Mental health terms

Delusion

Alterations in thought content (what a person thinks about) are false fixed beliefs that cannot be corrected by reasoning or evidence to the contrary.

Hallucination

Perception of a sensory experience for which no external stimulus exists.

Types of hallucinations

1. Auditory

2. Visual

3. Olfactory

4. Tactile (touch)

5. Gustatory (taste)

Thought insertion

(type of delusion)

Believing that another person, group of people, or external force controls thoughts

Thought withdrawal

(type of delusion)

Believing that others are taking thoughts out of a person's mind

Thought broadcasting

(type of delusion)

Believing that one's thoughts are being involuntarily broadcasted to others

Ideas of reference

(type of delusion)

Giving personal significance to trivial events; perceiving events as relating to you when they do not

Ideas of influence

(type of delusion)

Believing that you have somehow influenced events that are, in fact, out of your control

Persecution

(type of delusion)

Believing that one is being singled out for harm by others; this belief often takes the form of a plot by people in power

Grandeur

(type of delusion)

Believing that one is a very powerful or important person

Somatic

(type of delusion)

Believing that the body is changing in an unusual way (e.g., rotting inside)

Erotomatic

(type of delusion)

Believing that another person desires you romantically

Jealously

(type of delusion)

Believing that one's mate is unfaithful

Circumstantiality

(type of speech)

The inclusion of unnecessary and often tedious details in one's conversation.

Round-about way to give an answer

Tangentiality

A departure from the main topic to talk about less important information; the patient goes off on tangents in a way that takes the conversation off-topic.

No answer given

Neologisms

Made-up words (or idiosyncratic uses of existing words) that have meaning for the person but a different or nonexistent meaning to others.

Echolalia

The pathological repeating of another's words and is often seen in catatonia

"Echo"

Clang association

The choosing of words based on their sound rather than their meaning, often rhyming and sometimes having a similar beginning sound

"singing"

Word salad

A jumble of words that is meaningless to the listener— and perhaps to the speaker as well

Alterations in perception

Are errors in one's view of reality.

The most common form of altered perception in psychosis are hallucinations, but depersonalization, derealization, and boundary impairment are sometimes experienced as well

Illusions

Misperceptions or misinterpretations of a real experience

Command hallucinations

Are "voices" that direct the person to take an action.

Flight of ideas

Excessive amount and rate of speech composed of fragmented or unrelated ideas; racing, often unconnected, thoughts

Thought blocking

Stopping abruptly in the middle of a sentence or train of thought; sometimes client is unable to continue the idea

Loose association

Disorganized thinking that jumps from one idea to another with little or no evident relation between the thoughts

Preservation

Keeps coming back to one word

Labile

A rapid, exaggerated, and uncontrollable shifts in mood or emotional expression (affect), such as sudden crying or laughing

Paranoid ideation

Persistent, irrational mistrust and suspiciousness of others, involving beliefs of being persecuted, targeted, or treated unfairly

Magical thinking

The belief that one's thoughts, actions, or rituals can influence unrelated events, acting as if internal desires can directly control external reality

Depersonalization

An altered sense of one's physical being

De-realization

A sense that one's environment has changed & is different than the way it had been before