Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Glossary of Terms

1. Take the PTSD Quiz!
2. Stress-Reducing Foods Slideshow
3. Take the Panic Attacks Quiz!

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

Adrenaline: A stress hormone produced within the adrenal gland that quickens the heart bea...

Alcohol abuse: Use of alcoholic beverages to excess, either on individual occasions (binge...

Amygdala: 1. The amygdaloid nucleus in the brain. 2. The tonsils. These...

Antidepressant: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Antidepressants: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

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

Back pain: Pain felt in the low or upper back. Causes of pain in the low and upper back in...

Behavior therapy: A treatment program that involves substituting desirable behavior respon...

Biochemistry: The chemistry of biology, the application of the tools and concepts of chemi...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Cardiovascular: Relating to the circulatory system, which comprises the heart and blood ve...

Cardiovascular disease: Disease affecting the heart or blood vessels.

Cascade: A sequence of successive activation reactions involving enzymes (enzyme cascade) ...

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

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Chronic pain: Pain (an unpleasant sense of discomfort) that persists or progresses over ...

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

Cognitive behavior therapy: A therapeutic practice that helps patients recognize and remed...

Cortisol: A metabolite of the primary stress hormone cortisone. Cortisol is an essential f...

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

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mell...

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. ...

Dissociation: In psychology and psychiatry, a perceived detachment of the mind from the em...

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

Dyslipidemia: A disorder of lipoprotein metabolism, including lipoprotein overproduction o...

FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

Food and Drug Administration: An agency within the US Public Health Service that provides ...

Glucose: The simple sugar that is the chief source of energy. Glucose is found in the bloo...

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

Heart rate: The number of heartbeats per unit of time, usually per minute. The heart rate ...

Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activit...

Hypertension: High blood pressure, defined as a repeatedly elevated blood pressure exceedi...

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

Intervention: The act of intervening, interfering or interceding with the intent of modify...

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

Major depression: A disease with certain characteristic signs and symptoms that interferes...

Marker: A piece of DNA that lies on a chromosome so close to a gene that the marker and t...

Morphine: A powerful narcotic agent that has strong analgesic (pain relief) action and oth...

Motor: Something that produces or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve...

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...

NIMH: Stands for the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the National Institutes o...

Numb: Numb, or numbness is a loss of the sensation of feeling in an area of the body. Numb...

Obesity: The state of being well above one's normal weight.

OCD: 1. Obsessive-compulsive disorder; 2. Osteochondritis dissecans.

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

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

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...

Physiologic: Something that is normal, that is due neither to anything pathologic nor sign...

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 ...

Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.

Prevalence: The proportion of individuals in a population having a disease or characterist...

Probability: The likelihood that something will happen. For example, a probability of less...

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

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...

Psychiatry: The medical specialty that is concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and tr...

Psychodynamic therapy: A type of psychotherapy that draws on psychoanalytic theory to help...

Psychology: The study of the mind and mental processes, especially in relation to behavior...

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

PTSD: Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rape: Forced sexual intercourse; sexual assault; sexual intercourse between an adult and a...

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

Reflex: An involuntary reaction. For example, the corneal reflex is the blink that occurs ...

Residual: Something left behind. With residual disease, the disease has not been eradicate...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Shell shock: The World War I name for what is known today as post-traumatic stress, this i...

Shock: In medicine, a critical condition that is brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow...

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

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

Social phobia: A paralyzing fear of interacting with others. Symptoms include excessive bl...

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...

Substance abuse: The excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug. (There is...

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

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

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

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

Tobacco: A South American herb (Nicotiana tabacum) whose leaves contain 2 to 8 percent nic...

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

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