Definitions for Mental Health Assessment

Question 1

Abstract thinking

Answer 1

ability to make associations or interpretations about a situation

Question 2

Affect

Answer 2

outward expression of one’s emotional state

Question 3

automatisms

Answer 3

repeated purposeful behaviors often indicative of anxiety, such as drumming fingers, twisting locks of hair, or tapping foot

Question 4

blunted affect

Answer 4

showing little or slow-to-respond facial expressions

Question 5

broad affect

Answer 5

displaying a full range of emotional expressions

Question 6

circumstantial thinking

Answer 6

person eventually gets to the answer

Question 7

concrete thinking

Answer 7

literal way of thinking

Question 8

delusion

Answer 8

fixed, false belief not based on reality

Question 9

flat affect

Answer 9

showing no facial expression

Question 10

flight of ideas

Answer 10

excessive amount and rate of speech composed of fragmented or unrelated ideas

Question 11

ideas of reference

Answer 11

client’s inaccurate interpretation that general events are personally directed at them, such as hearing a speech on the news and believing the speech had personal meaning

Question 12

inappropriate affect

Answer 12

displaying facial expression that is incongruent with mood or situation; often silly or giddy

Question 13

insight

Answer 13

awareness of one’s own illness and/or situation

Question 14

judgement

Answer 14

the ability to anticipate the consequences of one’s behavior and make decisions to safeguard one’s well-being and that of others

Question 15

labile

Answer 15

rapid mood swings from depressed to euphoria with no apparent stimuli

Question 16

mood

Answer 16

client’s emotional state

Question 17

neologisms

Answer 17

made up words

Question 18

psychomotor retardation

Answer 18

overall slowed movements

Question 19

restricted affect

Answer 19

displaying one type of emotional expression, usually serious or somber

Question 20

self-concept

Answer 20

the way one views oneself

Question 21

tangential thinking

Answer 21

wandering off the topic and never providing the information requested

Question 22

thought blocking

Answer 22

stopping abruptly in the middle of a sentence or train of thought; sometimes unable to continue the idea

Question 23

thought broadcasting

Answer 23

a delusional belief that others can hear or know what the client is thinking

Question 24

thought content

Answer 24

What the client actually says

Question 25

thought insertion

Answer 25

a delusional belief that others are putting ideas or thoughts into the client’s head—that is, the ideas are not those of the client

Question 26

thought process

Answer 26

How the client thinks

Question 27

thought withdrawal

Answer 27

a delusional belief that others are taking the client’s thoughts away and the client is powerless to stop it

Question 28

waxy flexibility

Answer 28

maintenance of posture or position over time when it is awkward or uncomfortable

Question 29

echolalia

Answer 29

repetition or echoing of words or sounds that you hear someone else say

Question 30

echopraxia

Answer 30

meaningless repetition or imitation of the movements of others

Question 31

mutism

Answer 31

inability to speak

Question 32

hallucination

Answer 32

false sensory perceptions or perceptual experiences that do not really exist

Question 33

persecutory delusion

Answer 33

A person with persecutory delusions is unable to recognize reality. They strongly believe people or groups, like the government, intend to harm them. These beliefs are often unrealistic or bizarre.

Question 34

word salad

Answer 34

a confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases

Question 35

religiosity

Answer 35

refers to religious activity, dedication, and beliefs. Religious themes are often reported in the content of delusions and hallucinations experienced by people with schizophrenia.

Question 36

associative looseness

Answer 36

A thought or communication pattern disorder characterized by loose or odd connections between ideas.

Question 37

paranoia

Answer 37

suspicion and mistrust of people or their actions without evidence or justification

Question 38

magical thinking

Answer 38

the idea that you can influence the outcome of specific events by doing something that has no bearing on the circumstances

Question 39

clang association

Answer 39

groupings of words, usually rhyming words, that are based on similar-sounding sounds, even though the words themselves don’t have any logical reason to be grouped together.

Question 40

regression

Answer 40

returning to a former less developed state

Question 41

euphoric

Answer 41

excessively happy

Question 42

kneels to pray in front of water fountain; prays during group therapy and during other group activities

Answer 42

religiosity

Question 43

refuses to eat food that comes on tray stating, “They are trying to poison me”

Answer 43

Paranoia

Question 44

“when I get out of the hospital I’m going to buy me a sprongle”

Answer 44

Neologism

Question 45

Does not talk

Answer 45

Mutism

Question 46

Keeps arm in position the nurse left it after taking blood pressure. Assumed this position for hours.

Answer 46

Waxy Flexibility

Question 47

“When I speak, presidents and kings listen”

Answer 47

Delusion of grandeur

Question 48

purposely imitates movements made by others

Answer 48

echopraxia

Question 49

“I’m going to the circus. Jesus is God. The police are playing for keeps”

Answer 49

associative looseness

Question 50

“We can’t close the drapes, for if we do, the sun won’t shine”

Answer 50

magical thinking

Question 51

“test, test, this is a test. I do not jest; we get no rest”

Answer 51

clang association

Question 52

laughs when told his or her mother has died

Answer 52

inappropriate affect

Question 53

in response to stressful situation, begins to suck thumb and soils clothing

Answer 53

regression

Question 54

“get by for anyone just to answer fortune cookies”

Answer 54

word salad

Question 55

“If the FBI finds me here, Ill never get out alive”

Answer 55

persecutory delusion

Question 56

stops talking midsentence, tilts head to side, and listens”

Answer 56

hallucination