Terms used in mental health nursing

It describes the commonly used terminology in mental health nursing.It forms the basic concept in the mind of students related to psychiatric nursing and psychology.

1. Terms used in mental health nursing JASLEEN KAUR MSc.(N)

2. Affect: A short – lived emotional response to an idea or event. It may be appropriate (congruent with situation), inappropriate (incongruent with situation), constricted or blunted (diminished range or intensity), flat (absence of emotional expression). 2. Aggression: Harsh physical or verbal actions (consciously or unconsciously) intended to harm or injure others.

3. 3. Akathisia: Motor restlessness, inability to sit still. 4. Alcoholic anonymous (AA): A major self help organization for the treatment of alcoholism which is based on a 12 step programme to help members attain and maintain sobriety. Once an individual had attained sobriety, they in turn help other alcoholic persons.

4. 4. Amnesia: Pathological impairment of memory. It is of two types: Anterograde amnesia: amnesia of events occurring after the episode which precipitated the disorder. Retrograde amnesia: Amnesia of events occurring prior to the episode which precipitated the disorder. 5.Autism: Focus inward on fantasy world, while distorting or excluding external environment, common in schizophrenia.

5. 6.Anorexia Nervosa: An eating disorder that is characterized by morbid fear of obesity. There is persistent lack of appetite by refusal of food often accompanied by vomiting and severe weight loss. The condition occurs most frequently in adolescent girls who feel fat even when dangerously thin. 7.Anxiety: Is diffuse apprehension that is vague in nature and associated with the feelings of uncertainty & helplessness.

6. 8.Ataxia: Lack of co-ordination either physical or mental. The term “intrapsychic ataxia” refers to lack of co-ordination between feelings & thoughts, found in schizophrenia. 9.Autistic disorder: the withdrawal of an infant or child into self & into a fantasy world of his or her own creation. There is marked impairment in interpersonal functioning & communication. Activities and interests are restricted they are considered somewhat bizarre.

7. 10. Bipolar disorder: characterized by mood swings from proud depression to extreme euphoria ( mania) with intervening period of normalcy. Psychotic symptoms may or may not present. 11.Bulimia nervosa: An eating disorder in which there is episodic, uncontrolled, compulsive, rapid ingestion of large quantities of food over a short period of time, followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviours to rid the body of the excess calories.

8. 12.circumstantiality: Individual includes in his conversation many unnecessary details and explanations before the goal is finally reached. The details explained are related but not essential. 13.Cognition: The mental process characterized by knowing, thinking, learning and judging.

9. 14. Cataplexy: Condition in which a person maintains the body position in which he is placed. It is a symptom observed in severe cases of catatonic schizophrenia. It is also known as wax flexibility. 15. Compulsion or compulsive movements: Individual feels compelled to carry out certain pattern of behaviour, while knowing fully well that it is absurd & logically unnecessary yet finding no peace until it has been completed.

10. 16.Confabulation: unconscious filling of gaps in memory by imagined or untrue experiences. 17.Conversion disorder: A somatoform disorder characterized by a loss or alteration of physical functioning without evidence of organic impairment. 18.Crisis: A disturbance caused by stressful event or perceived threat to self.

11. 16.Crisis intervention: S hort term therapy focused on solving the immediate problem & allowing the patient to return to pre-crisis level of functioning. 17.Coping mechanism: A ny effort directed at stress management. It can be problem, cognitive or emotion focused . 18. D elirium: A state of mental confusion & excitement characterized by disorientation for time & place, often with hallucinations, incoherent speech & a state of aimless physical activity.

12. 19.Defense mechanism: Coping mechanism of ego that attempt to protect the person from feelings of inadequacy & worthlessness & prevent awareness of anxiety. They are primarily unconscious & involve a degree of self deception & reality distortion. 20.Deliquency: A minor violation of legal or moral codes, especially by children or adolescents. Juvenile deliquency is such behaviour by a young person (16 or 18 years of age) that brings him/her to the attention of a court.

