Iran Specialty Board Psychiatry key terms

A fixed false belief held with strong conviction despite clear contradictory evidence and outside the person's cultural or religious framework; it is not correctable by reasoning and shapes behavior.

A set of psychotic experiences, including thought broadcasting, thought insertion, thought withdrawal, made feelings and actions, and voices commenting or arguing, once considered especially indicative of schizophrenia.

Reductions in normal function such as blunted affect, alogia, avolition, anhedonia, and asociality; they predict poorer functional outcome and respond less well to dopamine-blocking antipsychotics than positive symptoms.

Continuous signs of disturbance lasting at least six months, including at least one month of active-phase symptoms, with residual or prodromal periods allowed in the remaining time.

A condition identical in symptom pattern to schizophrenia but lasting at least one month and less than six months, with full return to premorbid functioning expected in many cases.

Sudden onset of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, or grossly abnormal behavior lasting more than one day but less than one month, with eventual full return to prior functioning.

Presence of one or more delusions lasting at least one month without prominent hallucinations, disorganized speech, or markedly impaired functioning; subtypes include erotomanic, grandiose, jealous, persecutory, and somatic.

An atypical antipsychotic reserved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia; it requires regular white blood cell monitoring because of agranulocytosis risk and can cause myocarditis, seizures, and severe constipation.

Failure of at least two adequate trials of different antipsychotics, at appropriate doses and duration, to produce meaningful symptom improvement; clozapine is the evidence-based next step.

A life-threatening reaction to dopamine-blocking drugs marked by hyperthermia, lead-pipe rigidity, autonomic instability, and elevated creatine kinase; treatment involves stopping the drug and supportive care.

Drug-induced movement disorders from dopamine blockade, including acute dystonia, parkinsonism, akathisia, and tardive dyskinesia; each has distinct timing and management.

A toxic hyper-serotonergic state from serotonergic drug combinations, producing agitation, clonus, hyperreflexia, tremor, diaphoresis, and fever; clonus and hyperreflexia help distinguish it from neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

An antidepressant class that blocks monoamine breakdown; it carries hypertensive crisis risk with tyramine-rich foods and severe interactions with serotonergic agents, requiring washout periods when switching.

A dangerous blood pressure surge that can follow ingestion of tyramine-rich food or sympathomimetic drugs during MAOI treatment, presenting with severe headache, sweating, and possible intracranial hemorrhage.

At least two weeks of depressed mood or loss of interest plus additional symptoms such as sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, and psychomotor changes, causing clinically significant distress or impairment.

A mood disorder defined by at least one manic episode, which may be preceded or followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes; mania causes marked impairment or requires hospitalization.

At least four days of elevated, expansive, or irritable mood with increased energy and related symptoms, clearly different from usual behavior but without marked impairment, psychosis, or need for hospitalization.

Four or more mood episodes within twelve months in a bipolar disorder; it is more common in women, associated with antidepressant use, and predicts a more treatment-refractory course.

Delivery of a controlled seizure under anesthesia to treat severe or treatment-resistant mood disorders, catatonia, and some psychotic conditions; it is highly effective but may cause transient memory problems.

A noninvasive neuromodulation technique using focused magnetic pulses over cortical targets, commonly the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, to treat depression and some other conditions without anesthesia.

A recurrent, persistent, intrusive thought, urge, or image that the person experiences as unwanted and distressing and attempts to ignore, suppress, or neutralize.

A repetitive behavior or mental act performed in response to an obsession or rigid rule, aimed at reducing distress or preventing a feared outcome, and not realistically connected to that outcome.

A cognitive-behavioral treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder in which the patient confronts feared triggers while refraining from rituals, allowing anxiety to habituate and beliefs to be tested.

A trauma-related disorder with intrusion symptoms, avoidance, negative changes in cognition and mood, and altered arousal lasting more than one month after exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or violence.

Trauma-related symptoms lasting from three days to one month after exposure, including intrusion, dissociation, avoidance, and hyperarousal; it predicts later post-traumatic stress disorder.

Emotional or behavioral symptoms developing within three months of an identifiable stressor and causing marked distress or impairment, without meeting criteria for another disorder or normal bereavement.

An acute, fluctuating disturbance of attention and awareness with altered cognition, usually caused by a medical condition, medications, or withdrawal; it is a medical emergency requiring cause identification.

