Glossary

Psychiatry uses many words that are hard to understand for ordinary people. Therefore we have provided a glossary of commonly used psychiatric terms to help people better understand the field of mental health.
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ADD
ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder. It was invented by a group of psychiatrists in 1980.

ADHD
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In 1987, ADHD was voted into existence by committee members of the American Psychiatric Association and enshrined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Antidepressants
Antidepressants are a class of drugs commonly prescribed to people labelled with the invented psychiatric disorder Depression. As a class of drugs, antidepressants are linked with Suicide, Agitation, Anxiety, Hostility, Paranoia, Insomnia, Hallucinations and Violent Behaviour.

Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder is an invented psychiatric term to describe unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy and ability to function, from one extreme of overly high and/or irritable (mania) to sad and hopeless (depression), then back again.

Chemical Imbalance Theory
Psychiatrists claim that a person needs a drug to combat their chemical imbalance in the brain which is causing a person’s mental disorder. However, the concept that a brain-based, chemical imbalance underlies mental illness is false.

Cure
For the individual a cure means nothing less than complete and permanent absence of any overwhelming physical or mental desire, need or compulsion to take drugs. For the society it means the rehabilitation of the addict as a consistently honest, ethical, productive and successful member.

Depression
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders says that five out of nine criteria must be met to diagnose depression, including deep sadness, apathy, fatigue, agitation, sleep disturbances and appetite change.

Electroshock
Electroshock is a psychiatric procedure that involves the passing of up to 480 volts of electricity through the head of the person. It is essentially a human rights

Psychosurgery
Not to be confused with medical brain surgery which alleviates actual physical conditions, psychosurgery destroys healthy brain tissue and is condemned by many doctors for its crippling effect on the patient.

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia has come to be known as the “For Profit” psychiatric illness. This is because psychiatrists have been unable to establish agreement on what schizophrenia is, only what to call it. Dr Szasz states: “Schizophrenia is defined so vaguely that, in actuality, it is a term often applied to almost any kind of behaviour of which the speaker disapproves.” At the moment the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders describes Schizophrenia in a long rambling barely comprehensible entry with no less than 6 subsections.