13. 21.Delusions: T hese are false beliefs, which are irrational, not shared by the person of same age, race & standard of education, which is held by conviction & which cannot be altered by logical arguments & which are persistent. 22.Dementia: Global impairment of cognitive functioning that is progressive & interferes with social or occupational abilities.

14. 21.Depersonalization: An alteration in the perception or experience of self so that the feeling of one’s reality is temporarily lost 22.Derealization: An alteration in the perception or experience of external world so that it seems strange or unreal. 23.Depression: A mental state characterized by feelings of sadness, loneliness, despair, low self esteem & self approach.

15. 24.Dija vu: It is an experience of seeing with feeling that one has seen it before but does not know when & where. 25.Disulfiram: A drug that is administered to individuals who abuse alcohol as a deterrent to drinking. Ingestion of alcohol while disulfiram is in body results in a syndrome of symptoms that can produce a great deal of discomfort & can even result in death if blood alcohol level is high.

16. 26.Dystonia: Involuntary muscular movements (spasms) of the face, arms, legs and neck may occur as an extrapyramidal side-effect of some antipsychotic medications. 27.Echolalia: Repetition of another person’s words. 28.Echopraxia: Imitation of another person’s movement. 29.Sympathy: The intellectual & emotional awareness & understanding of another person’s state of mind.

17. 30.Electro convulsive therapy: A type of somatic treatment in which electric current is applied to the brain through electrodes placed on the temples. A grandmal seizure produces the desired effect. This is used with severely depressed patients refractory to antidepressant medications. 31.Exhibitionism: It is a common deviation which is defined as compulsive & deliberate exposure of genitals in public, mostly by males.

18. 32.Extra pyramidal symptoms: A variety of responses that originate outside the pyramidal tracts & in the basal ganglion of the brain. Symptoms may include tremors, chorea, dystonia, akathisia, akinesia and others may occur as a side- effect of some antipsychotic medications. 33.Fugue: A sudden unexpected travel away from home or customary work locale with the assumption of new identity, usually occurring in response to severe psychological stress.

19. 34.Fight of ideas: Over productive speech characterized by rapid shifting from one topic to other & fragmented ideas. 35.Grandiosity: Excessive & exaggravated feeling of one’s importance. 36.Generalized anxiety disorder: A disorder characterized by chronic (at least 6 months) unrealistic & excessive anxiety & worry.

20. 37.Grief: It is a subjective state of emotional, physical and social responses to the real or perceived loss of a valued entity. Change & failure can also perceived as losses. 38.Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions not associated with real external stimuli. It may involve any of the five senses. 39.Homosexuality: A sexual preference for persons of same gender.

21. 40.Hypochondriasis: The unrealistic preoccupation with fear of having a serious illness. 41.Hysteria: It is a neurotic disorder characterized by suggestibility, emotional outbrusts,Historic behaviour ( attension seeking), repressed anxiety & transformation of an unconscious conflict into physical symptoms such as paralysis, blindness & loss of sensation.

22. 43. Illusion: A misperception of real external stimuli. 44.Incoherence: Thought process that is disconnected, disorganized or incomprehensible. 45.Insight: The ability to understand one’s own behaviour & emotions. In the context of psychiatric disorders, it implies the degree of awareness & understanding that the patient has regarding his/her illness.

23. 46. James vu: False feeling of unfamiliarity with a real situation that one has experienced . 47.La – balle indifference: A symptom of conversion disorder in which there is a relative lack of concern that is out of keeping with the severity of impairment . 48.Labile affect: Rapid & abrupt changes in affect, unrelated to external stimuli.

24. 46. Libido: Freud’s term for psychic energy used to fulfil basic physiological needs or instinctual drives such as hunger, thrist and sexuality. 47.Mania: A type of bipolar behaviour in which predominant mood is elevated, expansive or irritable. Motor activity is increased. Psychotic features may or may not present.

25. 48.Melancholia: A severe form of major depressive episode. Symptoms are exaggerated and interest or pleasure in virtually all activities is lost. 49.Meditation: A method of relaxation in which an individual sits in a quiet place & focuses total concentration on an object, word or thought. 50.Mood: An individual’s sustained emotional tone, which significantly influences behaviour, personality & perception.

