# Glossary of Key Terms - Link: https://psychologyforeveryone.com/guide/glossary/ - Published: 2026-10-24T07:45:05+00:00 - Author: myadvisorfriend@gmail.com ## A to C * **Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT):** a talk therapy that teaches people to make room for difficult thoughts and feelings while taking action toward the things they value. * **Adjustment disorder:** a strong or lasting stress reaction to a life change, such as a job loss, a move, or a breakup, that is more intense than expected and affects daily life. * **Agoraphobia:** intense fear of places or situations where escape might be hard or help might not be available, such as crowds, public transport, or open spaces. * **Anhedonia:** loss of the ability to feel pleasure or interest in things once enjoyed. It is a common feature of depression. * **Antidepressant:** a medicine used mainly for depression and anxiety disorders. Several types exist and each works a little differently. * **Antipsychotic:** a medicine used mainly to treat psychosis and to help stabilise mood in some conditions. * **Anxiety disorder:** a condition in which fear or worry is excessive, lasts a long time, and interferes with life. * **Assessment:** the process of gathering information about a person’s symptoms, history, and strengths so a professional can understand what is happening. * **Attachment:** the emotional bond between a child and caregivers, which shapes how a person later forms relationships. * **Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD):** a neurodevelopmental condition involving ongoing patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. * **Autism spectrum:** a neurodevelopmental difference that affects communication, social interaction, sensory experience, and flexibility of routines. * **Behavioural activation:** a therapy method that helps people with low mood step by step re-enter rewarding and meaningful activities. * **Bipolar disorder:** a mood condition with episodes of depression and episodes of unusually elevated or irritable mood (mania or hypomania). * **Burnout:** a state of exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness caused by long-term unmanaged stress, usually linked to work or caregiving. * **Case manager:** a professional who coordinates services, appointments, housing, and benefits for a person with ongoing needs. * **Catatonia:** a state in which a person may be unusually still, mute, or unresponsive, or may show unusual repeated movements. It needs medical attention. * **Clinical psychologist:** a professional trained in psychology to assess mental health problems and provide talk therapy. * **Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT):** a structured, short-term therapy that links thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. * **Cognitive distortion:** a habitual, biased way of thinking, such as catastrophising or black-and-white thinking. * **Co-occurring disorders:** two or more conditions present at the same time, for example depression and a substance use problem. * **Compulsion:** a repeated behaviour or mental act that a person feels driven to perform, often to reduce the distress caused by an obsession. * **Counsellor:** a trained professional who supports people with life problems, emotions, and relationships through talking and guidance. * **Emergency help:** a free or low-cost phone, text, or chat service where trained people support someone in emotional distress. ## D to H * **Delusion:** a strongly held false belief that does not change even when clear evidence is shown, and that is not explained by a person’s culture or faith. * **Dementia:** a group of conditions in which memory, thinking, and daily function decline beyond what is expected with normal ageing. * **Depression (major depressive disorder):** a condition marked by persistent low mood or loss of interest, along with changes in sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, and self-worth. * **Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT):** a skills-based therapy that teaches mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. * **Diagnosis:** a professional’s conclusion about which condition best explains a person’s symptoms. * **DSM-5-TR:** the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a widely used guide published by the American Psychiatric Association. * **Dissociation:** feeling detached from yourself, your body, or your surroundings, as if things are unreal or you are watching from outside. * **Dopamine:** a brain chemical involved in motivation, reward, movement, and attention. * **Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):** a medical treatment given under anaesthesia that uses a brief electrical stimulus to help people with severe depression and some other serious conditions. * **Emotional regulation:** the ability to notice, understand, and manage the intensity and expression of emotions. * **EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing): a structured therapy used mainly for trauma that helps the brain reprocess distressing memories. * **Empathy:** understanding and sharing another person’s feelings. * **Exposure therapy:** a method in which a person gradually and safely faces feared situations or memories until the fear fades. * **Flashback:** a vivid re-experiencing of a traumatic event, as if it were happening again. * **Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD):** ongoing, hard-to-control worry about many everyday things, with physical tension and restlessness. * **Hallucination:** sensing something that is not there, such as hearing voices or seeing things others cannot. * **Hypomania:** a milder form of elevated mood and energy than mania, with less impact on daily functioning, seen in bipolar II disorder. * **Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis:** the body’s main stress-hormone system, linking the brain and the adrenal glands. ## I to O * **ICD-11:** the International Classification of Diseases, published by the World Health Organisation, used in most countries to classify illnesses including mental disorders. * **Insomnia:** ongoing difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early, with daytime effects. * **Insight:** a