Phenomenology

Front 1

Perception

Back 1

Awareness of processed data from sensory organs.

Front 2

Imagery

Back 2

Awareness of a percept generated within the mind. Healthy people can distinguish perception from imagery.

Front 3

Illusion

Back 3

Misperception of a real external stimulus. Frequent with low-intensity stimuli (e.g. dusky light), in reduced level of consciousness (e.g. on waking, delirium) and in anxiety.

Front 4

Hallucination

Back 4

A percept in the absence of an external stimulus. Cannot be terminated at will. Usually associated with psychiatric disease, but can be caused by sensory pathway pathology, epilepsy or bereavement.

Front 5

Auditory hallucinations

Back 5

Often voices or music. Voices may be second or third person. Second person content can signify pathology (e.g. 'you are worthless' in depression). Third person often associated with schizophrenia.

Front 6

Elementary hallucination

Back 6

Precept of a simple stimulus (e.g. flash of light, bang)

Front 7

Complex hallucination

Back 7

Precept of a detailed, complicated stimulus (e.g. face, voices)

Front 8

Olfactory / gustatory hallucinations

Back 8

Frequent occur together, usually unpleasant. Associated with schizophrenia, severe depression temporal lobe epilepsy and olfactory tumours.

Front 9

Tactile hallucination

Back 9

Skin or internal organs being touched or manipulated. Occur in schizophrenia and cocaine abuse.

Front 10

Delusion

Back 10

Fixed belief held on inadequate grounds despite evidence to the contrary. Must be unconventional given social background.

Front 11

Primary delusion

Back 11

Delusion which appears with no clear experience to precipitate it

Front 12

Secondary delusion

Back 12

Delusion arising from a previous experience (e.g. hearing voices precipitating delusion of being followed, or low mood leading to delusion of being abandoned).

Front 13

Delusional system

Back 13

Collection of complex, integrated delusions resulting in a fixed system of beliefs.

Front 14

Delusional perception

Back 14

Attaching a delusional significance to a normal perception (e.g. seeing rain as an indicator of impending death)

Front 15

Persecutory delusions

Back 15

Belief that a person or group is out to harm them. Not diagnostically significant in itself, but patient's interpretation may be (e.g. due to being a bad person in depression, unjustified in schizophrenia)

Front 16

Delusions of reference

Back 16

Belief that unconnected events have personal significance (e.g. fiction book giving instructions).

Front 17

Grandiose delusions

Back 17

Belief of exaggerated self-importance. Common in mania and schizophrenia.

Front 18

Delusion of guilt

Back 18

Attributing exaggerated consequences to a relatively small mistake in the past. Common in depression.

Front 19

Nihilistic delusions

Back 19

The belief that something has been (or will be) lost or destroyed, e.g. their career is destroyed because of illness. Common in depression.

Front 20

Hypochondriacal delusions

Back 20

Belief of current illness despite all evidence to the contrary. Different to hypochondriasis in that the beliefs are fixed.

Front 21

Delusions of control

Back 21

Belief that thoughts or actions are controlled by an outside agency. Does not include obeying hallucinations or belief of control by a deity.

Front 22

Thought insertion

Back 22

Belief that thoughts are not a product by the patient's own mind, but are inserted by an outside agency.

Front 23

Thought withdrawal

Back 23

Belief that patient's thoughts are being taken away by an outside agency. Often associated with a sudden halt in the thought process.

Front 24

Thought broadcasting

Back 24

Belief that a patient's thoughts can be heard or read by outside agency. Differs from thought withdrawal in that the thought is still known to the patient.

Front 25

Obsession

Back 25

Recurrent and intrusive thoughts, impulses or images. Recognized by patient as untrue/illogical and as a product of their own mind.

Front 26

Compulsion

Back 26

Repeated purposeful action in response to an obsession. Known by patient to be senseless, but has a sense that it must be completed.

Front 27

Overvalued idea

Back 27

Initially acceptable idea pursued by a patient beyond reasonable bounds. Differ from delusions in that they are initially reasonable, of culturally common themes and have at least a small, transient amount of insight. Body image in anorexia nervosa is an example.

Front 28

Thought block

Back 28

Sensation of one's thoughts being suddenly interrupted. Patients often attributed to thought withdrawal. Suggestive of schizophrenia.

Front 29

Perseveration

Back 29

Persistent and inappropriate repetition of thoughts or phrases. Common in dementia and frontal lobe pathology.

Front 30

Flight of idea

Back 30

Rapid progression in the subject of speech and thought that generally follows a logical path. Suggestive of mania.

Front 31

Loosening of associations

Back 31

Loss of the normal structure of thinking. Presents as muddled or illogical in conversation, unable to be clarified.

Front 32

Verbigeration

Back 32

Also known as 'word salad'. Senseless collection of words or noises.

Front 33

Neologism

Back 33

Word invented by patient to describe a morbid experience

Front 34

Depersonalization

Back 34

Sensation that a part of the body or mind is unreal or detached.

Front 35

Derealization

Back 35

The sensation of external objects (e.g. trees, other people) appearing unreal or lifeless.

Front 36

Insight

Back 36

Awareness of pathological changes and appropriate responses. Can be divided into four areas: recognizing behaviours, recognizing those behaviours as unusual, recognizing unusual behaviours as a symptom of mental illness and recognizing the need for treatment.

Front 37

Confabulation

Back 37

Fabrication or distortion of memories, with no intent to deceive by the patient.

Front 38

Consciousness

Back 38

Awareness of the self and the environment

Front 39

Attention

Back 39

Ability to focus on a task or topic, even transiently.

Front 40

Concentration

Back 40

Ability to sustain attention for extended periods of time