Anxiety Glossary of Terms

1. Phobias Slideshow Pictures
2. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Panic Attacks Quiz!

Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness th...

Acute stress disorder: The anxiety and behavioral disturbances that develop within a month...

Addiction: An uncontrollable craving, seeking, and use of a substance such as alcohol or a...

Alprazolam: A benzodiazepine sedative that causes dose-related depression of the central n...

Altitude sickness: Altitude sickness (or altitude illness) is a disorder caused by being a...

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Anticipation: The progressively earlier appearance and increased severity of a disease fro...

Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear, characterized by physical symptoms such as pa...

Anxiety disorder: A chronic condition characterized by an excessive and persistent sense o...

Asthma: A common lung disorder in which inflammation causes the bronchi to swell and narro...

Benzodiazepines: A class of drugs that act as tranquilizers and are commonly used in the t...

Blood clot: A mass of coagulated blood. A blood clot can block a major blood vessel, causi...

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

Caffeine: A stimulant compound found naturally in coffee, tea, cocoa (chocolate), and kola...

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Chest pain: Pain in the chest that can be a result of many things, including angina, heart...

Chills: feelings of coldness accompanied by shivering. Chills may develop after exposure t...

Cocaine: A substance derived from the leaves of the coca plant that is a bitter, addictive...

Cognitive: Having to do with thought, judgment, or knowledge.

Cognitive therapy: A relatively short-term form of psychotherapy based on the concept that...

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Diarrhea: A common condition that involves unusually frequent and liquid bowel movements. ...

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of ...

Embolism: The obstruction of a blood vessel by a foreign substance or a blood clot that tr...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Emphysema: 1) A lung condition featuring an abnormal accumulation of air in the lung's ma...

Gastrointestinal: Adjective referring collectively to the stomach and small and large inte...

Generalized anxiety disorder: Abbreviated GAD. A condition characterized by 6 months or mo...

Gland: A group of cells that secrete a substance for use in the body. For example, the thy...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart attack: The death of heart muscle due to the loss of blood supply. The loss of bloo...

Heart disease: Any disorder that affects the heart. Sometimes the term "heart disease" is ...

Heroin: Semisynthetic drug derived from morphine. Discovered in 1874, it was introduced co...

Hot flashes: A sudden wave of mild or intense body heat caused by rushes of hormonal chang...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Lungs: The lungs are a pair of breathing organs located with the chest which remove carbon...

Meditation: A typically self-directed practice for relaxing the body and calming the mind....

Mitral valve: A valve in the heart that is situated between the left atrium and the left v...

Mitral valve prolapse: A common heart valve anomaly affecting 5'10 percent of people that ...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an...

Oxygen: The odorless gas that is present in the air and necessary to maintain life. Oxygen...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Palpitations: Unpleasant sensations of irregular and/or forceful beating of the heart. In ...

Panic: A sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought or action. The wor...

Panic disorder: An anxiety disorder that is characterized by sudden attacks of fear and pa...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Phobia: An unreasonable sort of fear that can cause avoidance and panic. Phobias are a rel...

Post-traumatic stress: An anxiety disorder that develops in some individuals who have had...

Post-traumatic stress disorder: A common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to ...

Prescription: A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or dev...

Psychiatric: Pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry, the medical specialty conc...

Psychiatrist: A physician who specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of m...

Psychotherapy: The treatment of a behavior disorders, mental illness, or any other conditi...

PTSD: Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pulmonary: Having to do with the lungs.

Pulmonary embolism: Sudden closure of a pulmonary artery or one of its branches, caused by...

Recurrent: Appearing or occurring again. For example, a recurrent fever is a fever that ha...

Reuptake: The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced an...

Separation anxiety: A developmental stage during which a child experiences anxiety when se...

Separation anxiety disorder: Excessive anxiety concerning separation from home or from tho...

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. Sero...

Shortness of breath: Difficulty in breathing. Medically referred to as dyspnea. Shortness ...

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

SSRI: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, one of a family of antidepressant medication...

Stomach: The digestive organ that is located in the upper abdomen, under the ribs. The upp...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Substance: 1. Material with particular features.
2. The material that...

Suicidal: Pertaining to suicide. the taking of ones own life. As in a suicidal gesture, su...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Sweating: The act of secreting fluid from the skin by the sweat (sudoriferous) glands. The...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Tension: 1) The pressure within a vessel, such as blood pressure: the pressure within t...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Thyroid: 1. The thyroid gland. Also, pertaining to the thyroid gland. 2. A p...

Thyroid gland: A gland that makes and stores hormones that help regulate the heart rate, b...

Tired: A feeling of a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency of accomplishment,...

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

Trigger: Something that either sets off a disease in people who are genetically predispose...

Xanax: See: Alprazolam.