Depression Glossary of Terms

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Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Abdominal pain: Pain in the belly. Abdominal pain can be acute or chronic. It may reflect ...

Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Acne: Localized skin inflammation as a result of overactivity of the oil glands at the ba...

Acupuncture: The practice of inserting needles into the body to reduce pain or induce anes...

ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Adrenaline: A stress hormone produced within the adrenal gland that quickens the heart bea...

Alzheimer's disease: A progressive degenerative disease of the brain that leads to dementi...

Amitriptyline: An antidepressant medication. In some patients with depression, abnormal l...

Analysis: In psychology, a term for conversation-based therapeutic processes used to gain ...

Anemia: The condition of having a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells or quantity ...

Antidepressant: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Antidepressants: Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression.

Anxiety: A feeling of apprehension and fear, characterized by physical symptoms such as pa...

Aromatherapy: A form of alternative medicine in which essential oils or other scents are i...

Atypical: Unusual, or not fitting a single diagnostic
category.

Biochemical: Relating to biochemistry, the application of the tools and concepts of chemis...

Biofeedback: A method of treatment that uses a monitor to measure patients' physiologic in...

Bipolar disorder: A mood disorder sometimes called manic-depressive illness or manic-depr...

Birth control: Birth control is the use of any practices, methods, or devices to prevent p...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Blurred vision: Lack of sharpness of vision with, as a result, the inability to see fine d...

Bowel: The small and large intestine.

Brain: The portion of the central nervous system that is located within the skull. It func...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Carbohydrate: One of the three nutrient compounds, along with fat and protein, used as ene...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Clinical depression: Depressed mood that meets the DSM-IV criteria for a depressive disord...

Cocaine: A substance derived from the leaves of the coca plant that is a bitter, addictive...

Cognitive: Having to do with thought, judgment, or knowledge.

Cognitive therapy: A relatively short-term form of psychotherapy based on the concept that...

Constipation: Infrequent and frequently incomplete bowel movements. Constipation is the op...

Cymbalta: Brand name for duloxetine hydrochloride, a drug approved by the FDA to treat maj...

Depression: An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and that affects the way...

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mell...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of ...

Dopamine: An important neurotransmitter (messenger) in the brain.

Dry mouth: The condition of not having enough saliva to keep the mouth wet. This is due to...

Duloxetine: See: Cymbalta.

Dysfunction: Difficult function or abnormal function.

Dysthymia: A type of depression involving long-term, chronic symptoms that are not disabli...

Effective dose: The dose of a drug that will achieve the desired effect.

Elavil: See: Amitriptyline.

Electroconvulsive therapy: The use of controlled, measured doses of electric shock to indu...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Epinephrine: A substance produced by the medulla (inside) of the adrenal gland. The name e...

Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Family therapy: A type of psychotherapy designed to identify family patterns that contribu...

Fatigue: A condition characterized by a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency ...

Fatty acids: Molecules that are long chains of lipid-carboxylic acid found in fats and oil...

FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

Folic acid: One of the B vitamins that is a key factor in the synthesis (the making) of nu...

Food and Drug Administration: An agency within the US Public Health Service that provides ...

Generic: 1. The chemical name of a drug. 2. A term referring to the chemical...

Genes: The basic biological units of heredity. Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nee...

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Grief: The normal process of reacting to a loss. The loss may be physical (such as a death...

Headache: A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the he...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart disease: Any disorder that affects the heart. Sometimes the term "heart disease" is ...

Herbal: 1. An adjective, referring to herbs, as in an herbal tea.
2. A...

Heredity: The genetic transmission of characteristics from parent to child.

HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodefi...

Homicide: 1. The killing of a person. 2. Strictly speaking, the killing of a...

Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and regulates the activit...

Hypnosis: A part of healing from ancient times. The induction of trance states and the use...

Hypothyroid: Deficiency of thyroid hormone which is normally made by the thyroid gland wh...

Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease or trait, appears in a pa...

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular ...

Indication: 1. In medicine, a condition which makes a particular treatment or proce...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Inpatient: A patient whose care requires a stay in a hospital. As opposed to an outpatient...

Insomnia: The perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep due to a number ...

Interpersonal therapy: A form of psychotherapy in which the focus is on a patient's relati...

Intervention: The act of intervening, interfering or interceding with the intent of modify...

