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Mental health abbreviations and acronyms, decoded (free PDF)
What the short forms mean. SSRI, CBT, PTSD, DSM, and the rest, spelled out.
What's inside
An alphabetical list of the abbreviations and acronyms you run into in mental health, each spelled out with its full name and a short plain-English definition.
Who it's for
Anyone staring at letters they don't recognize on a chart, a prescription, or an after-visit summary, plus students who need the short forms straight.
Questions
Which abbreviations does it cover?
It pulls the acronyms and short forms used across Shrinktionary, things like SSRI, SNRI, CBT, DBT, OCD, PTSD, ADHD, DSM, and PRN, and spells each one out.
Why do abbreviations matter?
Charts, prescriptions, and visit summaries are full of short forms. Knowing what they stand for helps you follow your own care and ask better questions.
Who wrote and reviewed this?
It comes from Shrinktionary, written and medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, FAPA, a board certified psychiatrist. Dr. Refai founded shrinkMD, the clinical arm of The Shrink Network, and we mention that in the spirit of full disclosure. It's education, not medical advice.
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