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S

Saccadic eye movement - A rapid movement of the eyes from one point of fixation to another.

Sadism - Sexual pleasure obtained by inflicting pain on another.

Schizo-affective disorder - A disorder that includes a mixture of schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Schizoid - Socially isolated, withdrawn, having few friends and social relationships, resembling the personality features of schizophrenia, but in a less severe form; no loss of touch with reality.

Schizoid personality disorder - Personality disorder characterized by a serious defect in interpersonal relationships, such as shyness, oversensitivity, seclusiveness, lack of warmth, and indifference to the feelings of others.

Schizophrenia - A mental disorder lasting for at least 6 months, including at least 1 month with two or more active-phase symptoms. Active-phase symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior. Schizophrenia is accompanied by marked impairment in social or occupational functioning.

Schizotypal personality disorder - A personality disorder is a personality disorder that is characterized by a need for social isolation, odd behavior and thinking, and often unconventional beliefs such as being convinced of having extra sensory abilities. Some people believe that schizotypal personality disorder is a mild form of schizophrenia.

SDAs - See Atypical Antipsychotics

Seclusion - A process to maximize safety to a client and others by which a client is placed alone in a specially designed room for protection and close observation.

Secondary cause - Factor which contributes to a mental illness but which in and of itself would not have produce it, as distinct from the Primary Cause.

Secondary gain - Those advantages a person realizes from whatever symptoms he or she employs. Indirect benefit from symptoms. The external gain derived from any illness, such as personal attention and service, monetary gains, disability benefits, and release from unpleasant responsibilities.

Secondary prevention - Preventive techniques focusing on early detection and correction of maladaptive patterns within context of individual’s present life situation.

Sedative - Drug used to reduce tension and induce relaxation and sleep.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - Antidepressants that block the reuptake of serotonin, permitting serotonin to act for an extended period at the synaptic binding sites in the brain.

Self-actualization - Fulfillment of one’s potentials as a human being.

Self-concept - The individual’s sense of his or her own identity, worth, capabilities and limitations.

Self-deprecatory delusion - False belief that one is sinful/ ugly/emitting bad odor/ or will be punished because of unforgivable act.

Self-devaluation - Lowered feelings of worth and self-esteem.

Self-esteem - Feeling of personal worth.

Self-fulfillment - Living a meaningful, actualizing and fulfilling life.

Self-help group - An group of people who share similar problems who meet to receive peer support and encouragement and work together using their strengths to gain control over their lives.

Self-ideal - The person or “self” the individual thinks he or she could and should be.

Self-identity - Individual’s delineation and awareness of his or her continuing identity as a person.

Self-monitor - To observe and record one’s own behavior.

Self-mutilation - The act of self-induced pain or injury without the intent to kill oneself.

Self-recrimination - Self-condemnation and blame.

Self-worth - The individual’s evaluation of himself or herself.

Sensory awareness - Openness to new ways of experiencing and feeling.

Sensory deprivation - Restriction of sensory stimulation below the level required for normal functioning of the central nervous system.

Separation anxiety - Intense fear experienced when an individual is separated from someone on whom he or she feels dependent.

Sequelae - Symptoms remaining as the aftermath of a disorder.

Serotonin - Neurotransmitter that relays impulses between nerve cells (neurons) in the central nervous system. Functions thought to be regulated by nerve cells that utilize serotonin include mood and behavior, physical coordination, appetite, body temperature, and sleep. It is widely studied in affective disorders and substance abuse. Is believed to play an important part of the biochemistry of depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. A lack of it may lead to depression. Also known as 5-HT.

Serotonin-Dopamine Antagonists (SDAs) - See Atypical Antipsychotics

Sexual deviate - Individual who manifests nonconforming sexual behavior, often of a pathological nature.

Sexual dysfunction - Inability or impaired ability to experience or give sexual gratification.

Shock - Transient personality decompensation in the face of sudden acute stress.

Sick role - An identity adopted by an individual as a "patient" that specifies a set of expected behaviors, usually dependent.

Simple phobia - Fear of discrete objects or situations.

Social adaptation - The ability to live and express oneself according to society's restrictions and cultural demands.

Social introversion - A trait characterized by shy, withdrawn, and inhibited behavior.

Social phobias - These include phobias related to social situations: fear of eating in front of others, fear of public speaking.

Social self - The façade the individual displays to others as contrasted with the private self.

Social skills training - Training that utilizes guidance, demonstration, practice and feedback to enhance a client’s ability to live in the community.

Social support - Assistance to an individual offered by the community (companionship, material aid, special services, etc.).

Social worker - Person in mental health field with a master’s degree in social work plus supervised training in clinical or social service agencies.

Socialization - The process by which a person acquires the values and impulse controls deemed appropriate by his or her culture.

