Psychiatric and Psychological Definitions
Psychiatric and Psychological Definitions
clouded consciousness - inattention, lack of usual clarity in reasoning or perception
stupor - markedly decreased alertness, brief response to discomfort
delirium - severe inattention, misperceptions, confusion, disorientation
coma - total unresponsiveness to stimuli; even severe pain is
somnolence - inability to maintain alertness without constant stimulation
confusion - inappropriate responses due to misperceptions and illogic
sundowning - worsening of delirium or dementia at night
distractibility - inability to sustain a single focus of attention
selective inattention - systematic failure to notice unpleasant
hypervigilance - increased alertness in expectation of danger or illness
trance - state of narrowly focused attention and suggestibility
folie а deux - delusions shared by closely-connected persons
appropriate affect - a full range of normal emotion
inappropriate affect - emotional expression unexpected in quality or intensity
blunted affect - striking poverty of emotional response
restricted affect - emotional reactions are muted
flat affect - lack of any emotional expression
labile affect - rapid and dramatic shifts in emotional tone
dysphoria - an unhappy mood
euthymia - a mood neither elevated nor
expansive mood - emotional expression unaffected by others' reactions
irritable mood - prolonged state of negative reactivity
labile mood - marked fluctuation of mood
elevated mood - sustained feeling of success, confidence, and well-being
euphoria - intensely elevated mood, beyond realistic happiness
ecstasy - the most intense elevation of mood
depression - mood which is negative and unhappy beyond reason
anhedonia - lack of pleasurable feelings during activities one used to enjoy
grief - appropriately dysphoric mood following a serious loss
alexithymia - inability to read one's own emotional state
suicidality - thoughts or intentions of self-murder
elation - unusually elevated mood without grandiosity or rapture
anxiety - a feeling of dread or worry, often with autonomic arousal
free-floating anxiety - an apprehensive mood with vague or shifting focus
fear - a state of unpleasant arousal in situations of real threat
agitation - severely restless activity driven by inner tension
tension - uncomfortably increased muscle tone with intense worry
panic - rapid worsening of anxiety to the point of acute crisis
apathy - pronounced lack of interest
ambivalence - inability to choose between incompatible goals
abreaction - vivid return of painful emotion from past circumstances
shame - uncomfortable sense of having betrayed one's own ideals
guilt - a sense of blameworthiness without a sense of dishonor
melancholia - the most severe and unrelenting form of depression
anorexia - pathological lack of appetite
hyperphagia - pathologically increased consumption of food
insomnia - inability to sleep despite feeling fatigued
hypersomnia - pathological increase in need for sleep
diurnal variation of mood - a pattern of feeling worse during a particular part of the day
decreased libido - lack of accustomed interest in sex
anergia - lack of energy for everyday activities
echopraxia - pathological imitation of another person's behavior
catalepsy - unusual immobility of posture
catatonic excitement - extreme agitation unresponsive to verbal intervention
catatonic stupor - extreme immobility without evidence of deceased consciousness
catatonic rigidity - stiff posture which cannot easily be modified
posturing - assumption of bizarre poses which are maintained indefinitely
waxy flexibility - increased muscle tone allows person to be sculpted by examiner
negativism - persistence of behavior opposite to that which is expected
cataplexy - abrupt loss of postural control without decreased consciousness
stereotypya - fixed pattern of purposeless behavior
mannerism - an unusual habit which can be modified at will
automatism - repetitious behavior with a secret meaning
automatic obedience - mechanically following instructions
psychogenic mutism - prolonged failure to speak without an underlying physical cause
hyperactivity - persistent restlessness
tics - brief, repetitive, purposeless muscular spasms
sleepwalking - ambulation during deep sleep
akathisia - very uncomfortable muscular tension and restlessness
compulsion - a ritual used repetitively to reduce anxiety
trichotillomania - compulsive pulling out of one's own hair
ataxia - difficulty in muscular coordination
polyphagia - a neurological syndrome of gross overeating
tremorrapidly - alternating flexion and extension of opposed muscles
psychomotor retardation - marked slowing of thought and behavior
mimicry - sociable imitation of another's behavior
aggression - behavior which attacks, threatens, or intimidates
astasia-abasia - exaggerated staggering and falling behavior without injury
coprophagia - eating of excrement or other loathsome material
pica - ingestion of nonnutritive matter
dyskinesia - rhythmic writhing movements in certain neurological disorders
twirling - several rapid rotations of the body in a stereotyped manner
bradykinesia - marked slowing of movement
chorea - abrupt, purposeless, patternless involuntary movements
seizure - sensorimotor response to hypersynchronous neuronal activity
dystonia - severely increased tone of a group of voluntary muscles
psychosis - the most severe form of thought disorder
reality testing - ability to distinguish between fact and fantasy
