• Specialty
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• Neuro-Psych
  • Lots of Neuro-Psych Terms
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  • Depression Related Terms
  • Glasgow Coma Scale
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  • Sleep Related Abbreviations
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  • Sample Reports - Psychiatry / Psychology
  • Sample Reports - Neurology

• Mental Health Related Terms

- M -

• Macropsia

The visual perception that objects are larger than they actually are.



• Magical thinking

The erroneous belief that one's thoughts, words, or actions will cause or prevent a specific outcome in some way that defies commonly understood laws of cause and effect. Occurs in dreams in children, in primitive peoples, and in patients under a variety of conditions. Characterized by lack of realistic relationship between cause and effect. Magical thinking may be a part of normal child development.



• Maintenance Treatment

Treatment to prevent a new mood episode, such as depression, mania or hypomania.



• Major Depressive Disorder

Also known as Clinical Depression. A major mood disorder characterized by one or more (recurrent) episodes of major depression, with or without full recovery between episodes.



• Malaise

A general feeling of illness, discomfort and uneasiness.



• Mania

An episode usually seen in the course of bipolar disorder characterized by a marked increase in energy, extreme elation, impulsivity, irritability, rapid speech, nervousness, distractibility and/or poor judgment. During manic episodes, some people also experience hallucinations or delusions.



• Manic Depression (ALSO KNOWN AS BIPOLAR DISORDER)

Classified as a type of affective disorder (or mood disorder) that goes beyond the day's ordinary ups and downs. Manic depression is characterized by periodic episodes of extreme elation, elevated mood, or irritability (also called mania) countered by periodic, classic depressive symptoms.



• Masochism

Pleasure derived from physical or psychological pain inflicted on oneself either by oneself or by others. It is called sexual masochism and classified as a paraphilia when it is consciously sought as a part of the sexual act or as a prerequisite to sexual gratification. It is the converse of sadism, although the two tend to coexist in the same person.



• Medication Therapy

Prescription, administration, assessment of drug effectiveness, and monitoring of potential side effects of psycho-tropic medications.



• Melancholia

An older term for depression; sometimes used today to refer to especially severe depression.



• Melancholy

Symptoms usually found in severe major depressive episodes, including loss of pleasure, lethargy, weight loss and insomnia.



• Memory consolidation

The physical and psychological changes that take place as the brain organizes and restructures information that may become a permanent part of memory.



• Mental Health Parity (ACT)

Mental health parity refers to providing the same insurance coverage for mental health treatment as that offered for medical and surgical treatments. The Mental Health Parity Act was passed in 1996 and established parity in lifetime benefit limits and annual limits.



• Mental retardation

A major group of disorders of infancy, childhood, or adolescence characterized by intellectual functioning that is significantly below average (IQ of 70 or below), manifested before the age of 18 by impaired adaptive functioning (below expected performance for age in such areas as social or daily living skills, communication, and self-sufficiency). Different levels of severity are recognized: an IQ level of 50/55 to 70 is Mild; an IQ level of 35/40 to 50/55 is Moderate; an IQ level of 20/25 to 35/40 is Severe; an IQ level below 20/25 is Profound.



• MHPG (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol)

A major metabolite of brain norepinephrine excreted in urine.



• Micropsia

The visual perception that objects are smaller than they actually are.



• Middle insomnia

Awakening in the middle of the night followed by eventually falling back to sleep, but with difficulty.



• Mirroring

1) The empathic responsiveness of the parent to the developing child's grandiose-exhibitionistic needs. Parental expressions of delight in the child's activities signal that the child's wishes and experiences are accepted as legitimate. This teaches the child which of his or her potential qualities are most highly esteemed and valued. Mirroring validates the child as to who he or she is and affirms his or her worth. The process transforms archaic aims to realizable aims, and it determines in part the content of the self-assessing, self-monitoring functions and their relationships to the rest of the personality. The content of the superego is the residue of the mirroring experience. 2) A technique in psychodrama in which another person in the group plays the role of the patient, who watches the enactment as if gazing into a mirror. The first person may exaggerate one or more aspects of the patient's behavior. Following the portrayal, the patient is usually encouraged to comment on what he or she has observed.



• Mixed episode

A period in which symptoms of both mania and depression occur at the same time or rapidly alternate with one another. Also called mixed type.



• Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIS)

Drugs used in the treatment of clinical depression. These substances decrease depressive symptoms by stopping an enzyme that breaks down the mood stimulating chemicals in the brain.



• Mood

A pervasive and sustained emotion that colors the perception of the world. Common examples of mood include depression, elation, anger, and anxiety. In contrast to affect, which refers to more fluctuating changes in emotional 'weather,' mood refers to a more pervasive and sustained emotional 'climate.' Types of mood include: dysphoric, elevated, euthymic, expansive, irritable.



• Mood Disorder

A category of mental health problems which includes a disturbance in mood, usually profound sadness or apathy, euphoria or irritability, such as the disorder depression.



• Mood-congruent psychotic features

Delusions or hallucinations whose content is entirely consistent with the typical themes of a depressed or manic mood. If the mood is depressed, the content of the delusions or hallucinations would involve themes of personal inadequacy, guilt, disease, death, nihilism, or deserved punishment. The content of the delusion may include themes of persecution if these are based on self-derogatory~ concepts such as deserved punishment. If the mood is manic, the content of the delusions or hallucinations would involve themes of inflated worth, power, knowledge, or identity, or a special relationship to a deity or a famous person. The content of the delusion may include themes of persecution if these are based on concepts such as inflated worth or deserved punishment.



• Mood-incongruent psychotic features

Delusions or hallucinations whose content is not consistent with the typical themes of a depressed or manic mood. In the case of depression, the delusions or hallucinations would not involve themes of personal inadequacy, guilt, disease, death, nihilism, or deserved punishment. In the case of mania, the delusions or hallucinations would not involve themes of inflated worth, power, knowledge, or identity, or a special relationship to a deity or a famous person. Examples of mood-incongruent psychotic features include persecutory delusions (without self-derogatory~ or grandiose content), thought insertion, thought broadcasting, and delusions of being controlled whose content has no apparent relationship to any of the themes listed above.