Science / Psychiatry Glossary

Hypnagogic Hallucination: hallucination occurring whilst falling asleep. Occurs in normal people.

Hypnopompic: Referring to the state immediately preceding awakening; may include hallucinations that are of no pathological significance.

Hypoaesthesia: sensory distortion in which sensations appear decreased.

Hypochondriasis: preoccupation, not based on a real organic pathology, with a fear of having a serious physical illness. Physical sensations are unrealistically interpreted as being abnormal.

ICD-10: tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases published by the World Health Organization, Geneva (1992)

Id: unconscious part of the mental apparatus which is partly made up of inherited instincts and partly by acquired, but repressed components.

Idealization: A mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others.

Ideas Of Reference: The unfounded belief that objects, events, or people are of personal significance. For example, a person may think that a television program he is watching is all about him. May reach suffic . . . View Full Definition

Identification: A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, by which one patterns oneself after some other person. Identification plays a major role in the development of ones personality and specifically . . . View Full Definition

Idiot Savant: A person with gross mental retardation who nonetheless is capable of performing certain remarkable feats in sharply circumscribed intellectual areas, such as calendar calculation or puzzle solving.

Illusion: A misperception or misinterpretation of a real external stimulus, such as hearing the rustling of leaves as the sound of voices. See also hallucination.

Imprinting: A term in ethology referring to a process similar to rapid learning or behavioral patterning that occurs at critical points in very early stages of animal development. The extent to which im . . . View Full Definition

Inappropriate Affect: Reacting in an inappropriate manner, such as laughing when hearing bad news.

Incoherence: Speech or thinking that is essentially incomprehensible to others because words or phrases are joined together without a logical or meaningful connection. This disturbance occurs within clau . . . View Full Definition

Incorporation: A primitive defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which the psychic representation of a person, or parts of the person, is figuratively ingested.

Individuation: A process of differentiation, the end result of which is development of the individual personality that is separate and distinct from all others.

Induced Psychosis: delusional disorder shared by two or more people who are closely related emotionally. One has a real psychosis whilst symptoms are induced in the other. Separation results in symptomatic imp . . . View Full Definition

Initial Insomnia: Difficulty in falling asleep.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27