Mental Health
Learning Objectives
- Define mental health and mental illness
- Analyze, translate, and define medical terms and common abbreviations used with mental health
- Practice the spelling and pronunciation of mental health terminology
- Identify the medical specialties associated with the mental health and explore common diseases, disorders, pharmacology, diagnostic tests and procedures
Key Word Components
Identify meanings of key word components of mental health:
Prefixes
- acro- (heights, extremes, extremities)
- an- (no, not, without)
- bi- (two)
- dis- (apart)
- dys- (bad, difficult, painful, abnormal)
- eu- (good)
- ex- (outward)
- para- (near, beside, abnormal)
Combining Forms
- affect– (emotional reaction)
- agor/a- (marketplace)
- ambul/o- (to move)
- amnes/o- (forgetful)
- anxi/o– (fear, worry)
- aut/o– (self)
- centr/o- (centre)
- compuls/o– (drive, compel)
- cycl/o– (cycle)
- delus/o– (false belief, to cheat)
- ech/o- (sound)
- fab/o- (story)
- hallucinat/o– (to wander in mind)
- hedon/o- (pleasure)
- Iatr/o- (treatment)
- klept/o – (to steal, stealing)
- ment/o- (mind , do not confuse with chin)
- narc/o– (sleep, stupor)
- neur/o- (nerve)
- obsess/o– (besieged by thought)
- path/o- (disease)
- phil/o– (attraction)
- phor/o- (carry, bear, state)
- psych/o, thym/o, phren/o – (mind)
- pyr/o- (fire)
- schiz/o– (divide, split)
- soci/o- (society)
- somat/o– (body)
- somn/o- (sleep)
Suffixes
- -ia, -ism (condition)
- -iatrist (one who specializes in the treatment)
- -lepsy (seizure)
- -mania (condition of madness; frenzy; excessive excitement)
- -phobia (condition of fear)
- -thymia (condition of the mind)
- -orexia (appetite)
Pronouncing and Defining Commonly Abbreviated Mental Health Terms
Practice pronouncing and defining these commonly abbreviated mental health terms:
- ADL (Activities of Daily living)
- BD or BP (Bipolar disorder)
- BDD (Body dysmorphic disorder)
- CBT (Cognitive-behavioural therapy)
- DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders)
- DTs (Delirium tremens)
- ECT (Electroconvulsive therapy)
- GAD (generalized anxiety disorder)
- ICD (International Classification of Diseases)
- ID (intellectual disability)
- OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
- ODD (oppositional defiant disorder)
- PD (panic disorder *also personality disorder)
- PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
- SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
Sorting Terms
Sort the terms from the word lists above into the following categories:
- Disease and Disorder (terms describing any deviation from normal structure and function)
- Diagnostic (terms related to process of identifying a disease, condition, or injury from its signs and symptoms)
- Therapeutic (terms related to treatment or curing of diseases)
- Anatomic (terms related to body structure)
Test Your Knowledge
Test your knowledge by answering the questions below:
Mental Health Reinforcement Activity (Text version)
- Psychology ______[Blank 1].
- is a medical specialty focused on child