Glossary of Terms - May 2003

The following terms are found throughout this issue of COLUMNS-Mold. The definitions are from the 1995 edition of Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary unless otherwise stated.

Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence (SOC): a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) the stimuli deriving from one's internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable, and explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posed by these stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges, worthy of investment and engagement [http://www.alzheimer-clearinghouse.be/each/ eng/p_21a2.htm]