Isolate: A group in which mating is always between members of the group. For example, the ...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Levothyroxine: A synthetic thyroid hormone used as a thyroid hormone replacement drug (bra...

Lithium: A naturally occurring salt that, in purified form, is used to treat certain psych...

Lithium carbonate: See: Lithium.

Major depression: A disease with certain characteristic signs and symptoms that interferes...

Mania: An abnormally elevated mood state characterized by such symptoms as inappropriate...

Manic: In a state of mania.

MAOI: Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor.

Meditation: A typically self-directed practice for relaxing the body and calming the mind....

Memory: 1. The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge. ...

Monoamine oxidase inhibitor: One of a potent class of medications used to treat depression...

Mouth: 1. The upper opening of the digestive tract, beginning with the lips and con...

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Music therapy: The use of music in therapy; the therapeutic use of music. There are many d...

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Neuroleptic: A term that refers to the effects of antipsychotic drugs on a patient, especi...

Neurotransmitter: A chemical that is released from a nerve cell which thereby transmits an...

Nursing: 1) Profession concerned with the provision of services essential to the maintena...

Obesity: The state of being well above one's normal weight.

Omega-3 fatty acids: A class of fatty acids found in fish oils, especially from salmon and...

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special func...

Outpatient: A patient who is not hospitalized, but instead comes to a physician?s office, ...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Panic: A sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought or action. The wor...

Parkinson's disease: A slowly progressive neurologic disease that is characterized by a fi...

Perimenopause: The time in a woman's life when physiological changes occur that begin the...

Personality disorder: A disorder characterized by the chronic use of mechanisms of coping ...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Placebo: A "sugar pill" or any dummy medication or treatment.

Postpartum: The period just after delivery, as with postpartum depression. Postpartum refe...

Postpartum depression: A form of severe depression after delivery that interferes with dai...

Predispose: To make more likely or render susceptible. Smoking predisposes to a number of ...

Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. Thi...

Prescription: A physician's order for the preparation and administration of a drug or dev...

Prescription drug: A drug requiring a prescription, as opposed to an over-the-counter dr...

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Psychiatric: Pertaining to or within the purview of psychiatry, the medical specialty conc...

Psychiatrist: A physician who specializes in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of m...

Psychiatry: The medical specialty that is concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, and tr...

Psychology: The study of the mind and mental processes, especially in relation to behavior...

Psychotherapy: The treatment of a behavior disorders, mental illness, or any other conditi...

Recurrent: Appearing or occurring again. For example, a recurrent fever is a fever that ha...

Rejection: In transplantation biology, when the body's immune system attacks transplanted ...

Remedy: Something that consistently helps treat or cure a disease.

Reuptake: The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced an...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Schizophrenia: One of several brain diseases whose symptoms may include loss of personalit...

Sensitivity: 1. In psychology, the quality of being sensitive. As, for example, sen...

Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. Sero...

Shock: In medicine, a critical condition that is brought on by a sudden drop in blood flow...

Sleep: The body's rest cycle.

Sleep disorders: Any disorder that affects, disrupts, or involves sleep. The most common...

Sodium: The major positive ion (cation) in the fluid surrounding cells in the body. The ch...

SSRI: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, one of a family of antidepressant medication...

St John's wort: A flowering plant, Hypericum perforatum, also known as St John's wort, tha...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Stroke: The sudden death of brain cells due to lack of oxygen, caused by blockage of blood...

Substance: 1. Material with particular features.
2. The material that...

Substance abuse: The excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug. (There is...

Suicidal: Pertaining to suicide. the taking of ones own life. As in a suicidal gesture, su...

Supportive care: Treatment given to prevent, control, or relieve complications and side ef...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Thyroid: 1. The thyroid gland. Also, pertaining to the thyroid gland. 2. A p...

Thyroid hormone: A chemical substance made by the thyroid gland for export into the bloods...

Tired: A feeling of a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency of accomplishment,...

Tiredness: See: Tired.

Transplant: The grafting of a tissue from one place to another, just as in botany a bu...

Tremor: An abnormal, repetitive shaking movement of the body. Tremors have many causes and...

Tricyclic antidepressants: One of a class of medications used to treat depression. The tri...

Vitamins: The word "vitamin" was coined in 1911 by the Warsaw-born biochemist Casimir Funk...

Weight loss: Weight loss is a decrease in body weight resulting from either voluntary (die...

X-ray: High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-ray is used...