mental status terminology Flashcards
consciousness
the state of wakefulness, awareness, or alertness in which most human beings function while not asleep or one of the recognized stages of normal sleep from which the person can be readily awakened
alert
pt aware of the examiner and can respond to the environment around them independently
depersonalization
when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you’re observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren’t real, or both
mental status
comprehensive description or statement of a patient’s intellectual capacity, emotional state, and general mental health based on examiner’s observations and directed interview; includes assessment of mood, behavior, orientation, judgment, memory, problem-solving ability, and contact with reality
orientation
person’s awareness of self, place, time, and situation
lethargic
condition marked by drowsiness and a lack of energy and mental alertness
ambivalence
the presence of simultaneous, strong positive or negative attitudes toward a participant, object or situation (entity)
attention span
how long you can focus on something or spend on a task before you need a break or get distracted
attention
the ability to focus selectively on a selected stimulus, sustaining that focus and shifting it at will
stuporous
an excessively deep state of unresponsiveness
lability
rapid, often exaggerated changes in mood, where strong emotions or feelings (uncontrollable laughing or crying, or heightened irritability or temper) occur
recent memory
“short-term” memory; a system for temporarily storing and managing the information required to carry out complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension
memory
the ability to recover information about past events or knowledge
comatose
in a state of deep and usually prolonged unconsciousness; unable to respond to external stimuli
rage
state of violent anger
remote memory
the ability to recall events from the distant past
mood
A pervasive and sustained emotion which can markedly colour one’s perception of the world
delirium/delirious
a mental state in which a person is confused and has reduced awareness of their surroundings
dementia
the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities
affect
the patient’s immediate expression of emotion
glasgow coma scale
used to objectively describe the extent of impaired consciousness in all types of acute medical and trauma patients. the scale assesses patients according to three aspects of responsiveness: eye-opening, motor, and verbal responses
suicidal ideation
a range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations with death and suicide
anxiety
feelings of fear, dread, and uneasiness that may occur as a reaction to stress
thought process
the logical connections between thoughts and their relevance to the main thread of conversation
decorticate
an abnormal posturing in which a person is stiff with bent arms, clenched fists, and legs held out straight. the arms are bent in toward the body and the wrists and fingers are bent and held on the chest
depression
a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest
word salad
“schizophasia”; “confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words and phrases”
thought content
describes what the patient is thinking and includes the presence or absence of delusional or obsessional thinking and suicidal or homicidal ideas
decerebrate
an abnormal body posture that involves the arms and legs being held straight out, the toes being pointed downward, and the head and neck being arched backward
obsession
repeated thoughts, urges, or mental images that cause anxiety
circumstantiality
circuitous and non-direct thinking or speech that digresses from the main point of a conversation
perception
Awareness of objects; consciousness
aphasia
a brain disorder where a person has trouble speaking or understanding other people speaking
compulsion
an uncontrollable urge to say or do something without an obvious reason
echolalia
a psychiatric disorder that makes someone meaninglessly repeat what another person says
abstract reasoning
the ability to calculate, sort, categorize, conceptualize, draw conclusions, or interpret and condense complex ideas
elation
a state of heightened joy, exaggerated optimism, and restless excitement
flight of ideas
occurs when someone talks quickly and erratically, jumping rapidly between ideas and thoughts
phobia
an extreme, irrational, fear of something that may cause a person to panic
delusion
a false belief that persists despite evidence proving it false and occurs especially in some mentally disturbed states
lucid
thinking clearly again after a period of illness or confusion
coherent
consistent; making a logical whole
deliberate
to think about or discuss issues and decisions carefully
vague
a lack of clear formulation due to inadequate conception or consideration
digresses
to turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument
confused
the inability to think as clearly or quickly as you normally d
disorganized
psychopathological inconsistency in personality, mental functions, or overt behavior
language
the use of a meaningful pattern of vocal sounds (or corresponding written symbols) to convey thoughts and feelings
blocking
interruption of a trend of associative thought by the arousal of an opposing trend or through the welling up into consciousness of a complex of unpleasant ideas
confabulation
a neuropsychiatric disorder wherein a patient generates a false memory without the intention of deceit
neologism
a new word that is coined especially by a person affected with schizophrenia, is meaningless except to the coiner, and is typically a combination of two existing words or a shortening or distortion of an existing word
circumlocution
the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea
perseveration
the continual involuntary repetition of a thought or behavior
clanging
behavior that is situationally inappropriate
hallucination
a false perception of objects or events involving your senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste
illusion
a perception that occurs when a sensory stimulus is present but is incorrectly perceived and misinterpreted, such as hearing the wind as someone crying
