W3 - Anxiety, Stress, Trauma and OCD

Hallucinations

Perceptions experienced without external stimuli, including visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory sensations, often seen in psychotic disorders

Delusions

Strongly held false beliefs that are not influenced by reason or contradictory evidence, commonly found in schizophrenia or mood disorders

Flight of ideas

Rapid and continuous flow of thoughts, often with only superficial or loose connections, typically seen in mania

Formal thought disorder

Disruption in the organization and expression of thought, affecting speech coherence and communication

Thought processes

The patterns and organization of thinking, including how thoughts are connected and expressed

Poverty of thought

Markedly reduced quantity of thought content, often reflected in minimal speech or limited ideas

Loosening of associations

Thoughts jump from one topic to another with little or no logical connection, commonly observed in psychosis

Word salad

Incoherent mixture of words and phrases that lack logical meaning, often seen in severe schizophrenia

Tangential thinking

Responses or speech that drift away from the main topic and fail to address the point directly

Fear

Emotional response to an immediate, real, or perceived threat that triggers a physiological reaction

Worry

Repetitive, uncontrollable thinking about potential future problems or threats, often cognitive rather than physical

Anxiety

Emotional state of tension, apprehension, or unease about uncertain or anticipated threats

Yerkes-Dodson law

Principle that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal up to an optimal point, after which performance decreases

Hyperventilation

Rapid or deep breathing that decreases carbon dioxide levels in the blood, causing dizziness or tingling

Sympathetic-adrenal medulla complex (SAM)

Fast-acting stress response system activating adrenaline and noradrenaline, preparing the body for fight or flight

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA)

Slower stress response system releasing cortisol, regulating stress adaptation and homeostasis

Panic disorder

Anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unexpected panic attacks and persistent concern about having more attacks

Panic attack

Sudden, intense episode of fear or discomfort with physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, or dizziness

Agoraphobia

Fear of places or situations where escape might be difficult or help unavailable, often leading to avoidance

Specific phobia

Excessive or irrational fear of a specific object or situation, leading to avoidance or distress

Social anxiety disorder

Intense fear of social situations where one may be judged or scrutinized by others

Generalised anxiety disorder

Chronic, excessive worry about multiple areas of life, accompanied by physical tension and difficulty controlling worry

Separation anxiety disorder

Excessive fear or distress when separated from attachment figures, beyond what is developmentally appropriate

Selective mutism

Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations despite speaking normally in other settings

Substance/medication induced anxiety disorder

Anxiety symptoms directly caused by the effects of substances or medications

Obsessive compulsive disorder

Characterized by recurrent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) performed to reduce anxiety

Body dysmorphic disorder

Preoccupation with perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance, often causing distress and impairment

Trichotillomania

Recurrent, compulsive hair-pulling resulting in noticeable hair loss and distress

Excoriation disorder

Recurrent skin-picking resulting in skin lesions, scarring, and functional impairment

Hoarding disorder

Persistent difficulty discarding possessions, leading to clutter that disrupts living spaces

PTSD

Mental health condition following trauma, with symptoms such as intrusive memories, hyperarousal, and avoidance

Acute stress disorder

Short-term anxiety and dissociation occurring immediately after exposure to a traumatic event

Reactive attachment disorder

Disturbed or inappropriate social behaviors due to severe neglect or insufficient caregiving during early childhood

Adjustment disorder

Emotional or behavioral response to an identifiable stressor, causing distress or impairment beyond what is expected

Hypochondriac

Excessive preoccupation with having or developing a serious illness, often misinterpreting bodily sensations

Non-clinical panic

Brief, situational panic-like episodes that do not meet the criteria for panic disorder

Paresyjesoas

[Unclear term, possibly a typo—definition unavailable]

Obsession

Recurrent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts, images, or urges causing distress

Compulsions

Repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed in response to obsessions, aimed at reducing anxiety or preventing feared outcomes

Perfectionism

Setting excessively high standards for performance, often leading to distress or dysfunction

Behavioural inhibition system

Brain system sensitive to punishment and novel stimuli, associated with anxiety

Anxiety sensitivity

Fear of anxiety-related sensations due to beliefs that they have harmful consequences

Nocturnal panic

Panic attacks occurring during sleep, often causing sudden awakening

Sleep apnea

Breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep, leading to disrupted sleep and fatigue

Sleep terrors

Episodes of intense fear and screaming during non-REM sleep, often with amnesia of the event

Learned alarms

Conditioned fear responses to specific stimuli based on past experiences

Panic control treatment

Cognitive-behavioral therapy designed to reduce panic attacks and anxiety

Blood-injection-injury phobia

Fear of blood, injections, or injury, often associated with fainting

Situational phobia

Fear of specific situations such as elevators, airplanes, or enclosed spaces

Animal phobia

Excessive fear of specific animals, leading to avoidance

Information transmission

Learning fear through being told about danger rather than direct experience

School phobia

Anxiety or fear about attending school, often leading to avoidance

D-cycloserine

Drug used experimentally to enhance the effectiveness of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders

Prolonged grief disorder

Persistent and intense grief that significantly impairs functioning, beyond normal bereavement

Thought-action fusion

Belief that thinking about an action is morally equivalent to performing it or increases its likelihood

Exposure and ritual prevention

Therapy for OCD involving gradual exposure to triggers and preventing compulsive behaviors

Psychosurgery

Surgical intervention on the brain to treat severe and treatment-resistant mental disorder

SAM complex

Sympathetic-adrenal medulla: The body’s fast stress-response system that releases adrenaline and noradrenaline, causing immediate physical arousal (e.g., increased HR, BP).

HPA axis

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical: The body’s slower, long-term stress system that releases cortisol to help manage ongoing stress.

Body dysmorphic disorder

A mental health disorder where a person becomes excessively preoccupied with a perceived flaw in their appearance that others see as minor or nonexistent.

Separation anxiety disorder

Excessive fear or distress about being away from attachment figures, beyond what is developmentally appropriate.

Formal thought disorder

Disorganized thinking that affects how thoughts are connected and expressed, often leading to unclear, jumbled, or illogical speech.

Psychosis

A state where a person loses contact with reality, often involving hallucinations, delusions, or severely disorganized thinking.

Hypertension

Chronically high blood pressure that puts stress on the heart and blood vessels.