Mental Health Terms

Question 1

MSE

Answer 1

Mental Status Exam

Question 2

MMSE

Answer 2

Mini Mental Status Exam

Question 3

AMS

Answer 3

Altered mental status

Question 4

PHQ-9

Answer 4

Patient Health Questionnaire

Question 5

DSM

Answer 5

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (for mental health disorders)

Question 6

MDD

Answer 6

Major depressive disorder

Question 7

PTSD

Answer 7

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Question 8

GAD

Answer 8

Generalized anxiety disorder

Question 9

NOS

Answer 9

Not otherwise specified

Question 10

PMDD

Answer 10

Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder

Question 11

Someone who takes a long time to come to the point (but the side topics do relate to the main topic)

Answer 11

Circumstantiality

Question 12

Speech where person shifts from topic to topic, but the subject matter is very loosely tied or not at all tied to each other. Occurs between sentences.

Answer 12

Derailment

Question 13

Rapid movements of thought and speech often with changes in subject. The changes can be based on understandable associations based on associations or distractions but do not create a coherent conversation. Often pronounced in manic patients.

Answer 13

Flight of ideas

Question 14

Making up new words or distorting words so that they sound almost unrecognizable.

Answer 14

Neologism

Question 15

A random collection of words like they were thrown in a bowl and mixed. Common in schizophrenia.

Answer 15

Word salad

Question 16

Sudden stop in speech without making the point. “losing train of thought.” Common in schizophrenia.

Answer 16

Word blocking

Question 17

Making up or fabricating facts in response to questioning. Usually done to cover up deficits in memory.

Answer 17

Confabulation

Question 18

Persistance repetition of words or ideas.

Answer 18

Perseveration.

Question 19

The act of being a copy cat and repeating everything another person says. Happens in schizophrenia and mania.

Answer 19

Echolalia

Question 20

The choice of words based upon a repeated sound

Answer 20

Clanging

Question 21

Acts or behaviors that a person feels compelled to perform, often to release fear or anxiety.

Answer 21

Compulsions

Question 22

Repeating thoughts or impulses that a person feels is unacceptable

Answer 22

Obsessions

Question 23

An irrational fear accompanied by an avoidance of the thing that causes the fear.

Answer 23

phobia

Question 24

When a person feels that they have changed, are not themselves, or are outside of their own body.

Answer 24

Depersonalization

Question 25

False personal beliefs that are not shared with others and are not amenable to change

Answer 25

Delusions

Question 26

What category do illusions and hallucinations fall under?

Answer 26

Perceptions

Question 27

What is the difference between an illusion and a hallucination?

Answer 27

Illusion is an incorrect interpretation of existing external stimuli, while there is no external stimuli in a hallucination. Hallucinations can occur with any sense, although visual and audio are most common.