Author: Glossary

  • Mental health problems

    Signs and symptoms of insufficient intensity or duration to meet the criteria for any mental disorder.  

  • Mental health parity

    A health coverage concept in which the scope and limitations of mental health services included in a health insurance plan are identical to those provided for medical health care services. Usually, the “parity” is restricted to disorders that are considered brain or neurobiologically based disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autistic disorder,…

  • Mental health

    A state of being that is relative rather than absolute. The successful performance of mental functions shown by productive activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and to cope with adversity. The best indices of mental health are simultaneous success at working, loving, and creating with the capacity for…

  • Mental disorder

    A behavioral or psychological syndrome that causes significant distress (a painful symptom) or disability (impairment in one or more important areas of functioning) or a significantly increased risk for death, pain, or an important loss of freedom. The syndrome is considered to be a manifestation of some behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction in the person…

  • Mental age (MA)

    A measure of mental ability as determined by psychological tests. A score devised by Binet to represent a person’s test performance. A measurement based on intelligence tests that shows a person’s intellectual development, usually compared to standardised data for a chronological age. A numerical summary reflecting a child’s comparative performance on a mental ability or…

  • Menkeiti

    A culture-specific syndrome.  

  • Mendacity

    Pathological lying.  

  • Memory consolidation

    The physical and psychological changes that take place as the brain organizes and restructures information that may become a permanent part of memory.  

  • Memory

    The ability, process, or act of remembering or recalling; especially the ability to reproduce what has been learned or explained. Ability to retain and recall into consciousness previously experienced ideas and sensations and learned information. The retention and recall are associated with specific chemical changes in the brain and can be affected by organic brain…

  • Memantine

    An nmda receptor antagonist approved for the treatment of moderate to severe dementia of the alzheimer’s type. Marketed under the brand name namenda.