Words shape how we see our minds. When you understand mental health terms, big, scary labels turn into useful tools and vague worries can become clear next steps. A shared vocabulary helps you spot red flags earlier, ask sharper questions, and support friends with real empathy. It also makes appointments less confusing and self-advocacy more effective at school, work, and home.
Acute: A condition or symptom that appears suddenly and has a strong, immediate impact
Affect: The outward display of inner emotion that other people can observe
Anhedonia: A reduced ability to experience pleasure that often improves when depression is effectively treated
Antidepressant Medicine: Medication used to treat depression and many anxiety disorders. Benefits commonly become noticeable after six to eight weeks.
Antipsychotics: Medications used primarily to treat psychosis that can also help with severe mood symptoms or aggression
Antisocial Personality Disorder: A personality disorder defined by a persistent pattern of violating the rights of others without remorse that begins in childhood or adolescence and continues into adulthood
Anxiety: An uncomfortable set of physical sensations and thoughts that signal perceived threat and that becomes problematic when daily life is disrupted
Anxiety Disorders: Conditions characterized by excessive anxiety that interferes with functioning, including social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder
Atypical Antipsychotics: Newer antipsychotic medications used for psychosis and sometimes for severe mood symptoms or aggression
Avolition: Very low motivation to initiate or complete activities, which is not the same as laziness
Axon: The long neuronal fiber that carries signals to other nerve cells
Benzodiazepines: Medications commonly used to treat anxiety, severe restlessness, and agitation when used correctly
Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression): A mood disorder that includes at least one major depressive episode and at least one manic episode
Bipolar Disorder Type 2 (Hypomanic Depression): A mood disorder that includes at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic episode
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): A personality disorder marked by emotion regulation difficulties, unstable relationships, poor self-image, and impulsive or self-harming behaviors
Brain: The body’s master control center for thought, emotion, and behavior that contains many interconnected parts, including:
Amygdala: A brain region involved in emotional memory, fear responses, arousal, and hormone release that prepares the body for action
Brain Stem: A relay hub between the body and higher brain areas that also helps control breathing, digestion, heart rate, sleep, and arousal
Cerebellum: A coordinator of movement, balance, and muscle tone
Cerebrum: The largest brain region, responsible for attention, reasoning, and abstract thought and composed of the frontal, occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes
Frontal Lobe: A lobe that supports movement, planning, reasoning, emotions, and problem-solving
Gray Matter: Brain tissue composed largely of neuron cell bodies that appears darker than white matter
Hippocampus: A structure that helps form memories, supports learning, and regulates emotional responses
Hypothalamus: A regulator of temperature, sleep, appetite, sexual drive, stress reactions, and hormone release from the pituitary gland
Limbic System: A network involved in emotion, memory, motivation, appetite, and arousal
Locus Coeruleus: A small brain stem area that activates norepinephrine pathways involved in arousal, anxiety, and fear
Myelin: An insulating sheath around axons that speeds nerve signaling and is often called white matter
Occipital Lobe: A lobe that processes visual information
Parietal Lobe: A lobe that supports recognition, spatial awareness, taste, and aspects of touch
Temporal Lobe: A lobe that processes sounds and supports recognition and memory of objects and faces
Thalamus: A relay for sensory and motor signals that also helps regulate sleep and wakefulness
Chronic: A descriptor for conditions that persist over a long period, often for years
Cognition: Mental processes involved in thinking, learning, planning, and memory
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A psychotherapy that helps people change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors to reduce symptoms and improve functioning
Cognitive Symptoms: Difficulties in thinking processes, such as negative thoughts in depression, delusions in psychosis, or impaired planning and problem-solving
Community Treatment: Care delivered outside a hospital, including in doctor’s offices, clinics, schools, or community health centers
Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) Scan: A specialized X-ray technique that creates images of brain structures
Compulsions: Repetitive behaviors performed to reduce anxiety from unwanted thoughts or to satisfy strong urges.
Conduct Disorder (CD): A disruptive behavior disorder involving a persistent pattern of rule-breaking and aggression, such as stealing, fighting, or setting fires
Delusion: A fixed false belief that does not match reality and that commonly appears in psychosis
Dendrite: A branching extension of a neuron that receives signals from other neurons
Depressant: A substance that slows thinking or physical activity, including alcohol and certain pain medications
Depression: Both a mood state and a diagnosable disorder that can include persistent sadness or irritability along with symptoms such as loss of interest, hopelessness, sleep or appetite changes, fatigue, and suicidal thoughts
Depressive Episode: A period that lasts at least two weeks and includes several characteristic depressive symptoms
Diagnosis: The identification of a medical or mental disorder using accepted criteria by trained professionals
Disorder: A disturbance of physical or mental health
Distress: Mental or physical suffering that can be part of normal life and is not itself a mental disorder
Double Depression: The co-occurrence of major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder in the same person
Dysthymic Disorder: A chronic mood disorder marked by persistently low mood and fewer symptoms than major depressive disorder that still impairs daily life
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): A treatment for severe mental disorders in which a controlled electrical current is applied to the brain under anesthesia
Electroencephalography (EEG): A test that measures the brain’s electrical activity using scalp electrodes
Euphoria: An abnormally elevated sense of well-being or joy that can occur in bipolar disorder
Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM): Care that uses the best available scientific evidence to guide treatment decisions
Extraversion: A personality trait describing sociable and outgoing behavior
Functional Impairment: Reduced ability to function as usual in areas such as family, school, work, or relationships
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI): A brain imaging method that tracks blood flow changes to show how the brain functions
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Excessive, hard-to-control worry about multiple areas of life accompanied by physical symptoms such as headaches and muscle tension
Grief: A normal emotional response to the loss of a loved one that differs from a depressive disorder
Hospitalization: Admission to a hospital for diagnosis and treatment; in mental health care, this is generally reserved for severe symptoms or crises
Hypomanic Phase (Hypomania): A less severe form of mania associated with elevated energy, mood, or activity and often seen in bipolar disorder
Introversion: A tendency to focus inward on thoughts and feelings more than on the surrounding social world
Manic Phase: A period of very high energy and excessive activity in bipolar disorder that may require hospital care and responds to medications and other therapies
Medication: A medicine prescribed by a licensed clinician and regulated by government agencies
Mental Disorder: A disturbance of brain function that meets recognized diagnostic criteria and results from interactions between genetics and environment
Mental Health: A state of emotional, behavioral, and social well-being that can coexist with a well-managed mental disorder
Mental Health Issue: A broad phrase that can refer to distress, suffering, or a diagnosable disorder and that is best replaced with more specific language
Mental Health Nurse: A registered nurse with specialized training in promoting mental health and treating mental disorders
Mental Health Professional: A trained provider who improves mental health or treats mental disorders
Mental Illness: Brain-based disorders that affect mood, behavior, and thinking, also often called mental disorders
Mood: An ongoing internal emotional state
Mood Disorders: Conditions involving problems with mood regulation, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia
Mood Stabilizers: Medications that help even out mood and are commonly used in bipolar disorder
Narcissistic: A tendency to interpret experiences primarily in relation to the self with an unrealistically high sense of self-worth
Neurodevelopment: Growth and change of the brain over time.
