affect
the outward behavioral expression of emotion
ambivalence
opposing feelings experienced simultaneously
a patient feels both love and hate towards her father who sexually abused her as a child
anhedonia
the inability to experience or even imagine any pleasure in acts that are normally pleasurable
a patient no longer enjoys gardening or cooking
circumstantiality
in speaking, the delay of an individual to reach the point of a communication, owing to unnecessary and tedious details
the patient is asked "Who brought you to the hospital?" she replies, "Well, I wanted my husband to drive me but the car, we have a '73
clang association
the association of words by sound rather than meaning, often resulting in nonsensical rhymes and puns
"Go to my room? Room, boom, doom. It's doom like a tomb in my room. May give me rheumatism.
compulsion
an inconsistent, repetitive, intrusive, and unwanted urge to perform an act that is contrary to one's ordinary wishes and standards
the patient has a strong, repetitive urge to break glass; this urge is experienced at home, work, church, and so forth
confabulation
the creation of imaginary events to fill in memory gaps
the patient is asked about his background in the armed forces; he tells vivid stories about his combat in Desert Storm when it is known from his history that he never saw combat
delusion
a firm, fixed false idea not amenable to rational explanation and maintained despite objective evidence to the contrary
the patient believes that natural objects such as trees embody ancient, secret codes that only he can decipher because he once lived th
depersonalization
a sense of estrangement from oneself, often experienced as a loss of identity or of one's own reality
the patient says, "I don't feel real anymore; I don't feel like myself. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really here
dysphoria
a mood of general dissatisfaction, unpleasantness, restlessness, anxiety, discomfort, and unhappiness
echolalia
the parrot-like repetition, by an individual with loose ego boundaries, of the words spoken by another
Nurse: "Are you hearing voices?"
Patient: "Are you hearing voices?
echopraxia
an individual with loose ego boundaries attempting to identify with another person by imitating movements that the other person makes
the patient imitates gestures made by the nurse; each time she moves her hand to express a feeling or leans forward, the
flat affect
a significant lack of emotional responsiveness
discussing events in his life that range from a death to a wedding to abandonment by a lover, the patient's expression never varies
flight of ideas
rapid verbal skipping from one idea to the next
"I knew I shouldn't have come here. I wonder what we will have for lunch today. That's a pretty blouse you are wearing. My brother just graduated from law school.
grandiose delusion; delusions of grandeur
fixed false belief that the person has special powers, abilities, etc.
the patient believes he is the Messiah and that he was sent to save the world
grandiosity
exaggerated belief in one's own importance and self worth
the patient believes all the female patients want to be with him
hallucination
false sensory perception not associated with real external stimuli; may involve any of the five senses--auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile, gustatory
the patient hears voices of several people who are not there; they are making insulting remarks about h
ideas of reference
the interpretation of external events, especially the actions and statements of other people, as having reference to oneself when in fact they do not
a patient believes that natural objects are arranged in a way that has meaning only to him
illusion
a misinterpretation of real external stimuli; to be distinguished from hallucinations, which occur in the absence of external stimuli
seeing a hat and coat hanging on wall hooks in the corner, the patient mistakes them for the figure of a real person
inappropriate affect
the failure of feelings expressed nonverbally to match thoughts expressed verbally
a patient smiles while talking about his sad feelings regarding his father's death
labile
unsteady feelings that shift rapidly
a patient expresses feelings that change rapidly from euphoria to anger to tearfulness to elation and back
loose associations
thinking that is overgeneralized, diffuse, and vague, with only a tenuous connection between the thoughts
Love is all. Energizing, generally speaking, that is. Speaking of energy, I have really been tired lately. Lately I've been looking in the mirror.
magical thinking
a primitive form of thinking in which an individual believes that thinking about a possible occurrence can make it happen
a boy thinks it rained because he didn't want to mow the yard
mood
an individual's sustained emotional tone, which significantly influences behavior, personality, and perception
neologism
new words that an individual invents that are meaningless to others, but have symbolic meaning to the psychotic person
the patient describes a "deathilating" machine used by next door neighbors who are plotting to kill him
nihilistic delusion
the belief that the self, a part of self, or some external object does not exist
when the nurse tells the patient it is time for his meds, the patient replies, "How can I take my medicine when I don't have a mouth?
obsession
a persistent and irresistible thought, feeling, or impulse that cannot be eliminated from consciousness by any logical effort
the patient thinks his clothes are dirty and ought to be washed; looking, he sees that his clothes are clean; still he feels they
paranoia, paranoid ideation
suspicious thinking
a man believes his co-workers talk about him behind his back
paranoid delusion, persecutory delusion; delusion of persecution
fixed false belief that is persecutory, accompanied by feelings that one is being harassed, treated wrongly, or being judged critically
a patient thinks that the nurse was sent by the CIA to spy on him
perseveration
persistent repetition of the same word or idea in response to different questions
the patient repeats the phrase, "Look in the basket over there" in response to each of several different questions by the nurse
phobia
an irrational fear
the patient experiences an intense fear of heights, even small ones of only a few feet
posturing
the voluntary assumption of inappropriate or bizarre postures
the patient stands on one foot, keeping the other raised in the air
poverty of thought
few verbal communications or ones that convey little information
the patient replies to all questions with only one or two words, even though elaboration is invited and encouraged
religiosity
excessive demonstration of or obsession with religious ideas and behavior; common in schizophrenia
the patient constantly makes reference to God and the Bible, quotes scriptures, and kneels to pray before meals
ritualistic behavior
suicidal ideation (active)purposeless activities that an individual performs repeatedly in an effort to decrease anxiety; compulsion
the patient washes his hands several times each hour
suicidal ideation (active)
thoughts of suicide that may include a plan for killing oneself
the patient says he is going to shoot himself with his brother's rifle
suicidal ideation (passive)
a wish for one's own death, not accompanied by a plan for killing oneself
the patient says, "I wish I were dead." the nurse asks, "Do you have a plan for killing yourself?" the patient states, "No, I don't think I could ever do that
tangentiality
the inability to get to the point of a story; the speaker introduces many unrelated topics, until the original topic of discussion is lost
the patient is asked about how it feels to be diabetic; discussing her visits to the clinic, she is reminded of a nu
thought blocking
a sudden obstruction or interruption in the train of thought or speech, which the person is unable to complete
the patient interrupts many of his sentences, and when asked why, he says that he forgot what he was going to say
thought broadcasting
the belief that others can hear what the person is thinking
the patient believes that others can "read" his mind because they can hear his thoughts
thought insertion
the experience of thoughts that the person does not recognize as originating in his own thought processes
the patient believes that her brother-in-law is putting sexual thoughts in her head
thought withdrawal
a belief that thoughts are being removed or taken away
the patient covers his ears because "Someone is trying to take my thoughts
verbigeration
meaningless repetition of incoherent words or sentences
waxy flexibility
a condition by which the individual with schizophrenia passively yields all movable parts of the body to any efforts made at placing them in certain positions
the nurse raised the patient's arm to take his blood pressure; he kept his arm in that position
word salad
a group of words that are put together in a random fashion without any logical connections
"Touchiness, blood, heart of deer, length, driven power, motorized cylinder, strength, page 53.