Socio-cultural - Pertaining to broad social conditions that influence the development and/or behavior of individuals and groups.

Socioeconomic status - Position on social and economic scale in community; determined largely by income and occupational level.

Somatic - Pertaining to the body.

Somatic delusion - A delusion whose main content pertains to the appearance or functioning of one's body.

Somatic hallucination - A hallucination involving the perception of a physical experience localized within the body (such as a feeling of electricity). A somatic hallucination is to be distinguished from physical sensations arising from an as-yet undiagnosed general medical condition, from hypochondriacal preoccupation with normal physical sensations, and from a tactile hallucination.

Somatic nervous system - The nervous system that controls the skin and the muscles.

Somatic passivity - Delusional belief that one is a passive recipient of bodily sensations from an external agency.

Somatic therapy - Treatment that involves manipulations of the body, such as the use of medications or electroconvulsive therapy.

Somatization - The expression of psychological stress through physical symptoms.

Somnambulism - Sleepwalking

Somnolence - State of drowsiness from which one can be woken.

Splitting - A defense mechanism in which persons see themselves or others as all good or al bad, without integrating the positive and negative qualities of self and others into a whole. Often the person alternately idealizes and devalues the same person.

Spontaneous recovery - Recovery from mental illness without treatment or with minimal treatment.

Stakeholders - Entities such as agencies, groups and individuals, that are affected by an contribute to decisions, consultations and policies.

Stammering  - Flow of speech is broken by pauses and the repetition of parts of words.

Statutory rape - Sexual intercourse with a minor.

Stereotyped behaviors - Motor patterns that originally had meaning to the person but now have become totally mechanical and devoid of meaning.

Stereotyped movements - Repetitive, seemingly driven, and nonfunctional motor behavior (e.g., hand shaking or waving, body rocking, head banging, mouthing of objects, self-biting, picking at skin or body orifices, hitting one's own body).

Stimulants  - Drugs that tend to increase feelings of alertness, reduce feelings of fatigue, and enable individual to stay awake over sustained periods of time.

Stress tolerance - Nature, degree, and duration of stress that an individual can tolerate without undergoing serious personality decompensation.

Stupor - Condition of lethargy and unresponsiveness, with partial or complete unconsciousness. The person is immobile, mute, and unresponsive, but appears to be fully conscious because the eyes are open and follow the movement of external objects. The person may sit motionless for long periods of time.

Stuttering - Speech disorder characterized by blocking or repetition of initial sounds of words.

Substance use disorder - Patterns of maladaptive behavior centered involving drug or alcohol consumption.

Substitution - Acceptance of substitute goals or satisfactions in place of those originally sought after or desired.

Suggestibility - Uncritical compliance or acceptance of an idea, belief, or attribute.

Suicidal act (attempt) - Any willful, self-inflicted, life-threatening attempt that has not led to death.

Suicidal behavior - A range of activities related to thoughts and behaviors that include suicidal thinking, suicide attempts, and completed suicide.

Suicidal ideation - Thoughts a person has regarding killing him- or herself.

Suicidality - A term that encompasses thoughts, ideation, plans, suicide attempts, and completed suicide.

Suicide - The ultimate act of self-destruction in which a person purposefully ends his or her own life.

Suicide attempt survivors - Individuals who have survived a prior suicide attempt.

Suicide gesture - A suicide attempt that is planned to be discovered and is make for the purpose of influencing or manipulation others.

Suicide survivors - Family members who have experienced the  loss of a loved one due to suicide. (Term often gets confused with suicide attempt survivors – see above).

Suicidology - The study of the causes and prevention of suicide.

Superego - That part of the personality structure associated with ethics, standards, and self-criticism. It is formed by identification with important and esteemed persons in early life, particularly parents. The supposed or actual wishes of these significant persons are taken over as part of the child's own standards to help form the conscience.

Support group - Group that help people during stressful periods.

Suppression - Conscious forcing of desires or thoughts out of consciousness; conscious inhibition of desires or impulses.

Surrogate - Substitute parent, child, or mate.

Sympathetic nervous system - Division of the nervous system that is active in emergency conditions of extreme cold, violent effort, and motions.

Symptom - An observable manifestation of a disorder.

Synapse - The gap between the membrane of one nerve cell and the membrane of another nerve cell.

Synapse - The junction between two nerve cells.

Syncope - Temporary loss of consciousness resulting from lack of oxygen to the brain.

Syndrome - Group or pattern of symptoms that occur together in a disorder and represent the typical picture of the disorder.

Synesthesia - A phenomenon experienced by people on hallucinogenic drugs. For example, hearing colors and seeing sounds.

Systematic desensitization - A behavior therapy procedure widely used to modify behaviors associated with phobias. The procedure involves the construction of a hierarchy of anxiety-producing stimuli by the subject, and gradual presentation of the stimuli until they no longer produce anxiety.

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