CHAPTER 3 Glossary

11

Glossary

Agorophobia: A fear of being in places where help

may not be available, including fear of being outside, in crowds, or on bridges.
Anxiety disorder: A psychoneurotic disorder, sometimes called free-floating anxiety.
Bipolar disorder: Formerly called manic depression,
characterized by severe mood swings from high
(manic) to low (depression), with episodes of normal
moods in between.
Burnout: Psychological exhaustion and diminished
efficiency resulting from overwork or prolonged
exposure to stress.
Cardiovascular disease: Diseases that involve the
heart or blood vessels.
Compulsion: An irresistible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against ones conscious wishes.
Coronary heart disease: Heart disease characterized
by atherosclerotic build-up that blocks blood flow to
the heart muscle, resulting in a myocardial infarction.
Depressive disorder: A group of symptoms that
reflects a sad or irritable mood beyond normal sadness or grief, characterized by increasingly severe
symptoms of longer duration.
Distress: From the Latin dis =bad, as in dissonance,
disagreement.

Eustress: From the Greek eu =good, as in euphoria.

Fight-or-flight response: The bodys response to
extreme stress, during which the endocrine system
releases stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, and the autonomic nervous system elevates
heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.
High blood pressure: A serious condition in which
either systolic or diastolic blood pressure remains
above normal, possibly leading to coronary heart
disease, heart failure, stroke, or kidney disease.
Homeostasis: Maintaining equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially those maintained
by physiological processes.
Major depression: Severe, disabling depression that
keeps a person from functioning.
Minor depression (dysthymia): Minor depression
that does not seriously disable the person, but keeps
him from functioning at an optimal level.
Obsession: An idea or feeling that completely occupies the mind.
Other-directed: Depend on others to make decisions
for you, lacking autonomy.
Panic disorder: An anxiety disorder characterized by
severe recurring episodes of fear and terror.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Glossary CHAPTER 3

Post-traumatic stress syndrome: Persistent mental

and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury
or severe psychological shock.
Psychoneuroimmunology: A branch of medicine
concerned with how emotions affect the immune
system.
Psychosis: A severe mental disorder in which
thought and emotions are so impaired that contact
is lost with external reality.
Psychosocial health: The interrelation of social factors and individual thought and behavior, including
the emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual wellness components.
Schizophrenia: A breakdown in the relation between
thought, emotion, behavior, leading to withdrawal
from reality into fantasy and delusion.
Self-actualization: The achievement of ones true
potential through independence, creativity, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.

Self-directed: Able to make decisions for oneself;

autonomous.
Self-esteem: Sense of self-respect; confidence in
your own value as an individual.
Self-worth: Your opinion of yourself.
Stressor: An activity, experience, event, person, or
thing that initiates the stress response.
Transcendence: A state of excelling, of going beyond
usual limits and helping others realize their potential.