Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
39 results found in Mental Health.
- AI Companion (Chatbot Companion, AI Companionship)
- An AI companion is an artificial-intelligence system - typically a text, voice or avatar-based chatbot built on a large language model - explicitly designed to offer users a sense of social presence, …
- Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS, ASRS-v1.1, Adult ADHD Self-Rating Scale)
- A short self-report screening instrument for adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with researchers from Harvard Medical School. Th…
- Alexithymia
- A subclinical condition in which a person has marked difficulty identifying, describing, and distinguishing their own emotions, often accompanied by an externally oriented thinking style and limited i…
- Ambiguous Loss
- Ambiguous loss, a concept articulated by Pauline Boss, is 'a situation of unclear loss that remains unverified and thus without resolution'. Boss distinguishes two types: physical loss where someone i…
- Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT, Pet Therapy)
- A non-pharmacological therapeutic approach in which interaction with animals — typically dogs, cats, or horses — is used to support physical, cognitive, social, or emotional health goals. Evidence sug…
- Anxiety (Anxiety Disorder)
- An emotional and physiological state characterised by apprehension about future threats, accompanied by heightened autonomic arousal (elevated heart rate, muscle tension, shallow breathing), attention…
- Autistic Burnout (Autistic Fatigue, Neurodivergent Burnout)
- A state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion experienced by autistic people, often resulting from the cumulative effect of masking (suppressing autistic traits to appear neurotypical), sensor…
- Continuing Bonds
- Continuing bonds is a theory of grief, developed by Klass, Silverman and Nickman in the 1990s, which holds that healthy mourning often involves maintaining an ongoing relationship with a deceased or a…
- Deep Pressure Therapy (DPT, Deep Pressure Stimulation, Deep Touch Pressure)
- A therapeutic approach that uses firm, distributed tactile pressure — such as from weighted blankets, compression garments, or inflatable vests — to reduce anxiety, stress, and physiological arousal. …
- Digital Well-Being (Digital wellbeing, Digital wellness)
- A field of research, design, and consumer technology focused on supporting healthy, intentional relationships between people and their devices. Digital well-being spans screen-time tracking, attention…
- Disenfranchised Grief
- Disenfranchised grief, a concept developed by Kenneth Doka, describes the experience of people who 'incur a loss that is not, or cannot be, openly acknowledged, publicly mourned or socially supported'…
- Distraction Blocker (Focus app, Website blocker, Digital self-control tool, DSCT)
- A category of digital well-being software designed to restrict access to distracting applications, websites, or notifications so that users can sustain focus on work or study. Distraction blockers ran…
- Dysregulation (Emotional Dysregulation, Sensory Dysregulation)
- Dysregulation is a state in which a person's emotional, sensory, or physiological response exceeds what they can manage given the current context - typically manifesting as distress, overwhelm, shutdo…
- Emotion Regulation (Affect Regulation, Self-Regulation of Emotion)
- The processes by which a person monitors, evaluates, and modifies emotional reactions to achieve goals or meet situational demands — including selecting or changing situations, directing attention, re…
- Existential OCD
- A non-standardized but clinically recognized subtype of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) characterized by obsessions about the nature of reality, consciousness, free will, mortality, or the fate of…
- Expressive Writing (Pennebaker Paradigm)
- A therapeutic writing practice, formalised by James Pennebaker in the 1980s, in which individuals write about emotionally significant or traumatic experiences for short, repeated sessions. Decades of …
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- A mental-health condition characterized by persistent, excessive, and often uncontrollable worry about a range of everyday situations, accompanied by physical and cognitive symptoms such as restlessne…
- Intrusive Thoughts (Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts)
- Unwanted, distressing thoughts, urges, or images that enter a person’s mind involuntarily and are typically experienced as ego-dystonic (contrary to the person’s values or intentions). Intrusive thoug…
- Journaling (Diary Writing, Reflective Writing)
- The regular practice of recording personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences in written, spoken, visual, or musical form. Journaling has documented benefits for mental health, emotion regulation, se…
- Mindfulness (Mindfulness Meditation, Mindfulness-Based Practice)
- The practice of directing non-judgmental attention to present-moment experience — bodily sensations, breath, thoughts, and emotions — typically cultivated through structured meditation, body-scan exer…