Mental Status Definitions Flashcards
Akathisia
inner restlessness with inability to stay still
Alogia
Cat got your tonGue
Inability to speak
Anhedonia
Little interest or pleasure in things one used to once enjoy
Automatism
spontaneous verbal or motor behavior without patient awareness
Catatonia
extreme motor inactivity or hyperactivity
Choreoathetosis
Involuntary combination of chorea (irregular migrating contractions) and athetosis (twisting/writhing)
Dystonia
twisting/repretitive movement or abnormal fixed posturing
Tremor
unintentional, rhythmic, oscillatory movement
Euthymic
normal display of emotion
Hyperthymic
intense display of emotion
Euphoric
in an excited state of intense happiness
Dysphoric
in a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction
Quality/Range: Depth and Range of feelings shown
Intense>Full>Constricted>Blunted>Flat
Labile
unpredictable shift in emotional state
Motility: Shifting of emotional states
Labile>Supple/Stable>Sluggish
Dysarthria
a mechanical dysfunction with speech
Echolalia
meaningless repetition of another person’s spoken words
Neologism
making up of new words
Clang associations
grouping of words (usually rhyming), based on similar sounding words, regardless of logical grouping
Goal-directed/logical thinking
linear progression of thought without veering from subject at hand
Circumstantial thinking
inability to answer a question without giving excessive, unnecessary detail; does eventually return to the original point
Tangential thinking
wandering from the topic and never returning to it or providing the information requested
Loosening of associations (thinking)
incoherent slippage of ideas further and further from point of discussion
Flight of ideas (thinking)
rapid shift from one topic to another
Thought blocking
abrupt cessation of speech without explanation in the middle of a sentence
Somatic delusion
delusion that one’s bodily function, sensation or appearance is abnormal
Delusion of grandeur
delusion of possessing superior qualities such as fame, wealth, or supernatural powers
Paranoid delusion
delusion of mistreatment, usually persecution
Delusion of reference
delusion where an otherwise significant event is misconstrued as having special significance specifically to oneself
Delusion of thought insertion
delusion where one believes one’s thoughts to be externally placed from an outside party
Delusion of thought broadcasting
delusion where one’s thoughts are made known to everyone in the outside world
Erotomanic delusion
delusion where one believe that prominent figures or superstars are in love with or in a relationship with oneself
Nihilistic delusion
delusion where one believes that nothing is real
Depersonalization
loss of sense of identity, wherein one’s thoughts and feelings are no longer felt to be one’s own
Derealization
a change in the perception or experience of the external world to where it feels unrealistic
Illusion
a misinterpretation of existing stimuli
Hallucination
a perception perceived in the absence of any existing stimuli
Hypnagogic hallucination
a hallucination experienced before falling asleep
Hypnopompic hallucination
a hallucination experienced upon waking up from sleep
Compulsion
repetitive behavior or mental acts in response to obsessions
