schizophrenia terms

anhedonia

inability to experience pleasure

anosognosia

individuals lack of awareness of having an illlness or disorder even when symptoms appear obvious to others

catatonia

significant motor disturbance that may range from stupor (no motor activity) to excessive motor activity and agitation

circumstantiality

the individual delays in reaching the point of a communication becuase of unecessary and tedious detials. The point or goal is usually met but only with numerous interruptions by the interviewer to keep the person on track

clang associations

the choice of words is governed by sounds, often taking the form of rhymingd

delusions

fixed, false beliefs that are irrational and that the individual maintains are true despite evidence to the contrary

echolalia

repeating words or phrases spoken by another, may persist beyond their years in children with autism

echopraxia

imitates movements made by others

hallucinations

false sensory perceptions not associated with real external stimuli, may involve any of the five senses

illusions

misperceptions or misinterpretations of real external stimuli

loose associations

thinking is characterized by speech in which ideas shift from one unrelated subject to another. The indiviidual is unaware that the topics are unconnected. When the condition is severe, speech may be incoherent

magical thinking

common in children “the sky is raining becuase I am sad”

negative symptoms

deficits in normal functions, flat affect and impairment in role functioning

neologisms

newly invented words that are meaningless to others but have a symbolic meaning to the individual

paranoid delusions

describe the extreme suspiciousness of others and their actions or perceived intentions. Aggression or violence may occur because the individual beleives that they must defend themselves against someone or something percieved to be a threat

perseveration

persistently repeats the same word or idea in response to different questions. It is the manifestation of a thought-processing disturbance in which the person gets stuck on a particular thought

psychosis

a severe mental condition in which there is a disorganization of the personality, deterioration in social functioning, and loss of contact with or distoration of reality

tangentiality

the topic of conversation is changed to an entirely different topic that is a logical progression but causes a permanent detour from the orginal focus

paranoia

suspiciousness and gaurdedness that are unrealistic and aoften accompanied by grandiosity

referential thinking

a belief that neutral stimuli have special meaning to the indiviudal, such as a televsion commentator who is speaking directly to the individual

concrete thinking

lack of abstraction in thinking; inability to understand punch lines, metaphors, and analogies

aggression

behaviors or attitudes that reflect rage, hostility, and the potential for physicl or verbal destructiveness, usually comes about if the person believes someone is going to do him or her harm

stereotypy

repetitive purposeless movements that are idosyncratic to the individual and to some degree outside of the individual’s control

hypervigilance

sustained attention to external stimuli as if expecting something important or frightening to happen

waxy flexibility

posture held in an odd or unusual fixed posistion for extended periods of time

diminished emotional expression

resctriction or flattening in the range and intensity of emotion

alogia

reduced fluency and productiviy of thought and speechvolitia

avolition

withdrawal and inability to initiate and persist in goal-directed activity