Glossary

Here are definitions of medical terms related to anxiety and worry.

Adaptive behavior: Everyday living skills that are learned.

Anxiety: A nervous disorder characterized by a state of excessive uneasiness.

Cognitive restructuring: A therapy technique in which an individual identifies negative, irrational beliefs and replaces them with truthful, rational statements.

Depression: A mood disorder characterized by a feeling of intense sadness.

Generalized anxiety disorder: A disorder characterized by excessive, unrealistic worry that lasts six months or more.

Obsessive compulsive disorder: A disorder in which individuals are plagued by persistent, recurring thoughts (obsessions) that reflect exaggerated anxiety or fears.

Panic disorder: A disorder in which someone suffers severe attacks of panic which may include symptoms such as heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, trembling, tingling sensations, a feeling of choking, a fear of dying, fear of losing control, and feelings of unreality.

Social anxiety disorder: A disorder characterized by extreme anxiety about being judged by others or behaving in a way that might cause embarrassment or ridicule

Worry: A lasting preoccupation with past or future bad events.