26. 51.Milieu therapy: Also called therapeutic community or therapeutic environment, this type of therapy consists of a scientific structuring of the environment to effect behavioural changes & to improve the individual’s psychological health & functioning. 52.Mutism: Complete absence of speech.

27. 53.Mourning: The psychological process (or stage) through which the individual passes on the way to successful adaptation to the loss of a valued object. 55.Negativism: Strong resistance to suggestions or directions; exhibiting behaviours contrary to what is expected. 55.Neuroleptics: Antipsychotic medications used to prevent or control psychotic symptoms.

28. 56.Neologism: New words that an individual invents that are meaningless to others but have symbolic meaning to the psychotic person. 57.Neuroleptic Malignant syndrome: A rare but potentially fatal complication of treatment with neuroleptic drugs. Symptoms include severe muscle rigidity, high fever, tachycardia, fluctuations in B.P., deterioration of mental status to stupor or coma.

29. 58.Neurosis: A psychotic disturbance characterized by excessive anxiety or depression, disrupted bodily functions, unsatisfying interpersonal relationships,& behaviours that interfere with routine functioning. There is no loss of contact with reality. 59.Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is stored in the axon terminals of presynaptic neuron. Electronic impulse through the neuron stimulates the release of neurotransmitter into synaptic cleft, which in turn determines whether or not an other electrical impulse is generated.

30. 60.Obsessions: Fixed or recurrent thoughts in person’s mind. Person himself recognizes them be abnormal. Ideas recur over and over again & forces themselves into consciousness even though they are welcomed. 61.Oculogyric crisis: An attack of involuntary deviation & fixation of the eyeballs, usually an upward position. It may last for several minutes or hours & may occur as an extra pyramidal side effect of antipsychotic medications.

31. 62.Panic: A state of extreme anxiety that involves disorganization of personality. Distorted perceptions, loss of rationale thought & inability to communicate & function are evident. 63.Perservation: Involuntary, excessive continuation or repetition of single response, idea or activity may apply to speech or movement but most often verbal.

32. 64.Perception : Identification & initial interpretation of a stimulus based on information received through the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch & smell. 65.Phobia: A morbid fear associated with extreme anxiety. 66.Projection: Attributing one’s own thoughts or impulses to another person.

33. 67.Pseudocysis: A condition in which an individual has nearly all the signs & symptoms of pregnancy, but is not pregnant, a conversion reaction. 68.Psychosis: A serious psychiatric disorder in which there is a gross disorganization of personality, a marked disturbance in reality testing & the impairment of interpersonal communication & relationship to the external world.

34. 69.Rationalization: Attempting to make excuses or formulate logical reasons to justify unacceptable feelings or behaviour. 7 0.Reaction formation: Preventing unacceptable or undesirable thoughts or behaviours from being expressed by exaggerating thoughts or types of behaviour. 71.Somatization: A method of coping with psychological stress by developing physical symptoms.

35. 72.Somnabulism/Sleep walking: This disorder occurs repeatedly when the individual sits up, picks up from his bed, goes & eats sitting on a dining table, opens the door & goes to sleep on the floor in courtyard. 73.Stress: A state of disequilibrium that occurs when there is a disharmony between demand occurring within an individual’s internal or external environment & his or her ability to cope with those demands.

36. 73.Substance abuse: Use of psychotic drugs that poses significant hazards to health & interfere with social, occupational, psychological & physical functioning. 74.Stupor: When motor retardation is progressive & severe & person may finally reached a stage where he is completely motionless. He is fully conscious but remains in one position for hours at a time.

37. 75.Tardive dyskinesia: Syndrome of symptoms characterized by bizarre facial & tongue movements, a stiff neck & difficult swallowing. It may act as an adverse effect of long term therapy with antipsychotic medications. 76.Thought blocking: Sudden stopping in the train of thought or in the midest of sentence.

38. 77.Transexual: A person who is automatically a male or female but express with wrong conviction that he or she has the mind or emotions of opposite sex, lives as a member of opposite sex part time & seeks to change his/ her sex legally through hormonal & surgical sex reassignment.

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