Mental Health Glossary
Trepanning: The procedure of cutting a hole into an individual’s skull to release evil spirits
The 4 Humours: Blood, yellow bile, black vile and phlegm
Minimisation: The bias towards minimising success in life
Maximisation: Maximising the importance of trivial failures
Selective abstraction: Focusing on only negative aspects of life
Negative triad: The three main dysfunctional beliefs in people with depression
Statistical infrequency: Behaviours that are extremely rare
Deviation from social norms: Behaviour which doesn’t conform to ways in society which
people are expected to behave
Deviation from ideal health: Any mental health which deviates from ideal mental health as
identified by psychologists
Failure to function adequately: The inability to complete daily activities without feeling
distressed
DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – a list of identified mental
disorders created by the American Psychiatric Association
ICD: International Classification of Diseases – used by the WHO and classifies diseases,
injuries and causes of death
Psychic determinism: Unconscious forces and drives are inborn and control or determine
behaviour
Latent content: Repressed ideas in the unconscious mind
Manifest content: Dreams as they appear to the dreamer
Neurotic psyche: Excessive anxiety, obsessional thoughts, emotionally unstable and anxious
Psychotic psyche: Causes people to perceive or interpret things differently
Psychoanalysis: A treatment lasting for several years whereby a patient’s past is investigated
and linked to disorders or symptoms
Free association: Treatment where individuals are encouraged to relax and are allowed to
say anything that comes to mind
Positive reinforcement: When something desirable is obtained in response to doing
something
Negative reinforcement: When something undesirable is removed in response to doing
something
Trepanning: The procedure of cutting a hole into an individual’s skull to release evil spirits
The 4 Humours: Blood, yellow bile, black vile and phlegm
Minimisation: The bias towards minimising success in life
Maximisation: Maximising the importance of trivial failures
Selective abstraction: Focusing on only negative aspects of life
Negative triad: The three main dysfunctional beliefs in people with depression
Statistical infrequency: Behaviours that are extremely rare
Deviation from social norms: Behaviour which doesn’t conform to ways in society which
people are expected to behave
Deviation from ideal health: Any mental health which deviates from ideal mental health as
identified by psychologists
Failure to function adequately: The inability to complete daily activities without feeling
distressed
DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – a list of identified mental
disorders created by the American Psychiatric Association
ICD: International Classification of Diseases – used by the WHO and classifies diseases,
injuries and causes of death
Psychic determinism: Unconscious forces and drives are inborn and control or determine
behaviour
Latent content: Repressed ideas in the unconscious mind
Manifest content: Dreams as they appear to the dreamer
Neurotic psyche: Excessive anxiety, obsessional thoughts, emotionally unstable and anxious
Psychotic psyche: Causes people to perceive or interpret things differently
Psychoanalysis: A treatment lasting for several years whereby a patient’s past is investigated
and linked to disorders or symptoms
Free association: Treatment where individuals are encouraged to relax and are allowed to
say anything that comes to mind
Positive reinforcement: When something desirable is obtained in response to doing
something
Negative reinforcement: When something undesirable is removed in response to doing
something
