Psychiatry Dictionary
Some concepts used in psychiatry and psychotherapy are also frequently encountered in everyday language. However, the same word can have different meanings in everyday language and in clinical usage. For this reason, I have compiled this glossary with the aim of explaining concepts frequently used in the fields of psychiatry and psychotherapy in clear and scientific language.
Understanding a concept does not mean that a person is diagnosing themselves or someone else. Psychiatric symptoms are assessed in conjunction with the person’s history, the difficulties they are experiencing, the duration, severity and impact on daily life.
D
Delusion
A psychiatric term describing fixed beliefs that are not explained by a person's cultural or social context and are maintained despite strong evidence to the contrary.
Depersonalization
An experience in which a person feels detached from their self, thoughts, emotions, body, or actions, or as if observing themselves from outside. Reality testing is usually preserved.
Depression
Depression is a broad term that can be used in different ways in everyday language. In a clinical context, it may refer to depressive states involving low mood and/or loss of interest or pleasure, accompanied by changes in energy, sleep, appetite, thinking, and functioning. Not every sadness indicates a depressive disorder.
Derealization
An experience in which the environment feels unfamiliar, distant, unreal, foggy, or dreamlike. Reality testing is usually preserved.
Dissociation
A broad concept describing disconnection or discontinuity in mental functions that are normally integrated, such as memory, identity, perception, emotion, bodily experience, and the experience of the environment.