Getting Services
Glossary of Terms
Note: These definitions are not meant to be clinically correct. They have been simplified for better understanding.
Affective Disorder:
Any disorder that affects your mood (depression, bi-polar disorder,
anxiety, panic).
Antidepressants:
Medicine given to consumers who have depression. They are not
addictive and usually need to be taken for 2-4 weeks before feeling
better.
Anxiety Disorder:
A depressive illness that makes a consumer feel nervous.
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT): The treatment staff
(Psychiatrist, Nurse, Case Manager, Therapist and/or Supportive
Employment and sometimes others), based on the need of the consumer,
goes to the consumer to provide treatment.
Bi-Polar Disorder I:
A consumer experiences at least one, and usually many more, manic
times - going back and forth between mania and major depression.
Psychosis may be present.
Bi-Polar Disorder II:
A consumer experiences periods of hypomania - going back and forth
between hypomania and major depression. Hypomania does not cause
as many problems as mania and psychotic symptoms are not present.
Case Management:
Making sure consumers day-to-day living needs are met.
Clubhouse:
A place for consumers to socialize.
Community Mental Health Center (CMHC):
A provider of mental health and addiction services that meets
Division of Mental Health requirements.
Consumer:
A person who has received or is receiving mental heath or addiction
services.
Co-Occuring Disorders:
A consumer who has a mental illness and a substance abuse diagnosis
at the same time.
Crisis:
A time when one cannot cope with his illness.
Crisis Stabilization:
The help one gets when he is in a crisis. This may include medication
changes, therapy, case management or hospitalization.
Delusions:
A false belief that continues to be believed even when the facts
prove differently.
Detox Services:
A medically managed stabilization of a person coming off chemical
substances. May be inpatient or outpatient treatment.
Developmental Disability:
A condition a person is born with that causes him not to develop
normally. They usually have a lower IQ than those not born with
this condition.
Dually Diagnosed:
A consumer who has a developmental disability and a mental illness.
Emergency Detention:
A court order signed by a doctor and a judge stating that a person
is a physical threat to himself or others or unable to care
for himself. The person is brought to the hospital for up to
72 hours of observation.
G
Group Homes: Several consumers live together with staff helping
them.
Group Therapy:
A group of consumers with similar disorders meeting with a therapist
to discuss emotions, behaviors and thoughts.
Hallucinations:
Seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling things that are not there.
Hoosier Assurance Plan:
State money that helps a consumer pay for some of their mental
health and/or addiction treatment.
Hypomania:
A mild form of mania. The consumer will experience increased energy,
improved mood or irritability, increased talkativeness, decreased
need for sleep, increased social or sexual activity, and increased
spending.
Immediate Detention:
A law enforcement officer signs a legal document stating they
believe a person has a mental illness, addiction problem, or a
developmental disability. The officer believes the person may
hurt himself or someone else and the person needs a mental health
evaluation. The person is taken to a hospital and will receive
a psychiatric evaluation. The hold is good for up to 24 hours.
Inpatient Services:
The services you get when you are in the hospital.
Intensive Outpatient Services (IOP):
When you go to an outpatient clinic several times a week for several
hours a day and is used primarily for consumers with Chemical
Dependency issues.
Major Depression:
A period of at least 2 weeks when you experience the loss of interest
or pleasure in doing most things and have at least four of the
following: change in appetite, weight, sleep, work; decreased
energy, feelings of worthlessness or guilt; difficulty thinking,
concentrating or making decisions; or recurrent thoughts of death
or of killing yourself.
Mania:
A period that lasts at least 2 days where a consumer experiences
racing thoughts, euphoria (feeling better than “great”),
poor safety, poor judgment and wild spending. Can also include
auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, and/or delusions.
Medicaid:
A joint Federal and State program that pays for health care for
low-income people or for people eligible for other reasons.
Mental Illness:
A disease of the brain that causes unusual thoughts and emotions,
including depression, feeling like you can do anything and/or
not knowing the difference between reality and unreality.
Neuroleptic Drugs:
Sometimes called anti-psychotic or psychotropic drugs. These medicines
help with hallucinations, delusions or paranoia.
Outpatient Services:
The services you get when you are not in the hospital. You usually
go to a clinic to see your doctor, therapist or case manager.
Panic Disorder:
A stronger form of anxiety that may include sweating, heart racing,
dizziness or feeling like one is going to die. This disorder
may cause lack of sleep and paranoia to the point that the consumer
does not want to go certain places or leave his home at all.
Paranoia:
When a person feels distrustful of others. He may believe someone
is out to get him or hurt him in some way.
Partial Hospitalization:
Treatment consumers with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) receive
when not in the hospital that lasts for more than an hour and
takes place several days per week. Usually involves groups, one-on-one
counseling and education.
Poverty:
The Federal Government puts out a list of family size and income
and determines by that list if a person’s annual income falls
below a certain level.
Psychosis:
A state that causes very serious disorganized thinking and total
loss of reality. This state may cause auditory and/or visual hallucinations,
delusions, and/or paranoia and may cause a consumer to become
violent.
Psychotropic Drugs:
Medicines given to control regular symptoms of mental illness,
not psychotic symptoms.
Residential Services:
24 hour living where consumers can receive treatment, education,
groups, and skills training. Examples are: group homes or cluster
apartments.
Schizophrenia:
A mental disorder that causes a separation between the thought
processes and the emotions. Consumers may experience confusion
of reality with hallucinations and/or delusions and may become
paranoid. A change in personality with bizarre behavior may occur.
Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED):
Childhood disorders that affect the child on a daily basis, causes
problems with relationships, has difficulty concentrating and
adjusting to change. The illness is expected to last at least
12 months.
Serious Mental Illness (SMI):
An adult disorder that cannot be cured and causes difficulty with
daily living (taking care of themselves), has problems with relationships,
difficulty concentrating, and adapting to change. The illness
is expected to last at least 12 months. Examples: schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder, or major depression.
Services Provider:
Mental Health Centers or hospitals that have been approved by
the Division of Mental Health to provide mental health and/or
addiction treatment.
Sub-acute Stabilization:
A place you can stay when you leave the hospital or when you need
help but don’t need to be in the hospital. This is a place
you can become more stable until you are able to return home.
Consumers receive medication, counseling and group therapy.
Supported Employment Programs:
Help getting and keeping a job.
Treatment:
What you get when you see a doctor, therapist or case manager.
You can help develop your own treatment plan. It is a plan to
help you feel better and function better in life.