Definitions Flashcards
Delusion
an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
Ideas of Reference
seeing coincidences as having personal meaning
Thought Broadcasting
delusional belief that others can hear or are aware of an individual’s thoughts. This differs from telepathy in that the thoughts being broadcast are thought to be available to anybody.
Thought Insertion
The delusion that thoughts are being placed into one’s mind by an outside source.
Thought withdrawal
The patient believes that thoughts have been taken away from his or her mind. He or she is able to describe a subjective experience of beginning a thought and then suddenly having it removed by some alien force. This symptom does not include the mere subjective recognition of alogia.
Hallucinations
represent an abnormality in perception. They are false perceptions occurring in the absence of an identifiable external stimulus
Loosening of Associations/Derailment
Thought disorder characterized by discourse consisting of a sequence of unrelated or only remotely related ideas. The frame of reference often changes from one sentence to the next.
Tangentiality
The patient replies to a question in an oblique, tangential, or even irrelevant manner. The reply may be related to the question in some distant way, or the reply may be unrelated and seem totally irrelevant.
Incoherence (Word Salad)
“confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases” (differs from derailment in that with incoherence the abnormality occurs at the level of the sentence or clause, which contains words or phrases that are joined incoherently.)
Circumstantiality
pattern of speech that is very indirect and delayed in reaching its goal ideas. In the process of explaining something, the speaker brings in many tedious details and sometimes makes parenthetical remarks.
Distractible speech
During the course of a discussion or an interview, the patient stops talking in the middle of a sentence or idea and changes the subject in response to a nearby stimulus, such as an object on a desk, the interviewer’s clothing or appearance, and so forth.
Clanging
mode of speech characterized by association of words based upon sound rather than concepts
Stupor
lack of critical cognitive function and level of consciousness wherein a sufferer is almost entirely unresponsive and only responds to base stimuli such as pain
Waxy Flexibility
if one were to move the arm of someone with waxy flexibility, they would keep their arm where one moved it until it was moved again, as if it were made from wax
Catalepsy
Symptoms include: rigid body, rigid limbs, limbs staying in same position when moved (waxy flexibility), no response, loss of muscle control, and slowing down of bodily functions, such as breathing.
Posturing
voluntarily assumes an inappropriate or a bizarre posture. Manneristic gestures or tics also may be observed. These involve movements or gestures that appear artificial or contrived, are not appropriate to the situation, or are stereotyped and repetitive. (Patients with tardive dyskinesia may have manneristic gestures or tics, but these should not be considered manifestations of catatonia.)
Grimacing
Odd mannerisms with the body and face
Echopraxia
involuntary repetition or imitation of another person’s actions
Echolalia
involuntary repetition of sounds and language
Encopresis
Stool holding
Alogia
characterized by a lack of speech, often caused by a disruption in the thought process. Sparse reply, lack spontaneous content, often slur responses, from difficultly mentally grasping the right words
Poverty of speech
restricted amount of spontaneous speech, so that replies to questions tend to be brief, concrete, and unelaborated. Unprompted additional information is rarely provided.
Poverty of Content
Speech that lacks meaning, or where speech quantity is far greater than necessary for the message conveyed.
Thought Blocking
person’s speech is suddenly interrupted by silences that may last a few seconds to a minute or longer.
Perseveration
repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder
Avolition
psychological state characterized by general lack of drive, or motivation to pursue meaningful goals. A person may show little participation in work or have little interest in socializing. They may sit still for long periods of time
Anergia
abnormal lack of energy (can be component of avolition)
Anhedonia
inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, e.g. exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions. Recent models have highlighted the need to consider different aspects of enjoyable behavior, such as motivation or desire to engage in an activity (“motivational anhedonia”), as compared to the level of enjoyment of the activity itself (“consummatory anhedonia”)
Grandiosity
unrealistic sense of superiority—a sustained view of oneself as better than others that causes the narcissist to view others with disdain or as inferior—as well as to a sense of uniqueness: the belief that few others have anything in common with oneself and that one can only be understood by a few or very special people
Flight of Ideas
excessive speech at a rapid rate that involves fragmented or unrelated ideas. Common in mania.
Dysphoria
a state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life.
Obsessions
inability of a person to stop thinking about a particular topic or feeling a certain emotion without a high amount of anxiety
Compulsions
performing an act persistently and repetitively without it leading to an actual reward or pleasure.[1] Compulsive behaviors could be an attempt to make obsessions go away. usually a small, restricted and repetitive behavior, yet not disturbing in a pathological way
Psychomotor agitation
series of unintentional and purposeless motions that stem from mental tension and anxiety of an individual.
Psychomotor retardation
involves a slowing-down of thought and a reduction of physical movements in an individual. Psychomotor retardation can cause a visible slowing of physical and emotional reactions, including speech and affect
Insomnia/Hypersomnia
difficulty falling or staying asleep; excessive daytime sleepiness
Melancholia
state of low mood (historical name for major depressive disorder)
Mania
abnormally elevated arousal energy level. Elevated irritability is common along with behavior that seems on the surface to be the opposite of depression. extreme energy, racing thoughts, and forced speech. (Single manic episode sufficient to diagnose bipolar I)
Hypomania
Hypomania is a lowered state of mania that does little to impair function or decrease quality of life.[8] In hypomania, there is less need for sleep and both goal-motivated behaviour and metabolism increase. Though the elevated mood and energy level typical of hypomania could be seen as a benefit, mania itself generally has many undesirable consequences including suicidal tendencies. (Indicative of Bipolar II or cyclothymia)
Pressured Speech
speech at an accelerated or frenetic pace that conveys urgency seemingly inappropriate to the situation. It is often difficult for listeners to interrupt pressured speech, and the speech may be too rapid to understand.
Atypical Depression
depression that shares many of the typical symptoms of the psychiatric syndromes major depression or dysthymia but is characterized by improved mood in response to positive events.
Agoraphobia
anxiety in situations where the sufferer perceives certain environments as dangerous or uncomfortable, often due to the environment’s vast openness or crowdedness
Dissociation
wide array of experiences from mild detachment from immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and emotional experience. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a loss of reality as in psychosis
Depersonalization
anomaly of self-awareness. consists of a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation.
Derealization
alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems unreal. Other symptoms include feeling as though one’s environment is lacking in spontaneity, emotional coloring and depth (Derealization is a subjective experience of unreality of the outside world, while depersonalization is unreality in one’s sense of self)
Persecutory Delusion
delusional condition in which the affected person believes they are being persecuted. Specifically, they have been defined as containing two central elements: 1) The individual thinks that harm is occurring, or is going to occur. 2) The individual thinks that the perceived persecutor has the intention to cause harm.
Somatic Delusion
fixed, false belief that one’s bodily functioning, sensation, or appearance is grossly abnormal. The somatic delusion has to do with thinking that your body is diseased in some way
Affective Flattening/Blunting
Unchanging facial expression, decreased spontaneous movements, lack of gestures, poor eye contact, affective non-responsivity, lack of vocal inflections
