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Ideas of Reference
Weak delusions of reference, devoid of inner conviction and with a stronger reality test. See: Delusion.
The Delusional Way Out
Psychosis, Delusions, and Personality Disorders
Ideas of Reference
Illusion
The misperception or misinterpretation of real external - visual or auditory - stimuli, attributing them to non-existent events and actions. Incorrect perception of a material object. See: Hallucination.
Incoherence
Incomprehensible speech, rife with severely loose associations, distorted grammar, tortured syntax, and idiosyncratic definitions of the words used by the patient ("private language"). A loosening of associations. A pattern of speech in which unrelated or loosely-related ideas are expressed hurriedly and forcefully, using broken, ungrammatical, non-syntactical sentences, an idiosyncratic vocabulary ("private language"), topical shifts, and inane juxtapositions ("word salad"). See: Loosening of Associations; Flight of Ideas; Tangentiality.
Insomnia
Sleep disorder or disturbance involving difficulties to either fall asleep ("initial insomnia") or to remain asleep ("middle insomnia"). Waking up early and being unable to resume sleep is also a form of insomnia ("terminal insomnia").
Loosening of Associations
Thought and speech disorder which involves the translocation of the focus of attention from one subject to another for no apparent reason. The patient is usually unaware of the fact that his train of thoughts and his speech are incongruous and incoherent. A sign of schizophrenia and some psychotic states. See: Incoherence; Flight of Ideas; Tangentiality.
Mood
Pervasive and sustained feelings and emotions as subjectively described by the patient. The same phenomena observed by the clinician are called affect. Mood can be either dysphoric (unpleasant) or euphoric (elevated, expansive, "good mood"). Dysphoric moods are characterized by a reduced sense of well-being, depleted energy, and negative self-regard or sense of self-worth. Euphoric moods typically involve an increased sense of well-being, ample energy, and a stable sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Also see: Affect.
Mood Congruence and Incongruence
The contents of mood-congruent hallucinations and delusions are consistent and compatible with the patient's mood. During the manic phase of the Bipolar Disorder, for instance, such hallucinations and delusions involve grandiosity, omnipotence, personal identification with great personalities in history or with deities, and magical thinking. In depression, mood-congruent hallucinations and delusions revolve around themes like the patient's self-misperceived faults, shortcomings, failures, worthlessness, guilt - or the patient's impending doom, death, and "well-deserved" sadistic punishment.
The contents of mood-incongruent hallucinations and delusions are inconsistent and incompatible with the patient's mood. Most persecutory delusions and delusions and ideas of reference, as well as phenomena such as control "freakery" and Schneiderian First-rank Symptoms are mood-incongruent. Mood incongruence is especially prevalent in schizophrenia, psychosis, mania, and depression.
Misdiagnosing the Bipolar Disorder as Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Depression and Cluster B Personality Disorders - click on these links:
Depression and the Narcissist
The Depressive Narcissist
Mutism
Abstention from speech or refusal to speak. Common in catatonia.
Negativism
In catatonia, complete opposition and resistance to suggestion.
Neologism
In schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, the invention of new "words" which are meaningful to the patient but meaningless to everyone else. To form the neologisms, the patient fuses together and combines syllables or other elements from existing words.
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