[terms] Signs and Symptoms of Psychopathology

Signs

Objective

▪ Based from clinician's observation

Symptoms

Subjective

▪ Subjective experiences of the patient

syndrome

constellation of signs and symptoms that make up a recognizable condition, is often used to show the overlap of the two.

Consciousness

state of awareness

Apperception

perception modified by one's own thoughts and emotions

Sensorium:

sometimes used as another term for consciousness) refers to the state of functioning of the special senses

Disorientation

disturbed orientation regarding time, place, or person.

Delirium

patient exhibits confusion, restlessness, bewilderment, and a disoriented reaction that is usually associated with hallucinations and fear.

Clouding of consciousness

a state of perceptual and cognitive confusion.

Stupor

a general condition wherein the patient exhibits extreme unresponsiveness and loss of orientation to the environment.

Twilight state

a disturbance in consciousness, with hallucinations.

Dreamlike state

another term for psychomotor epilepsy or complex partial seizure.

Somnolence

abnormal drowsiness, usually displayed in organic processes.

Coma vigil

(akinetic mutism) - patient appears to be sleeping but is aroused easily.

Coma

profound level of consciousness, abnormal state of deep stupor that is accompanied by a total loss of consciousness, loss of voluntary behavior and some reflexes.

Attention

selective aspects of perception; quantity of effort given to focusing on parts of an experience; ability to concentrate

Distractibility

the inability to concentrate or focus attention because patient is easily drawn to irrelevant external stimuli.

Selective attention

blocking out of anxiety-causing stimuli.

Hyper vigilance

excessive focus and attention is given to all internal and external stimuli due to paranoia.

Suggestibility

uncritical and compliant response to influence or an idea

Folie a deux

(or folie a trois) - emotional/mental illness shared between two (or three) persons; also called shared psychosis between two (or three) persons.

Hypnosis

artificially induced consciousness characterized by heightened suggestibility

Emotion

a complex feeling or state related to mood and affect with psychic, somatic, and behavioral components.

Affect

the expression or outward manifestation of emotion observable to others.

Appropriate affect

a normal condition wherein emotional tone is in harmony or is consistent with the accompanying thought, idea, or speech. It is also described as broad or full affect wherein

a full range of emotions is appropriately expressed.

Inappropriate affect

Inconsistency between the emotional tone and the idea, thought, or speech accompanying it

Blunted affect

characterized by a severe reduction in the intensity of the externalized feeling tone.

Restricted or constricted affect

reduction in the intensity of feeling tone. It is less severe than

blunted affect.

Flat affect

the absence or near absence of any signs of affective expression. It can be characterized by an immobile face and a monotonous voice.

Labile affect

rapid and abrupt changes in the emotional feeling tone which is unrelated to an external stimuli.

Mood

the sustained and pervasive emotion subjectively experienced and reported by the patient, and is observable to others.

Dysphoric Mood

unpleasant mood

Euthymic Mood

normal range of mood

Expansive Mood

the expression of one's feelings without any restraint. It is frequently and overestimation of one's significance or importance.

Irritable Mood

the person is easily provoked to anger and is easily annoyed.

Mood Swings (labile mood)

moving between euphoria and depression or anxiety

Elevated Mood

characterized by an air of enjoyment and confidence. A mood which is more cheerful than normal but is not considered pathological

Euphoria

Intense elation with feelings of grandeur.

Ecstasy

feeling of intense rapture or delight.

Depression

the psychopathological feeling of sadness.

Anhedonia

loss of interest and withdrawal from all regular and pleasurable activities. Often associated with depression.

Grief or Mourning

sadness that is appropriate to a real loss.

Alexithymia

the inability or difficulty in describing one's moods or emotions.

Anxiety

a feeling of apprehension that is caused by anticipation of internal or external danger/threat.

Free-floating anxiety

unfocused and pervasive fear that is not attached to any idea.

Fear

anxiety caused by a consciously recognized and realistic danger.

Agitation

motor restlessness associated with severe anxiety.

Tension

unpleasant increased motor and psychological activity.

Panic

acute, episodic, intense anxiety attack associated with overwhelming feelings of dread.

Apathy

dulled emotional tone associated with indifference or detachment

Ambivalence

presence of two opposing impulses toward the same thing, in the same person, at the same time.

Physiological disturbances associated with mood

Signs that refer to the somatic (usually autonomic) dysfunction of a person, which are most often associated with depression; also known as vegetative signs.

Anorexia

loss of or decrease in appetite.

Hyperphagia

increase in appetite and food intake.

Insomnia

difficulty or lack the lack of ability to fall asleep.

Insomnia

types

difficulty in falling asleep. (early onset), difficulty in sleeping through the night without waking up; difficulty in going back, early morning awakening. (late onset)

Hypersomnia

excessive sleeping.

Diurnal variation

mood is regularly worst in morning, immediately after awakening, and improves as the day progresses.

Diminished libido

decreased sexual interest, drive, and performance.

*Increased libido is usually associated with manic states.

Constipation

inability or difficulty in defecating.

