Schizophrenia Glossary of Terms

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

Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness th...

Aluminum: A naturally occurring element that makes up about 8% of the surface of the earth...

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

Antipsychotic: A medication (or another measure) that is believed to be effective in the t...

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

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

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

Blunted affect: See: Flat affect.

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

Catatonic: 1. Characterized by marked motor abnormalities including immobility (cat...

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

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

Complication: In medicine, an unanticipated problem that arises following, and is a result...

Computerized tomography: Pictures of structures within the body created by a computer that...

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

Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contra...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

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

Delusion: A false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory evidence ...

Dementia: Significant loss of intellectual abilities, such as memory capacity, that is sev...

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

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

Discharge: 1.The flow of fluid from part of the body, such as from the nose or vag...

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.

Dyskinesia: The presence of involuntary movements, such as the choreaform movements seen i...

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

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

Extrapyramidal side effects: Physical symptoms, including tremor, slurred speech, akathesi...

Familial: A condition that tends to occur more often in family members than is expected by...

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degr...

Flat affect: A severe reduction in emotional expressiveness. People with depression and sc...

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

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Glutamate: A form of glutamic acid. See: Glutamic acid.

Hallucination: A profound distortion in a person's perception of reality, typically accomp...

Hygiene: The science of preventive medicine and the preservation of health. Also commonly ...

Illusion: A perception that occurs when a sensory stimulus is present but is incorrectly p...

Immune: Protected against infection, usually by the presence of antibodies.

Immune response: Any reaction by the immune system. For example, poison ivy can cause an i...

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 ...

Intrauterine: In the uterus.

Jaw: The movable junction of the bones below the mouth (the mandible) and the bone just ab...

Lability: The state or quality of being labile: susceptible to change, error or instabili...

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

Malignant: 1. Tending to be severe and become progressively worse, as in malignant ...

Marijuana: A common street and recreational drug that comes from the marijuana plant: the ...

Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the whole range of biochemical processes that occur wit...

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. ...

Motor: Something that produces or refers to motion. For example, a motor neuron is a nerve...

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...

Muscular: Having to do with the muscles. Also, endowed with above average muscle developme...

Neck: The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders. Also, any narrow or constric...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

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

Neurological: Having to do with the nerves or the nervous system as, for example, a neurol...

Nutrition: 1) The science or practice of taking in and utilizing foods. 2) A nourishing ...

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for ex...

Palate: The roof of the mouth. The front portion is bony (hard palate), and the back porti...

Perinatal: Pertaining to the period immediately before and after birth. The perinatal peri...

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...

Prenatal: Occurring or existing before birth.

Primary care: A patient's main source for regular medical care, ideally providing continui...

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...

Psychosis: In the general sense, a mental illness that markedly interferes with a person'...

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

Quality of life: The patient's ability to enjoy normal life activities. Quality of life is...

Rehabilitation: The process of helping a person who has suffered an illness or injury rest...

Relapse: The return of signs and symptoms of a disease after a remission.

Remission: Disappearance of the signs and symptoms of cancer or other disease. A remission...

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...

Schizoid: Having symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia.

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

Self-harm: see: non-suicidal self injury.

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

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...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

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

Tardive dyskinesia: A neurological syndrome characterized by repetitive, involuntary, purp...

Taste: A perception that results from stimulation of a gustatory nerve. Taste belongs to t...

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

Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or s...

Twitching: : Involuntary contractions of groups of muscle fibers. Also known as fasciculat...