person’s awareness that they have a condition or problem. * **Intrusive thought:** an unwanted thought, image, or urge that pops into the mind. Almost everyone has them. * **Mania:** a period of abnormally high energy, reduced need for sleep, racing thoughts, and risky behaviour, lasting at least a week or leading to hospital care. * **Mental status examination:** the clinician’s structured observation of appearance, speech, mood, thinking, and awareness during an interview. * **Mental well-being:** a state in which a person can realise their abilities, cope with normal stress, work productively, and contribute to their community. * **Mindfulness:** paying attention to the present moment on purpose and without judgement. * **Mood stabiliser:** a medicine used to reduce the extremes of mood swings, especially in bipolar disorder. * **Neurodevelopmental:** relating to how the brain develops from early life, as in autism, ADHD, and learning differences. * **Neurologist:** a medical doctor who treats diseases of the brain and nerves, such as epilepsy, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease. * **Neuron:** a nerve cell that sends and receives signals in the brain and body. * **Neuroplasticity:** the brain’s ability to change its connections in response to experience and learning. * **Neurotransmitter:** a chemical messenger, such as serotonin or dopamine, that passes signals between neurons. * **Obsession:** a persistent, unwanted thought, image, or urge that causes distress. * **Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD):** a condition in which obsessions and compulsions take up much time or cause major distress. * **Occupational therapist:** a professional who helps people build the daily living, work, and coping skills they need for independence. ## P to Z * **Panic attack:** a sudden surge of intense fear with physical symptoms such as a pounding heart, breathlessness, and dizziness, usually peaking within minutes. * **Peer support:** help from someone with lived experience of a mental health condition. * **Personality disorder:** a long-standing pattern of thinking, feeling, and relating that is rigid, differs from cultural expectations, and causes distress or difficulty. * **Phobia:** an intense, disproportionate fear of a specific object or situation, leading to avoidance. * **Postnatal (postpartum) depression:** depression that begins during pregnancy or after the birth of a baby. * **Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):** a condition that can follow a terrifying or life-threatening event, with re-experiencing, avoidance, negative changes in mood and thinking, and heightened alertness. * **Prefrontal cortex:** the front part of the brain involved in planning, judgement, and self-control. * **Prognosis:** the likely course and outcome of a condition. * **Psychiatric nurse:** a nurse with special training in caring for people with mental health conditions. * **Psychiatrist:** a medical doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating mental illness, including prescribing medicine. * **Psychoeducation:** teaching people and families about a condition, its treatment, and how to manage it. * **Psychologist:** a professional with training in the science of behaviour and mental processes who may assess, research, or provide therapy. * **Psychosis:** a state in which a person loses some contact with shared reality, with symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions. * **Psychotherapy:** treatment by talking and structured exercises with a trained therapist, also called talk therapy. * **Relapse:** the return of symptoms after a period of improvement. * **Resilience:** the ability to adapt and recover when facing adversity, trauma, or stress. * **Rumination:** going over the same worries or sad thoughts again and again without finding a solution. * **Schizophrenia:** a serious mental illness involving psychosis along with changes in motivation, emotion, and thinking. * **Self-esteem:** the overall opinion a person holds about their own worth. * **Serotonin:** a brain chemical involved in mood, sleep, appetite, and digestion. * **SSRI:** selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, a common type of antidepressant. * **Social anxiety disorder:** intense fear of being judged, embarrassed, or humiliated in social situations. * **Stigma:** negative attitudes and unfair treatment directed at people because of a health condition or difference. * **Stress:** the body’s and mind’s response to demands or threats. * **Substance use disorder:** a pattern of using alcohol or drugs that continues despite harm and is hard to control. * **Talk therapy:** see psychotherapy. * **Trauma:** an overwhelming experience, or series of experiences, that exceeds a person’s ability to cope. * **Trigger:** something that brings back strong emotions or memories related to a past experience. * **Withdrawal:** symptoms that occur when a person reduces or stops a substance after long use. Some withdrawals need medical supervision. * **Wellness plan:** a written personal plan listing habits, supports, warning signs, and steps to stay well. ## Additional⏎ terms: Indic and classical vocabulary These terms come from the Hindu and Ayurvedic sources used in Volume 6 and elsewhere. They are given for lookup, not as clinical definitions. Affect — observed emotion. Ahamkara — I-making; kin to asmita. Ahita-artha — unwholesome object of mind or sense (Charaka). Anhedonia — loss of pleasure. Citta / vritti — mind-field and its waves (YS 1.2). CBT / ERP / DBT / IPT / EMDR — therapy types. Dharma — duty-in-context, not fatalism. Diathesis–stress — vulnerability plus load; not destiny. Dissociation — disconnection from self, body, or world. Dosha — vata, pitta, kapha; rajas and tamas as mental doshas. Interoception — sensing the inner body. Klesha — five afflictions (YS 2.3–2.9). Manas / buddhi / atman — moving mind, intellect, self. Sattvavajaya — restraint of mind from unwholesome objects (Charaka Sutra 11.54). Sthitaprajna — steady wisdom (Gita 2). Unmada / apasmara — classical names for severe mental derangement and seizure-like loss of memory (not self-labels). Window of tolerance — arousal range where learning and choice are possible.