Mental Health and Adult Life Course (Week 6)

These flashcards focus on key vocabulary terms and definitions related to mental health, assessment methods, and specific conditions discussed in the lecture.

Mental Health

Psychological and emotional well-being, including some cognitive aspects such as hallucinations and delusions.

Assessment

Formal process of measuring, understanding, and predicting behavior, often using a multidimensional approach.

Depression

A common mental health disorder characterized by persistent sadness and a lack of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyed activities.

Delirium

Characterized by confused thinking and reduced awareness of the environment, often with rapid development of symptoms.

Dementia

A family of diseases affecting cognitive and behavioral functions, leading to permanent brain damage and severe decline over time.

Cognition

The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding, involving thought processes like memory and attention.

Autonomy

The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision; an essential aspect of mental health defined by self-governance.

Psychopathology

The study of mental disorders, often characterized by maladaptive behaviors that are distressing or disruptive.

Sociocultural forces

Factors such as social norms and cultural values that influence individuals' mental health and definitions of illness.

Beck Depression Inventory

A widely used self-report scale for assessing the severity of depression.

Geriatric Depression Scale

A screening tool specifically designed to identify depression in older adults.

Neurofibrillary tangles

Abnormal aggregations of hyperphosphorylated tau protein that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

Amyloid plaques

Aggregates of protein that build up in the brain and are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Sundowning

A phenomenon where symptoms of confusion and agitation worsen in the evening.

Memory loss

A common symptom of dementia, characterized by difficulty in remembering recent events or information.

Hallucinations

Sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of an external stimulus, often associated with various mental health disorders.

Delusions

False beliefs that are strongly held despite evidence to the contrary, often seen in some mental illnesses.