Editing Decompensation

{{Short description|Medical condition}}
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In [[medicine]], '''decompensation''' is the functional deterioration of a structure or system that had been previously working with the help of compensation. Decompensation may occur due to [[Fatigue (medical)|fatigue]], [[Stress (biology)|stress]], illness, or old age. When a system is "compensated," it is able to function despite stressors or defects. Decompensation describes an inability to compensate for these deficiencies. It is a general term commonly used in medicine to describe a variety of situations.

== Medical term==
For example, ''cardiac decompensation'' may refer to the failure of the heart to maintain adequate blood [[Circulation (physiology)|circulation]], after long-standing (previously compensated) [[vascular disease]] (see [[heart failure]]). Short-term treatment of cardiac decompensation can be achieved through administration of [[dobutamine]], resulting in an increase in [[Myocardial contractility|heart contractility]] via an [[inotropic]] effect.<ref name=acute>{{cite journal|title=Acute Decompensated Heart Failure|pmc=2801958 |year=2009|journal=Texas Heart Institute Journal|last1=Joseph|display-authors=etal|pmid=20069075|volume=36|issue=6 |pages=510–20}}</ref>

[[Kidney failure]] can also occur following a slow degradation of kidney function due to an underlying untreated illness; the symptoms of the latter can then become much more severe due to the lack of efficient compensation by the kidney.

== Psychology ==
In [[psychology]], the term refers to an individual's loss of healthy [[defense mechanism]]s in response to [[stress (biology)|stress]], resulting in personality disturbance or psychological imbalance.<ref name=Tamporo2011>{{cite book |first1=Carol D | last1=Tamparo |first2=Marcia A | last2=Lewis |title=Diseases of the Human Body|publisher=[[F.A. Davis Company]]|year=2011 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Hdc-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA527&q=%22inability%20to%20maintain%20defense%20mechanisms%20in%20response%20to%20stress%22%20%22resulting%20in%20personality%20disturbance%20or%20psychological%20imbalance%22 527] |isbn=978-0803625051}}</ref><ref name=freedict>{{cite web|title=Free Dictionary|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/decompensate|website=Free Dictionary|accessdate=29 August 2015}}</ref><ref name=Millon2011>{{cite book |first=Theodore | last=Millon|title=Disorders of Personality:Introducing a DSM / ICD Spectrum from Normal to Abnormal 3rd Edition|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]]|year=2011 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-u5lAsunPu0C&pg=PA407&q=millon%20persecutory%20delusion%20decompensation%20%22Under%20conditions%20of%20unrelieved%20adversity%20and%20failure%22 407–408] |isbn=978-0470040935}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary}}
*[http://allpsych.com/psychology101/defenses.html Heffner, C.L. (2001). Psychology 101.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303220344/http://allpsych.com/psychology101/defenses.html |date=3 March 2011 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080706122739/http://mentalhelp.net/psyhelp/chap5/chap5j.htm Tucker-Ladd, C.E. (1996–2000). Psychological Self-Help.]

[[Category:Psychoanalytic terminology]]
[[Category:Medical terminology]]
[[Category:Psychopathology]]
[[Category:Psychiatry]]