A person with schizophrenia was found to repeat whatever words the psychiatric nurse was speaking. This behaviour can be labelled as?

Appeared in: GMCH Chandigarh - 2019

Explanation

Echolalia is the pathological, parrot-like, and seemingly senseless repetition of a word or phrase just spoken by another person.
It is a type of disorganized speech, which is considered a positive symptom of schizophrenia.
The key feature is the immediate and automatic imitation of another person's speech, as described in the clinical scenario where the patient repeats the nurse's words.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Echopraxia is the involuntary repetition of another person's movements or actions, not their words.
Option B: Neologism involves coining new, meaningless words that only have meaning to the individual speaking them. The patient is repeating existing words, not inventing new ones.
Option C: Word salad refers to a jumble of incoherent, random words and phrases that lack logical connection. Echolalia is a structured repetition of a specific phrase.

Related Visual

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Knowing Disorganized Speech and Thought in Schizophrenia helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
Recognizing specific types of disorganized speech like echolalia is a key nursing assessment skill in psychiatry, helping to diagnose thought disorders and monitor changes in a patient's mental state.
When communicating with a patient exhibiting echolalia, nurses should use simple, concrete sentences and avoid complex questions to minimize confusion and facilitate understanding.
What if the patient was mimicking the nurse's gestures (e.g., folding arms) instead of their words? In that case, the correct term would be Echopraxia, which is the imitation of movement.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the key behavior described in the question stem, which is 'repeat whatever words the psychiatric nurse was speaking'.
Next, analyze the options provided. All are psychiatric terms related to communication or behavior.
Recall the specific definitions for each term. 'Echo' relates to repetition, which is a strong clue.
Differentiate between 'lalia' (speech) and 'praxia' (action/movement). Since the patient is repeating words, 'lalia' is the correct suffix.
Match the behavior (repeating words) to its precise definition (Echolalia) and rule out the other options based on their distinct meanings.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Disorganized Speech and Thought in Schizophrenia
Stem keywords: schizophrenia, repeat whatever words
Lead-in keywords: labelled as
Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

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Reference Book

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 1572-1574

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