Plain-language definitions
Mental health glossary.
This glossary explains common mental health conditions and care terms in plain language. Every condition definition is grounded in the DSM-5-TR, the manual clinicians use to classify mental health conditions, and reviewed by Dr. Allison J. McDade, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist. These definitions are for learning. They are not a diagnosis, and only a clinician can diagnose a condition after a full evaluation.
Conditions we treat
The conditions Dr. McDade treats, explained simply. Each links to a fuller page.
#Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is a persistent pattern of inattention, or of hyperactivity and impulsivity, that gets in the way of daily life or development. Signs appear early, usually before age 12, and show up in more than one setting, such as home and school or work. It reflects a difference in how the brain regulates attention and activity, not a lack of effort or discipline.
Many adults come in having spent years believing they were simply disorganized or not trying hard enough. Putting a name to it can be a turning point, and treatment can help you work with your brain instead of against it.
#Anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
Generalized anxiety disorder is ongoing, excessive worry that is hard to control and shows up on most days for six months or longer. The worry spans several areas of life and often comes with restlessness, fatigue, trouble concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, or disturbed sleep. Everyone worries. This is worry that becomes constant and wearing.
Anxiety is worth taking seriously when it stops protecting you and starts running your days. It is common, it is well understood, and it responds well to care.
#Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mood condition marked by episodes of unusually high energy and elevated or irritable mood, called mania or the milder hypomania, that often alternate with periods of depression. Bipolar I includes at least one manic episode. Bipolar II includes hypomania along with depression.
Bipolar disorder is often first mistaken for depression, because people tend to seek help during the lows. Getting the full picture matters, because the right diagnosis leads to the right treatment.
#Depression (Major Depressive Disorder)
Major depressive disorder is a period of at least two weeks with a persistently low mood, or a loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities, along with other changes such as in sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, movement, or a sense of self-worth. It is a medical condition, not a passing mood or a personal failing.
Depression is not a weakness or something to push through alone. If a low mood or a loss of interest has lingered, that is a reason to reach out, not a reason to wait.
#Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Oppositional defiant disorder is a lasting pattern of angry or irritable mood, argumentative or defiant behavior, or vindictiveness that continues for at least six months and goes beyond ordinary limit-testing. It is most often identified in childhood or adolescence.
Ongoing defiance is a signal worth understanding, not a judgment on a child or a family. The goal is to look underneath the behavior and support the whole household.
#Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder can develop after experiencing or witnessing a frightening event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. It can involve intrusive memories, avoidance of reminders, negative shifts in thoughts and mood, and feeling on edge, lasting more than a month.
What happened to you was real, and your response to it makes sense. Care can help those reactions loosen their grip so daily life feels steadier again.
#Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a condition that can involve delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking or speech, unusual movements, and reduced emotional expression or motivation, with continuous signs lasting at least six months. It affects how a person thinks, feels, and perceives the world.
Schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood conditions in medicine, and stigma often causes as much harm as the illness. With accurate diagnosis and consistent care, many people live full, connected lives.
Understanding your care
The terms that come up as you decide how to get help, and how care works here.
#Telepsychiatry
Telepsychiatry is psychiatric care delivered by secure live video instead of in person. It covers the same evaluation, diagnosis, and medication management as an in-office visit, and studies have found it as effective as in-person care for many conditions. You meet your psychiatrist from anywhere private, which makes consistent care easier to keep.
Good care depends on attention and trust, not on sharing a room. For most of my patients, secure video makes it easier to show up consistently, and consistency is often what moves things forward.
#Psychiatric Evaluation
A psychiatric evaluation is a thorough first visit in which a psychiatrist reviews your history, symptoms, and goals to reach an accurate diagnosis and build a treatment plan with you. It is the foundation for everything that follows. At this practice the first visit is unhurried, usually 60 to 90 minutes.
The first visit is where everything starts. I take the time to understand your full story, because an accurate diagnosis is what makes the rest of the plan work.
#Medication Management
Medication management is the ongoing process of prescribing psychiatric medication and adjusting it over time, guided by how you respond and any side effects. It is not a one-time prescription. It includes regular follow-up to keep your plan working and to make changes as your needs change.
Medication is a tool, not the whole plan. My aim is the smallest effective approach, adjusted with you, watching closely for how you feel and how you function.
#Combined Treatment (Collaborative Care)
Combined treatment is care that pairs medication management with psychotherapy, the two main approaches to treating mental health conditions. It is also called collaborative care, integrated care, or holistic mental health care. The idea is to bring the biological and the behavioral together, so both are working toward the same goal.
Medication and therapy often work best together. I manage the medication side and coordinate with a therapist when that is the right fit, so your care is connected rather than scattered.
#Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (MD or DO) who can diagnose mental health conditions, prescribe and manage medication, and provide therapy. A psychologist holds a doctoral degree in psychology and focuses on psychotherapy and psychological testing, and in most states does not prescribe medication. The two roles often work together.
Both roles matter, and they often work as a team. As a psychiatrist, I bring the medical side, diagnosis and medication, and I coordinate with therapists who bring the therapy side.
Related terms
Other terms people search for that are useful to understand.
#Burnout
Burnout is a state of energy depletion and exhaustion, growing mental distance or cynicism about your work, and a drop in how effective you feel. The World Health Organization includes it in the ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon tied to chronic, unmanaged workplace stress, and specifically not as a medical condition. Its symptoms overlap with depression and anxiety, which are diagnosable and treatable, so telling them apart matters.
Burnout and depression can look alike, and the difference matters. If rest and time away do not bring you back, that is worth a closer look, because what helps one does not always help the other.
#Mood Disorder
Mood disorder is a general term for conditions in which a disturbance in mood is the central feature. This group includes the depressive disorders and the bipolar disorders.
#Psychosis
Psychosis describes a loss of contact with reality that can include delusions, which are fixed false beliefs, or hallucinations, which are sensing things that are not there. It is a feature that can appear across several conditions, and it is not a diagnosis on its own.
Sources. Condition definitions are written in plain language and grounded in the American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), 2022. The description of burnout follows the World Health Organization. International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11), 2019. Learn more at psychiatry.org and who.int.
Health & Harmony Psychiatry does not provide emergency care. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, or call 911.
When you are ready
Understanding is a good first step.
If any of these sound familiar, an unhurried evaluation with Dr. McDade can bring clarity and a plan. Care is available across Texas and California by secure video.