Author: Glossary

Change in locus of mental health care from traditional, institutional settings to community-based services. Sometimes called transinstitutionalization because it often merely shifts the patients from one institution (the hospital) to another (such as a prison). The discharge of mental patients from mental institutions, with continued care to be provided in the community. This movement was…

Insufficient quantity or inadequate supply. In neurology, it refers to an inability to perform (e.g., a motor action or mental task) because of some interference in the chain of neurophysiological and neurochemical events that lies between stimulus and response. The amount by which something is less than it should be. A deficiency (e.g., a loss…

The use of an implanted electrode to deliver continuous high-frequency electrical stimulation to the thalamus to treat tremor in parkinson’s disease. The application of pulsed electrical energy via electrodes to the pars interna of the globus pallidus or the subthalamic nucleus. It is used to treat movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. Pain-reducing technique whereby…

The deterioration of existing defenses, leading to an exacerbation of pathological behavior. In psychology, ego or personality disorganization under excessive stress. A condition in which an organ such as the heart cannot cope with extra stress placed on it and so is unable to perform its function properly. Process of deterioration from a healthier to…

Long-term or “declarative” memory is characterized by active, conscious recall of all the facts, figures, and names we have ever learned. All of our experiences and conscious memory fall into this category. Although no one knows exactly where this enormous database is stored, the hippocampus is believed to be necessary to store new memories as…

In Freudian theory, the unconscious drive toward death and self-destruction. It coexists with, and is in opposition to, the life instinct (Eros). In psychoanalytic theory, the unconscious will to destroy oneself.  

Brand name for methylphenidate transdermal system.  

Any element of a dream that is clearly derived from some event of the previous day. The event acquires significance from unconscious connection with repressed conflicts and appears in the dream in a displaced and symbolic form. The day residue is often useful in deciphering meaning from the dream.  

Brand name for the benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic drug flurazepam.  

Neurocirculatory asthenia (weakness); “soldier’s heart”; a functional disorder of the  irculatory system that is usually a part of an anxiety state or secondary to hyperventilation.