Week 4.1.2: The Clinical Assessment Flashcards
Is a fixed, false belief that is not based in reality and is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual facts.
Delusion
What is the difference between paranoia and delusions?
Paranoia involves suspiciousness and fear, which can be based on some reality, whereas delusions are fixed and false beliefs.
What are the type of delusions?
- Paranoid
- Nihilistic
- Grandiose
Delusions with a paranoid theme, where individuals believe they are being persecuted, followed, or spied upon.
Example: Someone might believe that their neighbors are constantly watching them or that they are being targeted by a secret organization.
Paranoid Delusions
Delusions involving a sense of unreality or the belief that one is dying or dead. Often linked with depression.
Example: An individual might believe that their organs are rotting or that they are already dead.
Nihilistic Delusions
Delusions with a positive mood component, where individuals believe they have special powers, abilities, or wealth.
Example: The letter from the patient to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Grandiose Delusion
The feeling that one’s actions or thoughts are controlled by external forces or other people.
Example: A person might feel as if someone has a remote control that can make them think or do things against their will.
Passivity Phenomenon
The belief that general messages from media (TV, radio, newspapers) are specifically directed at oneself.
Ideas of Reference
The belief that thoughts are being implanted into one’s mind by an external source.
Thought Insertion
The belief that thoughts are being removed from one’s mind by an external source.
Thought Withdrawal
The belief that one’s thoughts are being broadcasted and can be heard by others.
Thought Broadcasting
The phenomenon where thoughts echo repeatedly in one’s mind.
Thought Echo
Refers to a disruption in the form or structure of thought processes, rather than the content.
It affects how thoughts are organized and expressed.
Formal Thought Disorder
In the context of formal thought disorder, what is the difference between content and form?
Content: The actual information or story being conveyed.
Form: The organization and coherence of how the information is presented.
What are the varying degrees of formal thought disorder?
Mild Disorder:
Example: Rearranging paragraphs in a story. The content remains the same, but the order is changed, making the story less coherent.
Moderate Disorder:
Example: Rearranging individual sentences within paragraphs. The content is still there, but the form is more disrupted, making it harder to understand.
Severe Disorder:
Example: Jumbling up words within sentences. The content is present, but the form is extremely disorganized, making it very difficult to understand.
Is a perception without an external stimulus. It can occur in any sensory modality but is most commonly auditory.
Auditory Hallucination
What are the types of hallucinations?
Auditory Hallucinations: Hearing voices or sounds when no one else is speaking. Most common type.
Visual Hallucinations: Seeing things that are not present.
Tactile Hallucinations: Feeling sensations on the skin without any physical stimulus.
Gustatory Hallucinations: Tasting things that aren’t present.
Olfactory Hallucinations: Smelling odors that aren’t there.
Voices that talk directly to the person.
Example: “You’re evil, no one likes you, why don’t you go and harm yourself?”
Second-Person Hallucinations
Voices that talk about the person.
Example: “He’s useless, does he not know that nobody likes him?”
Third-Person Hallucinations
Voices that instruct the person to perform specific actions, which can be dangerous.
Can be particularly dangerous, although most people do not act on them immediately or at all. Persistent distress from these hallucinations can lead to actions taken to alleviate the distress.
Example: A voice commanding someone to take their life or harm someone else.
Command Hallucinations
Refers to the ability to recognize and understand one’s own mental health condition and its implications.
Insight (in Psychosis)
Recognizing that one has a mental illness.
Degrees:
- Full Insight: Complete recognition of having a mental illness.
- Partial Insight: Recognizing distress or psychological components but not fully acknowledging the psychotic illness.
- No Insight: Complete denial of having a mental illness.
Insight into Mental Illness
Understanding the need for medication or engaging with mental health services.
Degrees:
- Full Insight: Acknowledging the benefits and necessity of treatment.
- Partial Insight: Believing medication helps with symptoms (e.g., calming down) but not accepting its anti-psychotic effects.
- No Insight: Refusing to acknowledge any need for treatment.
Insight into Treatment
Recognizing the risks one might pose to oneself or others.
Degrees:
Full Insight: Understanding the potential dangers and vulnerabilities.
Partial Insight: Recognizing some risks but not fully understanding the extent.
No Insight: Denying any risk or danger.
Insight into Risk
