Ch. 23 Behavioral Health Emergencies Flashcards
Activities of daily living (ADLs)
The basic activities a person usually accomplishes during a normal day, such as eating, dressing, and bathing.
Altered mental status
A change in the way a person thinks and behaves that may signal disease in the central nervous system or elsewhere in the body.
Behavior
How a person functions or acts in response to his or her environment.
Behavioral crisis
The point at which a person’s reactions to events interfere with the activities of daily living; theis becomes a psychiatric emergency when it causes a major interruption, such as attempted suicide.
Behavioral health emergency
An emergency in which abnormal behavior threatens a person’s own health and safety or the health and safety of another person - for example, when a person becomes suicidal or homicidal, or has a psychotic episode.
Depression
A persistent mood of sadness, despair, and discouragement; may be a symptom of many different mental and physical disorders, or may be a disorder on its own.
Exited delirium
A serous behavioral condition in which a person exhibits agitated behavior combined with disorientation, hallucinations, or delusions; also called agitated delirium or exhaustive mania.
Functional disorder
A disorder in which there is no known physiologic reason for the abnormal functioning of an organ or organ system.
Organic brain syndrome
Temporary or perrmanent dysfunction of the brain, caused by a disturbance in the physical or physiologic functioning of brain tissue.
Positional asphyxia
Restriction of chest wall movements and/or airway obstruction; can rapidly lead to sudden death.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
A delayed reaction to a prior incident. Often the result of one or more conditions concerning the incident, and may relate to an incident that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm.
Psychiatric disorder
An illness with psychological or behavioral symptoms and/or impairment in functioning caused by a cocial, psycological, genetic, physical, chemical, or biologic disturbance.
Psychosis
A mental disorder characterized by the loss of contact with reality.
Schizophrenia
A complex, difficult-to-identify mental disorder whose onset typically occurs during early adulthood. Symptoms typically become more prominent over time and include delusions, hallucinations, a lack of interest in pleasure, and erratic speech.
