Author: Glossary
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Cross-tolerance
Tolerance to a drug to which an individual has not been exposed because tolerance had developed to another substance over a period of long-term administration. A person who has developed tolerance to alcohol will have a diminished response to the usual dose of a denzodiazepine medication because tolerance to alcohol also has induced tolerance to…
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Cross-dependence
A drug’s ability to suppress physical manifestations of substance dependence produced by another drug and to maintain the physically dependent state. It provides the rationale for the treatment of dependence on one substance (e.g., alcohol) by short-term substitution of a less dangerous and more controllable substance that is cross-dependent with that substance (e.g., the use…
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Cross-cultural psychiatry
The comparative study of mental illness and mental health among different societies, nations, and cultures. Often used synonymously with transcultural psychiatry.
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Critical incident stress debriefing
Psychological debriefing following a traumatic event, which was designed primarily for emergency response personnel, to allow traumatized individuals to discuss their thoughts, feelings, and behavior following the event.
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Crisis intervention
A form of brief psychotherapy that emphasizes identification of a specific event precipitating the emotional trauma and uses methods to neutralize and cope with that trauma. Often used in hospital emergency departments. Action taken to help relieve an immediately threatening or serious situation, the short-term aim being to remove a threat to health or welfare,…
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Crisis
A state of sudden psychological disequilibrium; a turning point in a person’s life. A stressful situation characterized by shock and temporary loss of ability to make decisions. A situation or period of difficulty demanding action. A turning point in a disease, after which the person may start to become better or very much worse. An…
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Cri du chat
A type of intellectual disability that is caused by partial deletion of chromosome 5. The name is derived from a catlike cry emitted by children with this disorder. Syndrome of mental retardation. The name is derived from a catlike cry emitted by children with this disorder, which is caused by partial deletion of the fifth…
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Creutzfeldt-jakob disease
A rare, fatal brain disorder that causes a rapid, progressive dementia and associated neuromuscular disturbances. The disease is often referred to as subacute spongiform encephalopathy because it usually produces microscopic cavities in neurons that appear sponge-like. The illness is believed to be caused by prions, proteinaceous infectious particles, which are abnormal forms of a human…
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Cretinism
A type of intellectual disability and bodily malformation caused by severe, uncorrected thyroid deficiency in infancy and early childhood. Underactivity of the thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) in children, resulting in poor growth, severe mental retardation and deafness. A condition caused by thyroid malfunction typically includes feeble mindedness. A disease in children which results from too little…
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Crack
Slang for freebase or alkaloidal cocaine. The name derives from the cracking sound cocaine makes when heated. Also known as “rock” because of its crystallized appearance, alkaloidal cocaine is ingested by inhalation of vapors produced from heating. The drug induces a sense of exhilaration in the user, primarily by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitter…