Here’s a basic mental health glossary that provides definitions for common terms. Please note that the definitions given are brief and might not encompass all the nuances of the term:
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): A therapeutic approach that combines mindfulness and behavioral strategies to enhance psychological flexibility. It encourages individuals to embrace their thoughts and feelings without judgment, while taking action aligned with their personal values.
- Anxiety: An emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. When chronic and excessive, it can lead to an anxiety disorder.
- Bipolar Disorder: A mood disorder that causes shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.
- Codependence – A relational pattern where one person excessively relies on another for emotional, psychological, or physical needs, often enabling and being controlled or manipulated by the other’s dysfunction or addiction. It can result in a loss of individual identity and unhealthy attachment behaviors.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): A type of psychotherapy that helps patients understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors.
- Depression: A mood disorder causing persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest, and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems.
- Dopamine – A neurotransmitter in the brain that plays a crucial role in reward, motivation, pleasure, and motor function. Its imbalance can be linked to various conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and addiction.
- Eating Disorders: Mental health conditions characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.
- Hallucination: A perception in the absence of external stimulus, such as hearing voices.
- Insomnia: A sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep.
- Journaling: The practice of writing down thoughts and feelings to understand them more clearly.
- LGBTQ+: A term that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning. Mental health concerns can arise from societal stigma and other challenges faced by individuals in this community.
- Mindfulness: A mental state achieved by focusing on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
- Neurotransmitters: Chemicals in the brain that transmit messages between nerve cells and play a key role in mental health.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A condition characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) leading to compulsive behaviors.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A disorder that develops in response to experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.
- Quality of Life: An individual’s perception of their well-being and ability to enjoy and find meaning in life.
- Resilience: The ability to recover and adapt from difficult experiences.
- Schizophrenia: A mental disorder affecting how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
- Serotonin – A neurotransmitter primarily found in the brain, intestines, and blood platelets, playing a key role in regulating mood, appetite, sleep, and other physiological processes. Imbalances in serotonin levels are often associated with mood disorders, such as depression.
- Therapy: Treatment designed to remedy or alleviate mental health problems.
- Unipolar Depression: Often referred to as major depressive disorder; characterized by persistent depressive mood without the manic episodes seen in bipolar disorder.
- Validation: Recognizing and affirming the feelings, thoughts, or actions of another person.
- Wellness: A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.
- Yoga: A physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. Often used to improve mental well-being.
This is just a brief overview, and it’s important to remember that understanding and addressing mental health requires a comprehensive, empathetic, and individualized approach.