Author: Glossary

Also called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). A mood disorder (bipolar, bipolar ii, or recurrent major depressive disorder) in which there has been a regular temporal relationship between onset or disappearance of the episode and a particular season. For example, a patient may develop depression in the fall or winter, and remission from the depression may…

A consciously tolerable memory that serves as a cover for an associated memory that would be emotionally painful if recalled.  

Sexual pleasure derived from looking at another person’s body or sexual organs. The derivation of sexual pleasure from visual sources such as nudity and obscene pictures.  

The various theoretical frames of reference that influence and determine psychiatrists’ formulations of mental disorders and methods of treatment. Most commonly, the schools explain how psychiatric symptoms or disorders develop, how they interfere with functioning, and how and why they can be altered by therapeutic interventions.  

A term first used in 1962 by paul meehl to describe a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. The term has been used to describe a variety of negative symptoms and neuropsychological deficits present in 20%–50% of first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. According to Meehl, a possibly inherited neurological impairment resulting in an inability to integrate…

Clinical features are the same as those seen in schizophrenia, but the duration is less than that required for a diagnosis of schizophrenia (e.g., 6 months). This disorder is believed to have different correlates than schizophrenia, including a better prognosis. An acute onset disorder with symptoms identical to those of schizophrenia, but whose duration is…

In dsm-iv-tr, a group of mental disorders that includes schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, shared psychotic disorder, psychotic disorder due to a general medical condition, substance-induced psychotic disorder, and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified.  

A psychotic disorder in which either a major depressive or a manic episode develops concurrently with the symptoms of schizophrenia. Although mood episodes are present for a substantial portion of the psychotic disturbance, there are also periods of delusions or hallucinations in the absence of prominent mood symptoms. A depressive or manic syndrome that precedes…