Vocabulary list for mental status exam Affect the external manifestation of a feeling or emotion that is manifested in facial expressions tone of voice and body language Akathisia regular rhythmic movements usually of the lower limbs with constant pacing sometimes seen often noticed in people taking antipsychotic medication Ambivalence the holding at the same time of two opposing emotions attitudes ideas or wishes toward the same person situation or object Anhedonia the inability to experience pleasure Anorexia a medical term that signifies a loss of appetite a person with this disorder may suppress the desire for food in order to control his or her eating Anxiety a state of feeling apprehension uneasiness uncertainty or dread results from a real or perceived threat whose actual source is unknown and unrecognized Associative looseness loose associations a disturbance of thinking in which ideas shift from one subject to another in an oblique or unrelated manner Boundaries functions that maintain a distinction among individuals within a family or group and between family members and the outside world Boundaries may be clear diffuse ridged or inconsistent Clang association the meaningless rhyming of words often in a forceful manner Concrete thinking thinking grounded in immediate experience rather than abstraction There is an overemphasis on specific detail as opposed to general and abstract concepts Confabulation the filling of a memory gap with a story that is believed by the teller The purpose is to maintain self esteem and it is seen in organic conditions such as dementia Delusion a false belief held to be true even with evidence to the contrary Echolalia repeating of the last words spoken by another mimicry or imitation of the speech of another person Echopraxia mimicry or imitation of the movements of another person Empathy the ability of one person to get inside another s world see things from the other person s perspective and communicate this understanding to the other person Flight of ideas a continuous flow of speech in which the person jumps rapidly from one topic to another Sometimes the listener can keep up with the changes at other times it is necessary to listen for themes in the incessant talking Themes often include grandiose and fantasized evaluation of personal sexual prowess business ability artistic talents and so forth Grandiosity exaggerated belief in or claims about one s importance or identity Hypersomnia the spending of increased time in sleep possibly to escape from painful feelings however the increased sleep is not experienced as restful or refreshing Hypomania an elevated mood with symptoms less severe than those of mania a person in hypomania does not experience impairment in in reality testing nor do the symptoms markedly impair the persons social occupational or interpersonal functions Ideas of reference the false impression that outside events have special meaning for oneself Illusions errors in the perception of a sensory Mania and unstable elevated mood in which delusion poor judgment and other signs of impaired reality testing are evident during a manic episode patients have marked impairment of social occupational and interpersonal functioning Milieu therapy a psychiatric philosophy that involves a secure environment to effect positive change take naturally occurring events in the environment and uses them as rich learning opportunities for patients Neologism words a person makes up that have meaning only for that person often part of a delusional system Paranoia a state characterized by the presence of intense and strongly defended irrational suspicions these ideas cannot be corrected by experience and cannot be modified by facts or reality Perseveration the involuntary repetition of the same thought phrase or motor response Psychomotor agitation constant involvement in tension relieving activities such as pacing biting ones nails smoking or tapping ones fingers on a table Psychomotor retardation extreme slowness of and difficulty in physical and emotional reactions that in the extreme can entail complete inactivity and incontinence Suicidal ideation thoughts a person has regarding killing himself or herself Word salad a mixture of words meaningless to the listener and the speaker as well Abstract thinking the ability to use concepts and to make and understand generalizations such as properties or pattern shared by a variety of specific items or events Avolition a psychological state characterized by general risk of drive or motivation to pusue meaningful goals A person will show little participation in work or have little interest in socializing They may stay sill for long periods of time Blocking the action or process of obstructing movement progress or activity in particular Blunted affect lack of emotional reactivity on the part of an individual Failure to express feelings either verbally or non verbally especially when talking about issues that would normally be expected to engage the emotions Catatonia abnormality of movement and behavior arising from a disturbed mental state Circumstantial speech a communication disorder in which the focus of a conversation drifts but often come back to the point Compulsion an irresistible urge to behave in a certain way especially against ones conscious wishes Depression severe despondency and dejection typically felt over a period of time and accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy Disorientation opposite of orientation it is a cognitive disability in which the sense of time direction and recognition of items people and places become difficult to identify Dystonia abnormal muscle tone resulting in muscular spasm and abnormal posture typically due to neurological diseases or side effects of drug therapy Euthymic normal non depressed reasonably positive mood Flat affect one of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia the person lacks a normal range of feelings and behaviors Hallucination an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present Hostile unfriendly Insight the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing Judgment the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions Labile liable to change easily altered Mood a temporary state of mind or feeling Persecution hostility and ill treatment especially because of race political or religious beliefs Poverty of speech general lack of additional unprompted