Author: Glossary

A significant adverse effect consisting of sustained, involuntary muscle contractions that develop following treatment with conventional antipsychotic medications.  

A serious adverse effect associated mainly with conventional antipsychotic medications that consists of abnormal, involuntary movements usually involving the tongue and mouth and sometimes involving the arms and trunk. The treatment is to stop the antipsychotic medication, but many patients choose to continue taking the medication because their life may be intolerable without it. African…

A California court decision that imposes a duty on the therapist to warn the appropriate person or persons when the therapist becomes aware that the patient may present a risk of harm to a specific person or persons.  

Replying to a question in an oblique or irrelevant way. Compare with circumstantiality.  

Brand name for the narcotic drug pentazocine. A commercial preparation of pentazocine.  

A primitive, unrealistic belief, usually unconscious, conforming to the biblical injunction of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” In psychoanalysis, the concept and fear that all injury, actual or intended, will be punished in kind.  

A culturally distinctive phobia in Japan, that resembles social phobia. The term refers to an individual’s intense fear that his or her body, its parts, or its functions displease, embarrass, or are offensive to other people. Taijin Kyofusho syndrome (TKS) is a culture-bound psychiatric syndrome distinctive to Japan that in some ways resembles social phobia…

A reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used in the treatment of alzheimer’s disease. Marketed under the brand name cognex. A drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Tacrine cannot cure Alzheimer’s disease or prevent it from getting worse, but it can slow the progression of the disease and may improve the thinking ability of some people. Tacrine works…

Prohibition or restriction interwoven in the culture. An absolute prohibition based on religion, cultural mores, tradition, social usage, or superstition. An act, object, or social custom separated or set aside as being sacred or profane, thus forbidden for general use.