Which one of the following is a disorder of thoughts?

Appeared in: UPPSC 2023

Explanation

A delusion is a fixed, false belief that is firmly held despite clear evidence to the contrary.
It is classified as a disorder of thought content, as it relates to what a person is thinking.
Common types of delusions include persecutory, grandiose, somatic, and jealous delusions.
Unlike illusions, which are misinterpretations of real stimuli, delusions are beliefs that have no basis in reality.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Amnesia is a disorder of memory, not thought. It involves the inability to recall information or past events.
Option B: Illusion is a disorder of perception, not thought. It is a misinterpretation of a real sensory stimulus.
Option D: Echolalia is a disorder of speech, not thought. It is the pathological, parrot-like repetition of another person's words.

Related Visual

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Classification of Psychiatric Disorders as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Accurately identifying the type of symptom a patient is experiencing (e.g., thought vs. perceptual disorder) is crucial for making the correct psychiatric diagnosis.
A nurse's detailed and accurate documentation of a patient's speech, thought content, and perceptions provides vital data for the diagnostic process and for evaluating treatment effectiveness.
What if the patient reported hearing voices that no one else could hear? This would be a hallucination, a disorder of perception, not a delusion (a disorder of thought). The nursing intervention would focus on ensuring safety and exploring the content of the hallucinations.

How to Approach the Question

First, understand the question. It asks to identify a 'disorder of thoughts'.
Define 'disorder of thought' in your mind. This refers to abnormalities in the content or process of thinking.
Evaluate each option against this definition.
Amnesia is about memory loss.
Illusion is about misinterpreting sensory input.
Delusion is a false, fixed belief, which is a core problem with thought content.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Classification of Psychiatric Disorders
Stem keywords: disorder of thoughts
Lead-in keywords: Which one
Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QYZuOn0-4Uokc7ESefP1PS

Reference Book

E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 50-52

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 4740-4742, 3794-3796

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