mental exercise that a person performs in an attempt to avoid distress or worry

Front 27

poverty of thought:

Back 27

few verbal communications / few thoughts in head

Front 28

loose association:

Back 28

some association between one thought and another

Front 29

clang association

Back 29

ideas related to each other based on rhyming

Front 30

echopraxia

Back 30

repeating someone's movements

Front 31

echolalia

Back 31

repeating someone's words

Front 32

ambitendence

Back 32

making movement forward then withdrawing

Front 33

mood

Back 33

perons's overall emotional state

Front 34

affect

Back 34

moment to moment change in emotion; flat / blunted / inappropriate

Front 35

ritual:

Back 35

like compulsion; certain order / sequence

Front 36

perseveration

Back 36

people get on kick -- won't give it up; same idea over and over and over

Front 37

akathisia

Back 37

inability to sit still; restless, constant movement; pacing, body rocking, foot tapping

Front 38

akinesia

Back 38

impaired body movement; absence of movement; rigidity

Front 39

dyskinesia

Back 39

difficulty performing voluntary movements as in tic, tongue thrust, lip smack

Front 40

dystonia

Back 40

prolonged muscle contraction - resulting in abnormal behavior