Anxiety:
A vague uncomfortable feeling experienced but whose cause is unknown.

Autistic children:
Children diagnosed with disorder of living in their own imaginary world having losttouch with reality.

Awareness programme:
A progarmme aimed at spreading awareness/information removal of misconceptions and myths about mental disorders and their management.

Biochemical imbalance:
A loss of balance in the chemical substances found in the brain cells, causing treatable mental disorders.

Biological cause:
Cause for a mental health is of physical/physiological (not psychogical) nature.

Body language:
Non-verbal expression of feelings through one's body postures, movements, facial expressions, gestures etc.

Caregiver:
Any one who undertakes caring and supporting of a person with mental disorder.

Chest pressure:
Feeling of heaviness in chest area.

Client:
Term interchangeable with patient, counselee, consumer etc.

Commenting:
Making suggestions of other tools applicable to the experience shared by a support group member.

Compulsion:
An uncontrollable urge to perform some action or behaviour.

Confidentiality:
Keeping matters secret, protected from unconcerned individuals.

Coping technique:
Any effort aimed at dealing effectively with the demanding situation arising from mental disturbance.

Counsellor:
Some one who is qualified or has expertise of dealing with human nature.

Delusion:
Another symptom of mental disorder wherein a strongly held belief cannot be convinced to be changed.

Depression:
Low feeling and mood associated with worrying, a form of mental disorder, requiring medication and/or counseling.

Diabetes:
A physical disorder marked by excessive urination, persistent thirst and excess release of sugar in blood or urine.

Dizziness:
Head feeling light or spinning

Ekalavya:
A character from the Indian epic, Mahabharat, who is considered e role model of self-help. This name was a adopted by SM for it's support groups for shubhankars and shubharthis.

Empathy:
Being able to imaginatively experience what another person is going through, without feeling pity.

Endorsement:
Encouraging, complimenting.

Enlightened professional:
A qualified practitioner with an open mind to experiment and with a holistic view of therapeutic intervention.

Escapist:
A person who runs away or avoids facing a difficult situation or from trouble some thoughts.

Facilitator:
A trained person in a support group who ensures right environment prevails, making every one feel a part of the peer group.

Hallucinations:
When a person with mental disorder sees/hears/senses things which others don't. It is one of the main symptoms in the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Health care provider:
Any person, professional or otherwise, who provides therapeutic services.

Holistic approach:
An all encompassing, all-round, open-minded approach.

Hypertension:
A physical disorder in whish blood-pressure remains abnormally high.

Isolation:
Withdrawing or excluding one self from the family or society, preferring to remain alone.

Lethargy:
Feeling of laziness, caused psychologically or owing to medication.

Manifestation:
Making an appearance.

Marathi:
Local language spoken in the state of Maharashtra, India.

Hindi:
National language, understood by majority of the Indians.

Nervous symptom:
Feeling associated with being nervous like shakiness, uneasiness, heart beating fast etc.

NGO:
A non-government organization, run on charitable lines with specific focus on social issue, e.g. mental health, ground water, conservation etc.

Non-judgmental environment:
A place where persons accept each other for what they are without passing any judgment. A supportive atmosphere.

Numbness:
Loss of any kind of sensation.

Obsession:
Unavoidable thought or idea which torments a person as he cannot get rid of it despite trying.

Palpitation:
Heart beating extremely fast, more on account of psychological cause

Phobia:
Irrational fear about certain thing which a person is enable overcome. The fear is mostly associated with nervous symptoms.

Prerogative:
A privilege or right reserved exclusively based on one's rank, stature etc.

Professional:
A person engaged in one of the learned professions of psychology, psychiatry, social work etc.

Psychiatrist: A specialist doctor who treats persons with mental disorders.

Psychologist:
A professional with a degree in psychology and who provides counseling and other mental health related services.

Recovery language:
Specific words and terms suggested by Dr. Low, founder of the Recovery method and Recovery Inc. USA.

Recovery literature:
Information, books, write-ups, web-site available from Recovery Inc. USA, founder by Dr. Low who pioneered group psychotherapy for persons with mental disorders and nervous symptoms.

Relapse: Recurrence of illness.

SAAthi: A volunteer from the SM family. Word of Indian origin, meaning companion, a friend-in need.

Safe place: A place where one feels secure to share personal problems.

Self-esteem: Sense of self-worth, rating oneself and feeling better.

Shortness of breath: Inability to breathe easily and comfortably.

SHSG:
Self-Help Support Group, a group of the persons, for the persons and by the persons with identified common challenge, come together for mutual support.

Shubhankar:
A Sanskrit term used in SM circles to refer to caregiver-literal meaning: A person who is dedicated to others' welfare.

Shubharthi:
A Sanskrit term used in SM circle to refer to a person with mental disorder-literal meaning: seeker of well-being.

Socialization: Urge to interact with other persons

Spotting:
A technique of recalling at the time of a disturbing event the tools devised by Dr. Low at the appropriate time.

Stigma:
A sense of disgrace, shame, dishonour with diagnosis of mental disorder.

Stress:
A feeling that one is unable to meet the demands made by the situation.

Structured format:
A systematic and fixed method used by shubharthi to share a disturbing event. This is uniformly followed anywhere in the Recovery group meeting.

Subscription:
A payment made for product or services for a given period of time; in the support group context it represents payment made to defray cost of organizing group activities.

Therapy:
An intervention used by a professional to help promote recovery in a patient.

Tools:
Meaningful phrases or sentences devised by Dr. Low.

Trauma:
A highly disturbing/distressing event that at times requires professional help for relief.

Trivial issue:
Miner matters of no consequence.

Trusteeship:
Managements of funds or property entrusted to specially appointed members as per the wishes