Neuron (Nerve Cell): A specialized brain and spinal cord cell that processes and transmits information
Neuroscience: The scientific study of the brain and nervous system
Neurotransmission: Communication between neurons in which chemicals cross the synapse to send a signal
Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that carry signals between brain cells, including dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline
Obsessions: Repetitive, persistent, unwanted thoughts that cause distress and interfere with functioning
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A disorder involving persistent unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors performed to reduce anxiety
Panic Attack: A sudden surge of intense fear or discomfort that includes symptoms such as dizziness, trembling, sweating, shortness of breath, and rapid heart rate
Panic Disorder: A disorder involving recurrent panic attacks, fear of more attacks, and avoidance of places where escape may be difficult
Personality Disorders: Long-standing patterns of behavior and inner experience that cause difficulties across situations
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scans: Imaging studies that use small amounts of radioactive material to measure brain activity and chemistry
Postpartum Depression: A mood disorder affecting women after childbirth that’s more severe and persistent than the “baby blues”
Postsynaptic Neuron: The neuron that receives signals across a synapse
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A disorder that can follow a terrifying, painful, or life-threatening event and that includes intrusive memories or nightmares and avoidance of reminders
Presynaptic Neuron: The neuron that sends signals across a synapse
Psychiatrist: A medical doctor who specializes in diagnosing, treating, and helping prevent mental disorders
Psychiatry: The medical specialty focused on understanding, diagnosing, and treating mental disorders
Psychologist: A doctoral-level psychology specialist who may practice clinically, teach, or conduct research
Psychomotor: The link between mental processes and physical movement
Psychomotor Agitation: Movement driven by mental tension, including behaviors such as pacing or picking at skin
Psychomotor Retardation: Noticeably slowed thinking and body movement
Psychosis: A state in which a person has difficulty distinguishing reality and may experience delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized thinking
Psychotherapy: Treatment for emotional, behavioral, personality, and other psychiatric concerns that uses structured communication between a clinician and a patient
Receptor: A site on a neuron where neurotransmitters or medications bind and influence signaling
Recovery: A state in which a person with a mental disorder functions as well as possible and feels mentally healthy even if the disorder is still present
Risk Factor: Any attribute that increases the chance of developing a disorder and that does not by itself cause the disorder
SAINT: Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy, an accelerated form of transcranial magnetic stimulation
Schizoaffective Disorder: A condition that includes features of both schizophrenia and a major mood disorder
Schizophrenia: A disorder that involves psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations along with other difficulties that impair daily life
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): A form of major depressive disorder that occurs mostly at particular times of year, often in winter
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Medications commonly used to treat depression that primarily affect the brain’s serotonin system
Self-Harm: Any self-inflicted injury without intent to die
Separation Anxiety Disorder: An anxiety disorder in children characterized by extreme difficulty being away from a parent
Serotonin: A neurotransmitter involved in regulating mood, anxiety, thinking, and other brain functions
Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT): An imaging technique used to study brain function
Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder): Fear and avoidance of social situations due to worry about scrutiny or judgment
Social Worker: A professional trained to address social, emotional, and environmental issues linked to disorders or disabilities
Sociopath (or Psychopath): A person who meets criteria for antisocial personality disorder
Sociopathy: The pattern of behavior and personality traits seen in a sociopath, including superficial charm and lack of remorse
Specific Phobia: An anxiety disorder involving intense fear of a particular object or situation that often responds to behavior therapy
Stress: The body’s response to disruptions in normal balance that can aid adaptation but can harm health when excessive
Suicidality: A broad reference to thoughts or actions related to wanting to die that is clearer when described with specific terms such as thoughts, plans, attempts, or deaths
Suicide: Death resulting from an action intended to end one’s life
Suicide Attempt: A self-directed, potentially harmful act with intent to die that does not result in death
Suicidal Ideation: Thoughts, images, or fantasies about harming or killing oneself
Suicidal Intent: The expectation and commitment to die by suicide that can be described in future or past tense
Suicidal Plan: A specific plan formed to attempt suicide
Synapse or Synaptic Space: The gap between neurons where neurotransmitters are released to regulate signaling
Syndrome: A collection of signs and symptoms that together describe a disease
Systematic Desensitization: A psychological treatment that gradually exposes a person to feared situations so that fear decreases over time
Therapist: A trained professional who practices a specific type of therapy
Therapy: The treatment of a disease or disorder by any method
Tolerance: A reduced response to a medication or treatment over time
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): A noninvasive treatment for depression that stimulates specific areas of the brain with magnetic pulses
Trauma: An event or injury that damages physical or mental health
Treatment: Medical, psychological, social, or surgical care provided to a patient
Trichotillomania: A disorder in which people repeatedly pull out their hair and often feel tension before pulling and relief or pleasure afterward
Voluntary Admission: Hospital admission for mental health treatment with the person’s agreement
Voluntary Patient: A person who remains in a psychiatric facility with personal consent or with the consent of a substitute decision-maker
Withdrawal: The brain’s response to suddenly stopping a medication or drug, which can include nausea, chills, cramps, diarrhea, or hallucinations but does not by itself indicate addiction. The term also refers to pulling away from social contact, which can occur in conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and panic disorder.
*This is not the original work of BeYOUtifullyYou by Mae. This original blog post was written and published on February 10, 2025, by https://www.magnusmed.com/blog/glossary-of-mental-health-and-wellness-terms/. For more information, please click the link and go check out their website.
