Mental Health Terminology Guide*

Anxiety: A condition characterized by feelings of apprehension or unexplained thoughts of impending doom.

Behavioral Health: A state of mental and emotional well-being and choices or actions that affect that well-being.

Behavioral Healthcare: An umbrella term that covers the assessment and treatment of mental and/or addictive disorders.

Bias: Prejudice in favor of or against an individual or group due to a certain characteristic. This can include feelings towards an individual due to perceived mental wellness or known mental disorders.

Burnout: A state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.

Clinician Well-Being: A function of being satisfied with one’s job, finding meaning in one’s work, feeling engaged at work, having a high-quality working life, and finding professional fulfillment in work.

Depersonalization: From a clinician's perspective, having a distant feeling toward patients may lead to cynicism or sarcasm.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders: The standard guide used by behavioral health professionals to classify mental health conditions.

Discrimination: Prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or an individual due to their perceived category. Often caused by bias, stigma, or prejudice.

Illness Self-Management: Individual education on factors that exacerbate or reduce symptoms to manage risk factors and relieve symptoms without professional intervention.

Mental Health: A state of mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being. Mental health is not mutually exclusive with a mental health disorder or mental illness.

Mental Health Challenge/Issue: A broad term encompassing mental distress, mental suffering, or a mental disorder.

Mental Health Disorder (also Mental Disorder): A disturbance of brain function as categorized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Mental Illness: A diagnosable condition that affects thinking (mental), mood (emotional), or behavior, and is associated with distress or impaired functioning.

Mental Illness-related Stigma: Refers to the negative beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors directed towards individuals with mental health conditions. There are three forms of sigma: 1) public stigma presents as societal-level discrimination; 2) self-stigma presents as one who internalizes negative beliefs by individuals with mental illness; and 3) structural stigma includes institutional policies and practices that limit opportunities for individuals with mental illnesses.

Mental Well-being: A state in which an individual realizes their abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to their community.

Risk Factor: Something that increases a person’s chance of having a disorder. These can include genetics, stressful life events/situations, brain damage, alcohol and drug use, traumatic experiences, and more.

Self-care: The practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s health, well-being, and happiness, especially during times of stress.

Serious Mental Illness: A mental disorder that interferes with some area of social functioning.

Severe Mental Illness: A term that applies to more seriously affected individuals and illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, anxiety disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Stress: Stress is a normal, proportional reaction to a stressful situation or external pressure. It is normal to feel stressed about a final exam or job interview. Psychological stress is the mind’s reaction to a perceived threat, real or imagined, and is necessary to adapt. However, a buildup of stress and a lack of support and/or coping mechanisms can result in toxic stress that can harm mental health.

Stressor: A physical, emotional, or psychological factor that causes strain, tension, or stress.

Substance Abuse and Addiction: An unhealthy pattern of drug, alcohol, or other chemical use that may lead to relationship, education, work, mental, and/or physical problems.

* Mental Health Terminology Guide ^1-3