Author: Glossary

Brand name (now discontinued) for the conventional antipsychotic drug thioridazine. A phenothiazine.  

Depression, typically endogenous rather than reactive, and of severe degree. Some authorities use melancholia synonymously with depression with psychotic features. In dsm-iv-tr, melancholia is used as a descriptor for major depressive disorder. In addition to showing loss of pleasure in activities (pervasive anhedonia) and lack of reaction to stimuli that ordinarily would be pleasurable, the…

The last part of the vertebrate brain, continuous posteriorly with the spinal cord. The cone of the nervous tissue continuous above the pons and below the spinal cord. Concerned with involuntary vital actions such as breathing. Many depressant drugs have secondary effects. A continuation of the spinal cord going through the foramen magnum into the…

In dsm-iv-tr, a group of disorders (listed in the section “other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention”) that includes neuroleptic malignant syndrome, neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism, neuroleptic-induced acute akathisia, neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia, neuroleptic-induced acute dystonia, and medication-induced postural tremor.  

An entitlement program of health insurance for the elderly and for qualified disabled persons enacted in 1965. Part A, or hospital insurance, usually is earned through employment covered by Social Security. Part B, or supplementary medical insurance, is elected and paid for through a heavily subsidized premium. Covered services include inpatient hospital care, hospital outpatient…

Examination by a team composed of physicians and other appropriate health personnel of the conditions and need for care, including a medical evaluation. Review, required by Medicaid, by a team composed of physicians and other appropriate health and social service personnel of the condition and need for care, including a medical evaluation, of each inpatient…

A written document that contains sufficient information to identify the patient clearly, to justify the diagnosis and treatment, and to document the results accurately. A record kept on patients which properly contains sufficient information to identify the patient clearly, to justify his diagnosis and treatment, and to document the results accurately. The purposes of the…

The legal authority given by a competent person to a proxy or stand-in decision maker to serve in the event of the subject’s incapacity. This is one type of advance directive.  

The moral code adopted by health professionals in assigning primary value to their patients’ needs and interests. The values most commonly applied to medical ethics discussions are autonomy (the patient’s right to refuse or choose treatment), beneficence (the best interest of the patient), non-maleficence (“First, do no harm”), justice (concerns about the distribution of scarce…

Means-tested entitlement program, financed jointly by the state and federal governments, that provides medical services to people with low incomes. States must offer certain services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, physicians’ (including psychiatrists) services, clinical laboratory and X-ray services, and home health services. Additional coverage of persons with mental illnesses is limited. For programs…