thought disorder - inability to generate a logical sequence of ideas
dereism - markedly irrational beliefs
autistic thinking - logical structures supporting a totally private view of reality
magical thinking - a primitive sense of connection between independent events
primary process - unstructured logic typical of children, dreaming, and
insight - the ability to understand one's own emotions and behavior
neologism - a newly-created word whose meaning is unknown to others
word salad - familiar verbal expressions assembled in apparently random order
circumstantiality - citing excessive details which distract from the central theme
tangentiality - speech which digresses from its topic and doesn't ever return
perseveration - inability to switch ideas in accord with the social
verbigeration - a meaningless utterance consisting of repeated ideas
echolalia - meaningless repetition of another person's words
loose associations - a series of ideas without apparent logical connections
derailment - a peculiar change of topic in otherwise logical speech
flight of ideas - multiple rapid shifts in topic without losing logical connection
clanging - words are chosen for their related sounds rather than meanings
thought blocking - inability to finish a thought, or to recall what the thought was
glossolalia - speaking in tongues
poverty of content - speech that lacks meaning
delusion - unshakable belief in a theory which peers consider absurd
overvalued idea - an unusual preoccupation which will yield to strong evidence
bizarre delusion - a fixed, false belief that couldn't possibly be true
systematized delusion - a fixed, false belief with complex logical structure
mood-congruent - psychotic content consistent with patient's mood
mood-incongruent - psychotic content inappropriate to patient's mood
nihilism - ideas of meaninglessness, transience, or nonexistence
somatic delusion - fixed, false belief that one's body is grossly abnormal
paranoid delusion - fixed, false belief in one's special importance to strangers
persecutory delusion - fixed, false belief that others are determined to harm oneself
delusion of grandeur - fixed, false belief of possessing superior special qualities
ideas of reference - interpreting innocuous events as highly personally significant
delusion of control - fixed belief that one's behavior is totally directed by others
thought withdrawal - sensation of having one's thoughts removed from one's mind
thought insertion - sensation that thoughts are being placed in one's mind
thought broadcasting - fixed belief that others hear one's private thoughts
pathological jealousy - persistent fear that one's love object is unfaithful
erotomania - fixed, false belief in some powerful person as a secret admirer
pseudologia - elaborate logical structure which is obviously false
preoccupation - thoughts which dwell on a particular topic or theme
egomania - excessive focus on the importance of self
hypochondriasis - preoccupation with false ideas that one is in ill health
obsession - preoccupation with an unpleasant idea, knowing it's unreasonable
mental rituals - stereotyped routines of thought directed to lowering anxiety
coprolalia - speaking filthy words, especially when it feels involuntary
phobia - intense situational fear which the person knows is exaggerated
social phobia - unreasonable dread of appearing in public
performance anxiety - intense fear of public speaking or of trying to entertain people
acrophobia - intense, unreasonable fear of heights
agoraphobia - fear of public places, usually in proportion to crowdedness
erythrophobia - fear of being seen to blush
claustrophobia - unreasonably intense fear of confined spaces
xenophobia - abnormal fear of unfamiliar persons
zoophobia - unreasonable fear of innocuous animals
needle phobia - unreasonably intense fear of injection or transfusion
pressure of speech - rapid and copious talk, often loud and difficult to interrupt
poverty of speech - minimal effort at verbal communication
dysprosody - markedly abnormal tonal patterns in speech
dysarthria - markedly diminished verbal fluency
stuttering - certain speech sounds are habitually prolonged or repeated
cluttering - disturbance of speech rhythm compromising intelligibility
motor aphasia - inability to process thoughts into speech
sensory aphasia - inability to process words into thoughts
anomia - marked difficulty naming things and persons
global aphasia - combined motor and sensory aphasia
perception - assignment of meaning to sensory data
hallucination - sensory perception in the absence of relevant external stimulus
hypnagogic hallucination - false sensory perception at the onset of sleep
hypnopompic hallucination - false sensory perception while awakening
auditory hallucination - hearing something that isn't there
visual hallucination - seeing something that isn't there
olfactory hallucination - smelling something that isn't there
gustatory hallucination - tasting something that isn't there
tactile hallucination - sensation of physical contact with an object that isn't there
phantom limb - sensation perceived in an amputated extremity
formication - false feeling of insects crawling on the skin
micropsia - objects appear small and far away
synesthesia - misperception of sensory modality
trailing - abnormal persistence of visual images
imperative hallucination - false perception which issues a command
illusion - false perception of a real sensation
