Mental Health Glossary
a
- Access to care – The landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly called Obamacare, centered anew the reality that not everyone had access…
- Anosognosia – A condition that prevents some people’s brains from recognizing and accepting that they are ill. It is especially common in…
- Attention fracking – Attention fracking is a term used to describe the business model behind many digital platforms, in which users’ attention is treated as a resource to be extracted, monetized and sold.
- Avatar therapy – Avatar therapy is a digital treatment for people who experience schizophrenia or other conditions involving psychosis.
b
- Behavioral health disorders – Chronic habits that erode everyday quality-of-life and normal functioning on the job, in school, within families, within an individual. Behavioral…
- Behavioral modification therapy – A therapeutic counseling practice that employs positive and negative reinforcements to encourage patients to voluntarily change or eliminate problematic behaviors…
c
- Clinical social workers – Provide therapeutic counseling, whether in private practice, in schools, health systems, child welfare agencies and other spheres. Social workers usually…
- Cognitive skills – Include memory, problem-solving, reason, learning and paying attention. Cognitive skills can be impaired as a result of mental and/or behavioral…
- Crisis intervention teams & intervention training – Were created by the Memphis Police Department in 1988 after one of its officers fatally shot a man with a…
d
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM) – First published in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association, this manual is a compilation of mental disorders, their symptoms and prescribed treatment.…
f
- First-episode psychosis/first psychotic break – The point in time when symptoms of severe mental illness, including a lack of reality, first appear. This initial psychotic…
h
- Harm reduction centers – Harm reduction centers are meant to prevent fatal overdoses and connect people who use drugs to health services.
i
- Individualized Education Program – An instruction plan for student with disabilities, including mental and/or behavioral disorders. Mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act…
l
- Lethal means – Suicide prevention experts recommend that newsrooms should avoid detailed descriptions of what lethal means a person uses to take their life.
m
- Mental breakdown/nervous breakdown – This happens when anxiety, depression, worry and other often stress-related mental conditions prevent a person from doing their normal, everyday…
- Mental health conditions (some of the most common) – These conditions can impair a person’s mood, behavior and emotions. Mental disorders (or mental illnesses) can be short-lived or long-lasting, affecting…
- Mental health crisis hotlines – Mental health crisis lines operate 24/7 to serve people going through a mental health crisis, such as suicidal ideation.
- Mental Health First Aid – Mental Health First Aid is a nationwide effort to train the broad public to identify mental illness and substance use disorder. The myriad…
- Mood disorders – Widely fluctuating emotions are the symptoms of mood disorders. These are among the most common mood disorders: Major depressive disorder is…
s
- Suicide prevention – Suicide prevention involves several efforts used to reduce the risk of suicide.