Glossary

Habitually silent, reserved, or uncommunicative; not inclined to conversation.

Perception of being touched or of something being under one's skin such as the sensation of pins being stuck into one's finger. The sensation of something crawling under one's skin is called formication; frequently linked to withdrawal from substances, neurodegenerative diseases and psychosis. 

Replying to a question in an oblique or irrelevant way. The person does not get around to answering the question.

The collective grouping for thought insertion, withdrawal and broadcasting.

A sudden obstruction or interruption in spontaneous flow of thinking or speaking, perceived as an absence or deprivation of thought.

The experience that one's thoughts are being transmitted from one's mind and broadcast to everyone.

Refers to what the person is talking about, rather than how the person is thinking. Preoccupations, obsessions, phobias, and delusions are examples of disturbance in thought content. Thoughts of harm to self and/or others are recorded in this component of the Mental State Examination.

Refers to a disturbance of a person’s ability to process, organize, and express thoughts logically. Another term used synonymously with thought disorder is ‘formal thought disorder’. Thought disorders are recorded in the thought form/flow component of the Mental State Examination.

Thought form/flow refers to how a person thinks, including rate, amount of thoughts and the connections between thoughts.  Disturbances of thought form/flow are disturbances in the logical flow and connectedness of how someone talks about ideas or topics.

The subjective feeling that thoughts in one's mind are not one's own, often explained by a secondary delusion of insertion by some outside agency. The experience of alien thoughts being inserted into the mind.