
Psychology Search Terms
In a straightforward basic search simply type in the name of the psychological condition you plan to research:
- schizophrenia
- bipolar disorder
- anxiety
- addiction
- personality disorder
Some words, like "depression" can refer to a person's mental health or to the Great Depression, the economic period of the 1930s. In that case you can clarify your search by adding the term "mental health."
- depression and mental health
You can further clarify a condition like a specific anxiety disorder by also adding words:
- social anxiety
- generalized anxiety disorder
You can try to search for terms in initials /or the longer form:
- PTSD
- post-traumatic stress disorder
- OCD
- obsessive-compulsive disorder
Sometimes you can try two terms that mean the same thing:
You can try a combination of terms:
- depression and anxiety
- narcissistic personality disorder
- borderline personality disorder
Combining multiple search terms in a single search string is a type of advanced search that saves time.
For example, instead of doing two searches, one for "narcissistic personality disorder" and a second one for "borderline personality disorder" you can find information for both by setting up this advanced search string:
- (narcissistic OR borderline) personality disorder
In this search string you are telling the database to bring back articles about either narcissistic OR borderline personality disorders. As you skim the results you can compare them to see similarities or differences and make a decision about which to pursue further or it you would like to research both.