Psychiatry Glossary

Intermediate Care Facility, a residential treatment setting providing 24-hour care for individuals with mental illness.

Agreement from a minor or cognitively impaired individual to participate in treatment or research.

The process of ensuring a patient understands and voluntarily agrees to proposed psychiatric treatment.

Legal process of hospitalizing a person with mental illness against their will when they meet specific criteria for dang...

Rapid, excessive changes in emotional expression that are disproportionate to the stimulus or situation.

Blood test measuring lithium concentration to ensure therapeutic dosing and prevent toxicity.

A short-acting benzodiazepine commonly used for anxiety, agitation, and seizure management in psychiatric settings.

The extent to which psychiatric patients take medications as prescribed by their clinicians.

The therapeutic environment and social atmosphere of a psychiatric treatment setting.

A treatment approach using the structured environment and social interactions as therapeutic tools.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form; a widely used psychological assessment tool.

A 30-point cognitive screening tool used to assess mental status and cognitive impairment.

A systematic evaluation of a patient's mental state at a specific point in time, documenting appearance, behavior, cogni...

A newly created word or phrase that has meaning only to the individual using it, often seen in thought disorders.

A standardized rating scale used to measure symptom severity in schizophrenia across positive, negative, and general psy...

The persistent repetition of words, phrases, or responses despite changed circumstances.

Genetic testing to predict individual responses to psychiatric medications based on genetic variations.

A nine-question screening tool for depression severity used in psychiatric assessment and documentation.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures; episodes that resemble epileptic seizures but lack abnormal electrical brain activit...

Rapid, excessive talking that is difficult to interrupt, commonly seen in manic or hypomanic episodes.

Medication prescribed to be given as needed based on specific circumstances or symptoms rather than on a scheduled basis...

Early warning signs or symptoms that appear before the full onset of a psychiatric episode or disorder.

A neurological condition characterized by involuntary episodes of crying or laughing that are disproportionate to the em...

Cognitive impairment associated with depression that mimics dementia but is potentially reversible with treatment.