Affect
what the patient's mood APPEARS to be to the clinician, can be flat, blunted,
constricted, shallow or inappropriate
thought content
what thoughts are occurring to the patient
obsessional thoughts
unwelcome and repetitive thoughts that intrude into the patient's consciousness;
generally ego alien and resisted by the patient
compulsions
repetitive, ritualized behaviours that patients feel compelled to perform to avoid
an increase in anxiety or some dreaded outcome
delusions
False, fixed ideas not shared by others and may be bizarre and non-bizarre
thought content that is not true, but is not out of the realm of possibility
Thought process
Does not describe what person is thinking but rather how the thoughts are
formulated, organized and expressed. i.e. person can have normal thought
process with significantly delusional thought content
flight of ideas
,jumps from one idea to another quickly, without connecting ideas, so listener
cannot follow; however, all ideas presented are logical
Circumstantial
contains many unrelated details and information unrelated to topic or response
to question; however, eventually gets back to topic or answers the question
Tangential
never circles back to the point or original question; unrelated and connected
only in a superficial, slight manner
Derailment/loose thoughts/associations
the connections between the sequential content are hard or impossible to follow;
words form sentences but sentences make no sense
perseveration
inability to leave the thought on one idea or content and pass over to the
discussion of the other topics; will always circle around one thing, even though
the interviewer tries to switch over to other topics;
repetitive repetition of a word, phase, and sometimes even a gesture - present in
alzheimers and dementia
thought blocking
seems unable to finish a thought; may hesitate midsentence or midthought and
leave the interviewer waiting for the completion; frequently comment that they
don't know what happened and often won't recall what was being discussed
Neologisms
, new word or condensed combination of several words that is not a true word
and is not readily understandable
word salad
confused, and often repetitious, language with no apparent meaning or
relationship attached to it
clang associations
thoughts are associated by the sound of words rather than by their meaning; i.e.
through rhyming or assonance
Illusion
misperception of stimuli: hearing the wind rustle through the trees outside one's
bedroom and thinking a name is being called
Hallucinations
perceptions in the absence of stimuli to account; i.e. auditory hallucinations
(most common), visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory
depersonalization
feel that one is not real or that one has changed; belief that one's environment
has somehow changed in some indescribable strange way
abstract thinking
ability to shift back and forth between general ideas and specific examples;
request that the patient identify similarities between similar objects or concepts
(apple and banana, car and bicycle)
what the patient's mood APPEARS to be to the clinician, can be flat, blunted,
constricted, shallow or inappropriate
thought content
what thoughts are occurring to the patient
obsessional thoughts
unwelcome and repetitive thoughts that intrude into the patient's consciousness;
generally ego alien and resisted by the patient
compulsions
repetitive, ritualized behaviours that patients feel compelled to perform to avoid
an increase in anxiety or some dreaded outcome
delusions
False, fixed ideas not shared by others and may be bizarre and non-bizarre
thought content that is not true, but is not out of the realm of possibility
Thought process
Does not describe what person is thinking but rather how the thoughts are
formulated, organized and expressed. i.e. person can have normal thought
process with significantly delusional thought content
flight of ideas
,jumps from one idea to another quickly, without connecting ideas, so listener
cannot follow; however, all ideas presented are logical
Circumstantial
contains many unrelated details and information unrelated to topic or response
to question; however, eventually gets back to topic or answers the question
Tangential
never circles back to the point or original question; unrelated and connected
only in a superficial, slight manner
Derailment/loose thoughts/associations
the connections between the sequential content are hard or impossible to follow;
words form sentences but sentences make no sense
perseveration
inability to leave the thought on one idea or content and pass over to the
discussion of the other topics; will always circle around one thing, even though
the interviewer tries to switch over to other topics;
repetitive repetition of a word, phase, and sometimes even a gesture - present in
alzheimers and dementia
thought blocking
seems unable to finish a thought; may hesitate midsentence or midthought and
leave the interviewer waiting for the completion; frequently comment that they
don't know what happened and often won't recall what was being discussed
Neologisms
, new word or condensed combination of several words that is not a true word
and is not readily understandable
word salad
confused, and often repetitious, language with no apparent meaning or
relationship attached to it
clang associations
thoughts are associated by the sound of words rather than by their meaning; i.e.
through rhyming or assonance
Illusion
misperception of stimuli: hearing the wind rustle through the trees outside one's
bedroom and thinking a name is being called
Hallucinations
perceptions in the absence of stimuli to account; i.e. auditory hallucinations
(most common), visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory
depersonalization
feel that one is not real or that one has changed; belief that one's environment
has somehow changed in some indescribable strange way
abstract thinking
ability to shift back and forth between general ideas and specific examples;
request that the patient identify similarities between similar objects or concepts
(apple and banana, car and bicycle)
