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Mental Health

Specialty Knowledge entries in Mental Health.

Diagram of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response pathway

Anxiety disorder

An anxiety disorder is a mental health condition characterized by excessive, persistent worry or fear that is disproportionate to the actual situation, difficult to control, and significant enough to interfere with daily functioning, relationships, or work. Anxiety disorders are distinguished from the normal, everyday anxiety most people experience occasionally, such as nervousness before a big

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A mental health condition involving excessive, persistent worry or fear that interferes with daily functioning.

A worker sitting at a laptop with her head in her hands

Burnout

In simple terms Burnout is what the World Health Organization calls a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is tied to work. The WHO says the term refers specifically to the occupational context and should not be used to describe experiences in other areas of life. How it

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Burnout is a syndrome the WHO describes as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

A therapist listening and taking notes during a session with a client

Cognitive behavioral therapy

In simple terms Cognitive behavioral therapy, usually shortened to CBT, is a structured talking therapy. The NHS describes it as a therapy in which a therapist helps you change how you think and act. The working idea is that thoughts, feelings and behavior pull on one another, so changing one can shift the others. How

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Cognitive behavioral therapy is a structured talking therapy that works on the links between how a person thinks, feels and acts.

A person sitting alone on a bench at dusk

Depression (clinical)

Clinical depression, formally known as major depressive disorder, is a mental health condition characterized by persistent low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities a person previously enjoyed, and a range of accompanying physical and cognitive symptoms that together significantly impair daily functioning for a sustained period, typically at least two weeks. It is

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A mental health condition involving persistent low mood and loss of interest that significantly impairs daily functioning.

A person meditating calmly beside a river

Mindfulness-based therapy

Mindfulness-based therapy is a category of structured psychological treatment that incorporates mindfulness practices, techniques for cultivating present-moment, non-judgmental awareness of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, into a formal therapeutic framework for addressing mental health conditions. Rather than treating mindfulness purely as a general wellness practice, these approaches apply it within a specific clinical structure, often

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A category of structured psychological treatment that incorporates mindfulness practices into a clinical framework.

Brain regions implicated in post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly abbreviated as PTSD, is a mental health condition that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a deeply distressing or life-threatening event, such as combat, a serious accident, assault, or a natural disaster. While many people experience some distress after a traumatic event, PTSD is diagnosed when specific symptoms persist

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A mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a deeply distressing or life-threatening event.