Glossary

Sudden, overwhelming anxiety of such intensity that it produces terror and physiological changes.

Unrealistic suspiciousness and guardedness, not necessarily of delusional proportions.

A condition characterised by an intricate, complex, and elaborate system of thinking based on (and often proceeding logically from) misinterpretation of an actual event. Belief that a person or persons is/are persecuting them. Despite its chronic course, this condition does not seem to interfere with thinking and personality. Includes persecutory delusions and delusions of reference, control and grandeur

A range of delusions about one's will, thoughts, feelings or actions being controlled by some outside agency. Thought passivity may take several forms: in thought insertion, thoughts are experienced as having been placed within one's mind from the outside; in thought withdrawal, thoughts are whisked out of the mind; in thought broadcasting, one experiences thoughts as escaping one's mind to be heard by others. These experiences are often combined with specific delusions of control, seemingly to explain the passivity experiences.

Conscious awareness of the elements in the environment by the mental processing of sensory stimuli.

Beliefs that centre on the theme that one is being deliberately wronged, conspired against, or harmed by another person or agency.

Individual repeats either their own words, phrase or theme regardless of the context or question asked, even if the subject is changed. Perseveration is seen in major depressive disorder, frontal lobe damage, and schizophrenia, catatonic type. Documented in thought form and flow section of MSE.

Fear cued by the presence or anticipation of a specific object or situation, exposure to which almost invariably provokes an immediate anxiety response or panic attack even though the subject recognises that the fear is excessive or unreasonable. The phobic stimulus is avoided or endured with marked distress.

Two types of phobia have been differentiated:

• specific phobia (simple phobia), and

• social phobia.

Specific phobia is subtyped on the basis of the object feared. E.g. The natural environment (animals, insects, storms, water, etc.); blood, injection, or injury; situations (cars, airplanes, heights, tunnels, etc.); and other situations that may lead to choking, vomiting, or contracting an illness are all specific phobias.

In social phobia (social anxiety disorder), the persistent fear is of social situations that might expose one to scrutiny by others and induce one to act in a way or show anxiety symptoms that will be humiliating or embarrassing.

In psychosis and schizophrenia: hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder.

Restricted amount of spontaneous speech. Replies to questions are brief and monosyllabic. It is presumed that this results from underlying poverty of thought.