Motor Behavior

the aspect of the psyche which includes impulses, motivations, wishes, drives, instincts, and cravings, as expressed by a person's behavior or motor activity

Echopraxia

the person's pathological imitation of movements of another person

Catatonia

motor anomalies in non-organic disorders (as opposed to disturbances of consciousness and motor activity secondary to organic pathology)

a. Catalepsy

general term used to describe an immobile position that is constantly maintained.

b. Catatonic Excitement

agitated, purposeless motor activity that is uninfluenced by external stimuli.

c. Catatonic Stupor

noticeable slowed motor activity, often to a point of immobility and seeming unawareness of surroundings.

d. Catatonic Rigidity

voluntary assumption of a rigid posture, held against all efforts to be moved.

e. Catatonic Posturing

voluntary assumption of an inappropriate or bizarre posture which is generally maintained for long periods of time.

f. Cerea Flexibilitas (Waxy Flexibility)

a condition wherein the person can be molded into a

position that is then maintained. When the examiner moves the person's limb, the limb feels as if it were made of wax.

Negativism

motiveless resistance to all instructions or to all attempts to be moved.

Cataplexy

temporary muscle weakness and loss of muscle tone precipitated by a variety of

emotional states.

Stereotypy

repetitive fixed pattern of physical action or speech.

Mannerism

deep-seated/ingrained and habitual involuntary movement.

Automatism

automatic performance of an act or acts generally representative of unconscious symbolic activity.

Command Automatism

automatic following of suggestions. (automatic obedience)

Mutism

voicelessness that is not caused by structural abnormalities or physical conditions.

Overactivity

abnormality in motor behavior that can manifest itself as psychomotor agitation, hyperactivity, tic, sleepwalking, or compulsions

Overactivity- a. Psychomotor Agitation

excessive motor and cognitive overactivity, usually nonproductive and in response to inner tension.

Overactivity- b. Hyperactivity (Hyperkinesis)

abnormality in motor behavior that can manifest itself as psychomotor agitation, hyperactivity, tic, sleepwalking, or compulsions

Overactivity- c. Tic

involuntary, spasmodic motor movement.

Overactivity- d. Sleepwalking

abnormality in motor behavior that can manifest itself as psychomotor agitation, hyperactivity, tic, sleepwalking, or compulsions

Overactivity- e. Akathisia

subjective feeling of muscular tension secondary to antipsychotic or other medication, which can cause restlessness, pacing, repeated sitting and standing; can be

mistaken for psychotic agitation.

Compulsion

uncontrollable impulse to perform an act repetitively

Compulsion - uncontrollable impulse to perform an act repetitively

i. Dipsomania

ii. Kleptomania

iii. Nymphomania

iv. Satyriasis

v. Trichotillomania

vi. Ritual

compulsion to drink alcohol.

compulsion to steal.

excessive and compulsive need for coitus in a woman.

excessive and compulsive need for coitus in a man.

compulsion to pull out one's hair.

automatic activity compulsive in nature, anxiety-reducing in origin.

Hypoactivity

(Hypokinesis) - decreased motor and cognitive activity, as in psychomotor retardation; visible slowing of thought, speech and movements.

Mimicry

simple, imitative motor activity of childhood.

Aggression

forceful goal-directed action that may be verbal or physical; the motor counterpart of the affect of rage, anger, or hostility.

Acting out

direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse in action; unconscious fantasy is lived out impulsively in behavior.

Thinking

the goal-directed flow of ideas. Symbols and associations initiated by problem or task and leading toward a reality-oriented conclusion.

Mental disorder

clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome that is associated with distress or disability, and not just an expected response to a particular event.

Psychosis

inability to distinguish reality from fantasy. Impairment in reality testing, with creation of a new reality.

Reality testing

the objective evaluation and judgment of the world outside the self.

Formal though disorder

disturbance in the form of thought instead of the content of thought. Thinking is characterized by loosened associations, neologisms, and illogical constructs. Thought process is disordered and the person defined psychotic.

Illogical thinking

thinking containing erroneous conclusions or internal contradictions. It is considered psychopathological only when it is marked and when not caused by cultural values or

intellectual deficit.

Dereism

mental activity not concordant with logic experience.

Autistic Thinking

thinking that gratifies unfulfilled desires but has no regard for reality; a preoccupation phase in children in which thoughts, words, or actions assume power.

Magical thinking

a form of dereistic thought; thinking similar to that of the preoperational phase in children (Jean Piaget), in which thoughts, words, or actions assume power (e.g., to cause or to

prevent events).

Primary process thinking

general term for thinking that is dereistic; illogical and magical; normally found in dreams, abnormally in psychotics.

Neologism

new word or phrase whose derivation cannot be understood; often seen in schizophrenia; it has also been used to mean a word that has been incorrectly constructed but

whose origins are nonetheless understandable (e.g., headshoe to mean hat), but such constructions are more properly referred to as word approximations.

Word Salad

incoherent, essentially incomprehensible, mixture of words and phrases commonly seen in far-advanced cases of schizophrenia (See also incoherence.).