Medical disclaimer.

What Shrinkopedia is and isn't, and why that distinction matters in mental health.

Reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA · Updated June 23, 2026

The short version.

Shrinkopedia is an independent reference publication about mental health. It's an educational resource. It isn't a clinic, isn't a therapy app, isn't a substitute for an evaluation with a licensed clinician, and doesn't establish any kind of clinician patient relationship with anyone who reads it.

If you have questions about your own diagnosis, your own symptoms, your own treatment, your own medication, or whether to start, stop, or change anything about your care, those questions belong with a licensed clinician who knows your specific situation. The information here can help you ask better questions. It can't replace the answer.

What Shrinkopedia is.

A reference site. Each entry explains one topic carefully, with named sources, a quick view at the top, the deeper explanation below, common questions, and related entries. We cover conditions (diagnoses you'd see in a clinical setting), symptoms (the experiences inside those diagnoses), treatments (what works and the evidence behind it), and terms (the vocabulary you'll run into across mental health).

Every clinical entry is medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, a board certified psychiatrist, before publication. The reviewer's name, credentials, and review date are on every entry. The full editorial process is at Editorial Standards. The evidence framework is at Evidence Methodology. Corrections are at Corrections.

The site is part of the Shrink Network. AnxietyResource and DepressionResource cover the practical layer for those conditions. PsychiatryRx covers the medication layer. shrinkMD is the telepsychiatry option. We cover the clinical encyclopedia layer.

What Shrinkopedia isn't.

Not a clinic. Reading an entry on Shrinkopedia doesn't get you a diagnosis, a treatment plan, a prescription, a therapy referral that's tailored to you, or any other clinical service. We can't see you, can't review your full history, can't take into account your medical conditions, and can't follow up to see how things go.

Not a therapy app. We don't deliver care. We don't conduct evaluations. We don't issue clinical recommendations for any individual. If a clinical decision needs to be made for you, that decision involves a licensed clinician who knows you.

Not a doctor patient relationship. Reading this site doesn't create a relationship between you and Shariq Refai, the editorial team, shrinkMD Publishing, or any provider mentioned in any entry. We can't respond to personal clinical questions by email, message, or comment.

Not a substitute for emergency care. If you're having a mental health emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. If you're thinking about suicide or self harm, call or text 988. The full crisis routing is on the Crisis Resources page.

Why this matters in mental health.

Mental health diagnosis is high stakes and frequently nonintuitive. Two people with very similar symptoms can have different conditions that respond to different treatments. Major depression and bipolar depression look identical from the outside but require different first line treatments; getting the diagnosis wrong has real consequences. OCD frequently gets misdiagnosed as generic anxiety; the treatments are different. PTSD often presents as depression or panic; trauma focused care matters in ways that generic care doesn't reach. Anxiety can mask an underlying medical condition. So can fatigue. So can low mood. So can brain fog.

Treatment response also varies substantially between people. The same SSRI that helps one person can do little for another. The same therapy approach that works for one trauma survivor can be the wrong fit for another. Severity matters in how a treatment is sequenced. Co occurring conditions change what's appropriate. Pregnancy changes what's safe. Age changes what's tolerated. Past treatment history changes what to try next.

What that adds up to: reading a description of a condition or a treatment isn't the same as being assessed for it. The clinician you work with knows your history, can ask the follow up questions that an entry can't ask, and can see the parts of your situation we have no way to see. The site is for understanding. The diagnosis and the treatment plan are between you and your clinician.

Changes to mental health treatment without supervision can cause harm. Stopping medication suddenly can produce discontinuation effects and rebound symptoms. Self diagnosing can delay the right diagnosis. Reading severe symptom descriptions without context can intensify a person's distress. We're saying that explicitly because we think the message matters more than worrying about repetition. If you read something here and it raises a question about your own situation, the answer to that question is: bring the question to a licensed clinician.

What we hope this site does for you.

Helps you understand the concepts. Helps you name what you might be experiencing without forcing the name. Helps you read a clinical note or discharge summary and make sense of it. Helps you walk into a clinical visit with better questions than you walked in with last time. Helps you understand what's well established and what isn't, what the evidence says, and where the open questions are.

Helps you talk to a family member, a partner, or a friend about what they're going through. The site is for understanding. Treatment is between you and your clinician.

Limitation of liability.

Shrinkopedia is published by shrinkMD Publishing. The content is provided as a general educational reference. While we work to keep it accurate, current, and clearly written, we don't warrant that any specific entry is complete, error free, or current for every individual situation. Mental health science evolves. Evidence updates. We update entries on a rolling schedule and log substantive corrections at Corrections, but we can't guarantee that any given entry reflects the latest published research at the moment you read it.

By using this site, you acknowledge that Shrinkopedia, shrinkMD Publishing, Shariq Refai, the editorial team, and any contributors aren't responsible for outcomes that result from acting on information without consulting a licensed clinician. We don't accept responsibility for diagnostic or treatment decisions made based on this site without the involvement of a qualified clinician who knows your situation.

Nothing on this site is an offer of care, a clinical recommendation for any specific person, or an endorsement of any specific provider for any specific situation. References to specific treatments, medications, or providers are educational. The full disclosure of financial relationships, if any exist, is at Disclosures.

Updates to this disclaimer.

We update this page when editorial standards, the legal landscape, or the structure of the site changes. The most recent update date is at the top of this page. Substantive updates are logged at Corrections.

Contact.

For editorial questions or factual corrections, email [email protected] with the entry URL and the specific concern. We process substantive corrections within seven days and log them at Corrections.

We can't respond to personal clinical questions by email. If you need a clinical evaluation, the Start Here page routes you to options including shrinkMD plus broader telepsychiatry and in person care.