Psychology: Speech and Thought Disorders

Study Notes

Thought Process

Neologisms are self-invented words or phrases, often associated with schizophrenia.
Word salad is a random combination of words without a logical connection.
Poverty of speech involves the patient uttering only a few words or syllables.
Poverty of content of speech produces sentences that may appear grammatically correct, but the overall communication is meaningless.
Incoherent or incomprehensible speech is often referred to as verbigeration and word salad.
Stream of thought refers to the production and quantity of thoughts, which can be overabundant or slowed.
Thought blocking interrupts a train of speech before a thought is completed.
Flight of ideas involves rapid generation of associated ideas.
Looseness of associations causes the individual to shift from one unrelated subject to another, unaware of the lack of connection.
Tangentiality refers to the inability to reach the point of communication due to the introduction of unrelated topics.
Circumstantiality involves delaying the point of communication due to excessive and unnecessary details.
Clanging association is a choice of words based on their sounds, often resulting in rhyming.
Echolalia is a meaningless, persistent verbal repetition of words or sounds heard by the patient.
Perseveration involves repeating the same word or idea in response to different questions.
Mutism is the inability or refusal to speak.

Thought Content

Illogical thinking produces conclusions that contain clear internal contradictions or are erroneous based on the initial premises.
Magical thinking is the belief that one's thoughts or behaviors have control over specific situations or people.
Obsessions are unwanted and persistent ideas, thoughts, images, or impulses that invade consciousness.
Compulsions are repeated, stereotyped actions or rituals performed to prevent anxiety.
Compulsions are obsessions expressed in behavior, while obsessions are thoughts.

Relationship to Reality

Psychosis is a mental state where the individual cannot distinguish reality from fantasy.
Overvalued ideas are unreasonable and persistent beliefs, held with less intensity than delusions, that are not generally accepted within the patient's culture.
Paranoia is a mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur and persecution, suspiciousness, jealousy, and resentment.
Delusions are false personal beliefs inconsistent with the individual's intelligence or cultural background, maintained despite evidence to the contrary.
Delusions of reference involve interpreting environmental events as personally directed towards the individual.
Ideas of reference are less rigid than delusions of reference. An example is irrationally assuming that others are discussing or ridiculing the individual while in their presence.
Delusions of control or influence involve the belief that certain objects or persons control the individual's behavior.
Grandiose delusions involve an exaggerated sense of importance, power, knowledge, or identity.
Jealous delusions involve suspicions of infidelity by a partner.
Nihilistic delusion is the false belief that the self, a part of the self, others, or the world is nonexistent.
Somatic delusion is a false belief about the functioning of the individual's body.
Persecutory delusions involve the belief that others intend to harm or persecute the individual.
Religiosity is an excessive demonstration or obsession with religious ideas and behavior.
Thought broadcasting is the belief that one's thoughts are no longer private and have become known to everyone.
Thought insertions involve the belief that thoughts have been placed into one's mind, leading to the feeling that these thoughts are not their own.
Thought withdrawal is the belief that thoughts are being taken or stolen from the mind, resulting in a perceived decrease in thoughts.