agnosia - inability to interpret sensory stimuli
anosognosia - inability to perceive one's own physical handicap
astereognosis - inability to perceive the shape of an object through touch alone
apraxia - loss of a basic skill such as walking or dressing oneself
dysdiadochokinesia - lack of skill in performing rapidly alternating movements
aura - brief perceptual disturbance created by brain dysfunction
somatization - experiencing physical symptoms in lieu of emotional ones
macropsia - objects appear larger and closer than normal
depersonalization - sense of alienation from one's normal identity
derealization - false sensation that one's surroundings have become unfamiliar
fugue - physical and psychological flight from one's usual place
dissociative identity disorder - sensation of having two or more distinct persons inside one body
dissociation - loss of ordinary connectedness of psychic contents
anterograde amnesia - inability to recall what happened after a traumatic episode
retrograde amnesia - inability to recall what happened before a traumatic episode
transient global amnesia - loss of recent memory function for less than one day
dissociative amnesia - memory failure following gross emotionaltrauma
retrospective falsification - distortion of recall due to emotional arousal
confabulation - elaboration of false recollections in severe organic amnesia
dйjа vu - false sense of visual familiarity in a situation
dйjа entendu - false sense of familiarity when hearing something new
dйjа vйcu - jamais vu false sense of unfamiliarity about a scene
jamais entendu - false sense of unfamiliarity in a sound
jamais vйcu - false sense of unfamiliarity in a situation
eidetic memory - unusually vivid visual recall
screen memory - false recollection constructed to conceal an unacceptable wish
repression - unconscious denial of an unacceptable wish or fantasy
blackout - amnesia for events which occurred while one was drunk
immediate recall - memory for events of the past few minutes
delayed recall - remembering something after several minutes of distraction
recent memory - recall of events over the past few days
remote memory - recall of events from more than a few days ago
intelligence - ability to learn new adaptations
mental retardation - impairment of adaptive learning beginning before adulthood
mild mental retardation - IQ below 70 but above 55
moderate mental retardation - IQ between 40 and 55
severe mental retardation - IQ between 25 and 40
profound mental retardation - IQ less than 25
intelligence quotient - IQ = (mental age / chronological age) x 100
mental age - adaptive learning capacity expressed as developmental level
dementia - general loss of adaptive learning capability in adulthood
dyscalculia - decreased mathematical ability
dysgraphia - reduced ability to write
alexia - complete loss of ability to read
acalculia - complete loss of mathematical ability
agraphia - complete loss of ability to write
dyslexia - diminished ability to learn reading
pseudodementia - misleading appearance of intellectual deficiency
concrete thinking - lack of ability to deal with abstract concepts
abstract thinking - ability to use symbolic logic
intellectual insight - improved self-knowledge without corresponding change in behavior
judgmentability - to weigh alternatives and select the most useful
intuition - ability to judge situations without conscious deliberation
verbal IQ - a measure of ability to use abstract logic
performance IQ - a measure of ability to work with real objects
social intelligence - ability to judge the needs of others and to act accordingly
procedural memory - ability to perform overlearned skills such as walking
declarative memory- ability to recall facts
denial - ignoring unpleasant aspects of external reality
distortion - elaboration of a more attractive version of reality
projection - perception of one's own attitudes as belonging to another person
acting out - overt expression of one's impulses
blocking - cessation of thought to avoid confronting an unpleasant idea
introjection - internalizing some aspect of another person
passive-aggression - punishing others through failure to perform one's duties
regression - avoiding conflict by withdrawing to old interests and behaviors
schizoid fantasy - daydreaming and eccentric speech used to avoid intimacy
controlling - efforts to govern the actions of others, serving one's own needs
displacement - an insoluble conflict in one sphere is resolved in another
externalization - a general term encompassing projection, acting out, emoting, etc
inhibition - general habit of withdrawal from conflicted situations
intellectualization - obsessively analytical approaches to anxiety-provoking stimuli
isolation - avoiding the emotional content of a difficult situation
rationalization - finding reasons to justify one's own emotionally-driven behavior
reaction formation - behavior which negates the underlying emotion
sexualization - amorous behavior used as a defense against uncomfortable emotion
altruism - unselfish giving, may help to establish one's own self-worth
anticipation - emotional rehearsal for possible future situations
asceticism - a form of self-discipline based on the virtue of renunciation
humor - emphasis on comic elements in disagreeable circumstances
sublimation - diversion of destructive impulses into acceptable outlets
suppression - decision to delay the consideration of unpleasant circumstances
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