Thought Disorder

Thought disorder, also known as formal thought disorder in the psychiatry field, is a symptom of psychotic mental illness. The characteristics of this symptom include a constant disruption of conscious thought and an impact on oral and written communication. People with thought disorder commonly speak very rapidly and change topics in the midst of a thought.

Symptoms

The following are symptoms of thought disorder:

Pressure of speech -- words are delivered at a quicker pace than is customary for the language being spoken.
Distractible speech -- changes in surroundings cause the person to suddenly switch topics.
- "Then, I got in my car and drove to...did you just get a haircut?"
Tangentiality -- answering questions in a roundabout or incoherent manner.
- "Where did you grow up?" "Well, let me think. I'm from Florida, but I don't know where my ancestors are from. So, I could be German or Italian."
Derailment -- train of thought suddenly shifts from one idea to another that is entirely unrelated.
- "I was watching this great comedy movie at the theater, so yeah, I put the garbage out on the curb for pickup every Tuesday."
Incoherence -- also referred to as word salad, speech is unrecognizable because one word does not coincide with the next, resulting in strings of indecipherable gibberish.
- "Where are we going for dinner?" "Lou Yankees jacket, missing teeth bald circle. Gary darling. Scum glasses marry me."

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