A chronic, progressive decline in two or more cognitive domains severe enough to impair independence, not explained by delirium, and often accompanied by behavioral and psychological symptoms.

A neurodegenerative syndrome with prominent behavioral or language changes from frontal and temporal lobe atrophy, often presenting with disinhibition, apathy, or progressive aphasia before memory loss.

A syndrome of abnormal psychomotor activity including stupor, mutism, posturing, negativism, waxy flexibility, and excitement; it occurs in mood and psychotic disorders and medical conditions and responds to benzodiazepines or ECT.

A neurodevelopmental disorder of persistent inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity, beginning before age twelve and impairing functioning across at least two settings such as home and school.

A neurodevelopmental condition with persistent deficits in social communication and interaction plus restricted, repetitive behaviors or interests, with onset in early development and wide variation in severity.

Limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior originating during the developmental period, classified by severity and requiring support in conceptual, social, and practical domains.

A persistent difficulty in acquiring academic skills such as reading, writing, or mathematics despite adequate instruction, not better explained by intellectual disability or sensory deficits.

A repetitive pattern of behavior violating the rights of others or major age-appropriate norms, including aggression, property destruction, deceit, and serious rule violations, with childhood and adolescent onset subtypes.

A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of others' rights from age fifteen, with evidence of conduct disorder before age fifteen and no exclusive link to schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

A pervasive pattern of instability in relationships, self-image, and affect with marked impulsivity, fear of abandonment, recurrent self-harm, and transient stress-related paranoid or dissociative symptoms.

A structured psychotherapy combining acceptance and change strategies, skills training in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, developed for chronic suicidality and borderline personality disorder.

A structured clinical evaluation of suicidal ideation, intent, plan, access to means, prior attempts, protective factors, and psychiatric and medical contributors to estimate acute and chronic risk.

Detention and treatment without consent permitted when mental disorder causes danger to self or others or grave disability, subject to legal safeguards, review, and least-restrictive-means principles.

Voluntary authorization of treatment by a person with decision-making capacity after receiving and understanding information about the nature, risks, benefits, and alternatives of the proposed intervention.

Clinical evaluation of whether a person can understand relevant information, appreciate the situation and consequences, reason with options, and communicate a consistent choice about a specific decision.

Distressing physical symptoms with excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors about them that persist for at least six months, regardless of whether a medical explanation exists.

Preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness without substantial somatic symptoms, with high health anxiety and frequent checking or avoidance lasting at least six months.

One or more symptoms of altered voluntary motor or sensory function that are incompatible with recognized neurological disease, causing distress or impairment and not intentionally produced.

Inability to recall important autobiographical information, usually stressful or traumatic, that is inconsistent with ordinary forgetting and not due to a substance or neurological condition.

Disruption of identity with two or more distinct personality states, accompanied by gaps in recall of everyday events, personal information, or trauma, causing significant distress or impairment.

Persistent or recurrent experiences of unreality or detachment from oneself, such as feeling like an outside observer of one's thoughts, body, or actions, while reality testing remains intact.

A substance-specific syndrome of symptoms and signs following cessation or reduction of prolonged heavy use, often driving continued use to relieve distress and sometimes requiring medically supervised management.

The need for markedly increased amounts of a substance to achieve the desired effect, or diminished effect with continued use of the same amount, reflecting neuroadaptation.

Severe alcohol withdrawal with confusion, agitation, hallucinations, tremor, and autonomic instability, typically beginning two to four days after the last drink and carrying significant mortality without treatment.

A collaborative, person-centered counseling style that explores and strengthens a person's own reasons for change by eliciting change talk and rolling with resistance rather than confronting.

A set of cognitive-behavioral and skills-based strategies that identify high-risk situations, manage cravings and lapses, and restructure coping responses to maintain abstinence or controlled use.

The number of new cases of a disorder arising in a defined population during a specified period, divided by the population at risk; it measures how fast new disease develops.

The proportion of a population that has a disorder at a given time (point prevalence) or during a period (period prevalence), reflecting both incidence and duration of illness.

The ratio of the risk of an outcome in an exposed group to the risk in an unexposed group; it quantifies the strength of association in cohort studies.

The number of patients who must receive an intervention for one additional patient to benefit, calculated as the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction; lower values indicate greater clinical efficiency.