Schizophasia
Schizophasia or word salad is language that is confused and often repetitious, symptomatic of various mental illnesses.[1]
| Schizophasia | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Word salad |
| Specialty | Psychiatry |
| Symptoms | Unintelligible speech |
It is usually associated with a manic presentation of bipolar affective disorder and other symptoms of serious mental illnesses, such as psychosis, including schizophrenia. It is characterized by an apparently confused usage of words with no apparent meaning or relationship attached to them. In this context, it is considered to be a symptom of a formal thought disorder. In some cases schizophasia can be a sign of asymptomatic schizophrenia; e.g. the question "Why do people believe in God?" could elicit a response consisting of a series of words commonly associated with religion or prayer but strung together with no regard to language rules.
Schizophasia should be contrasted with another symptom of cognitive disruption and cognitive slippage involving certain idiosyncratic arrangements of words. With this symptom, the language may or may not be grammatically correct depending on the severity of the disease and the particular mechanisms which have been impacted by the disease.
The American diagnostic codes, from the DSM-V, do not specifically code for this disorder although they include it as a symptom under the diagnosis of schizophrenia.[2]
See also
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References
- Berrios G.E. (1999) Falret, Séglas, Morselli and Masselon, and the "Language of the Insane": a conceptual history. Brain and Language 69: 56–75.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). 1994.
