Mental Status Definitions

Question 1

Akathisia

Answer 1

inner restlessness with inability to stay still

Question 2

Alogia

Answer 2

Cat got your tonGue

Inability to speak

Question 3

Anhedonia

Answer 3

Little interest or pleasure in things one used to once enjoy

Question 4

Automatism

Answer 4

spontaneous verbal or motor behavior without patient awareness

Question 5

Catatonia

Answer 5

extreme motor inactivity or hyperactivity

Question 6

Choreoathetosis

Answer 6

Involuntary combination of chorea (irregular migrating contractions) and athetosis (twisting/writhing)

Question 7

Dystonia

Answer 7

twisting/repretitive movement or abnormal fixed posturing

Question 8

Tremor

Answer 8

unintentional, rhythmic, oscillatory movement

Question 9

Euthymic

Answer 9

normal display of emotion

Question 10

Hyperthymic

Answer 10

intense display of emotion

Question 11

Euphoric

Answer 11

in an excited state of intense happiness

Question 12

Dysphoric

Answer 12

in a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction

Question 13

Quality/Range: Depth and Range of feelings shown

Answer 13

Intense>Full>Constricted>Blunted>Flat

Question 14

Labile

Answer 14

unpredictable shift in emotional state

Question 15

Motility: Shifting of emotional states

Answer 15

Labile>Supple/Stable>Sluggish

Question 16

Dysarthria

Answer 16

a mechanical dysfunction with speech

Question 17

Echolalia

Answer 17

meaningless repetition of another person’s spoken words

Question 18

Neologism

Answer 18

making up of new words

Question 19

Clang associations

Answer 19

grouping of words (usually rhyming), based on similar sounding words, regardless of logical grouping

Question 20

Goal-directed/logical thinking

Answer 20

linear progression of thought without veering from subject at hand

Question 21

Circumstantial thinking

Answer 21

inability to answer a question without giving excessive, unnecessary detail; does eventually return to the original point

Question 22

Tangential thinking

Answer 22

wandering from the topic and never returning to it or providing the information requested

Question 23

Loosening of associations (thinking)

Answer 23

incoherent slippage of ideas further and further from point of discussion

Question 24

Flight of ideas (thinking)

Answer 24

rapid shift from one topic to another

Question 25

Thought blocking

Answer 25

abrupt cessation of speech without explanation in the middle of a sentence

Question 26

Somatic delusion

Answer 26

delusion that one’s bodily function, sensation or appearance is abnormal

Question 27

Delusion of grandeur

Answer 27

delusion of possessing superior qualities such as fame, wealth, or supernatural powers

Question 28

Paranoid delusion

Answer 28

delusion of mistreatment, usually persecution

Question 29

Delusion of reference

Answer 29

delusion where an otherwise significant event is misconstrued as having special significance specifically to oneself

Question 30

Delusion of thought insertion

Answer 30

delusion where one believes one’s thoughts to be externally placed from an outside party

Question 31

Delusion of thought broadcasting

Answer 31

delusion where one’s thoughts are made known to everyone in the outside world

Question 32

Erotomanic delusion

Answer 32

delusion where one believe that prominent figures or superstars are in love with or in a relationship with oneself

Question 33

Nihilistic delusion

Answer 33

delusion where one believes that nothing is real

Question 34

Depersonalization

Answer 34

loss of sense of identity, wherein one’s thoughts and feelings are no longer felt to be one’s own

Question 35

Derealization

Answer 35

a change in the perception or experience of the external world to where it feels unrealistic

Question 36

Illusion

Answer 36

a misinterpretation of existing stimuli

Question 37

Hallucination

Answer 37

a perception perceived in the absence of any existing stimuli

Question 38

Hypnagogic hallucination

Answer 38

a hallucination experienced before falling asleep

Question 39

Hypnopompic hallucination

Answer 39

a hallucination experienced upon waking up from sleep

Question 40

Compulsion

Answer 40

repetitive behavior or mental acts in response to obsessions