Category: A
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Acute stress disorder
A type of anxiety disorder characterized by the development of severe dissociative, intrusive, avoidant, and hyperarousal symptoms in response to actual or threatened injury or death or after someone witnesses the serious injury or killing of another person. These symptoms usually develop within 1 month of the event and are associated with an elevated risk of…
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Acute dystonic reaction (ADR)
An idiosyncratic drug reaction that involves acute involuntary muscle movements and spasms. Although any muscle group in the body can be involved, the most common symptoms are torticollis, facial grimacing, and body arching. Approxi mately 3%–10% of patients exposed to conventional antipsychotics, especially high-potency agents such as haloperidol (HALDOL), will experience an acute dystonic reaction. The…
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Acute confusional state
A form of delirium in which the most prominent symptoms are disorders of memory and orientation, usually with short-term memory deficit and both retrograde and anterograde amnesia, and clouding of consciousness (i.e., reduced clarity of awareness of environment with reduced capacity to shift, focus, and sustain attention to environmental stimuli). Also known as acute confusional…
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Acupuncture
An ancient Chinese practice of piercing the body with needles with the intent of relieving pain or treating disease. An adjunctive therapy used in the treatment of chronic pain and other disorders, as well as in opioid detoxification. Needles are inserted in the acupuncture points along the meridians running through the body to balance the…
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Actualization
Realization of one’s full potential.
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Acting out
Expressions of unconscious emotional conflicts or feelings in actions rather than words. The person is not consciously aware of the meaning of such acts. Acting out may be harmful or, in controlled situations, therapeutic (e.g., children’s play therapy). Refers especially to acting out of transference wishes and emotions. In psychology, manifesting conflicts in overt behavior…
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Actigraphy
A method of monitoring rest/activity cycles. A small actigraph is worn by a patient to measure motor activity. It is used to clinically evaluate insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, excessive daytime sleepiness, and restless legs syndrome. The monitoring of body movements with a small device usually attached to the wrist or foot, used in sleep…
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Acrophobia
The fear of heights. An irrational, morbid fear of high places. Morbid fear of high places. An abnormal fear of heights. If acrophobia is a symptom of depression or if it interferes with the everyday tasks of living, psychological treatment is recommended.
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Achluophobia
The fear of darkness.
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Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
A class of medications used in the treatment of alzheimer’s disease (the most common dementing illness in the elderly), other dementias (e.g., Lewy Body Dementia), myasthenia gravis, glaucoma, and anticholinergic poisoning. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors retard the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which may improve cognition. They are also believed to have an effect on peptide processing,…