What is it called when someone can't stay on topic?

Tangential speech or tangentiality is a communication disorder in which the train of thought of the speaker wanders and shows a lack of focus, never returning to the initial topic of the conversation.


Why do I keep jumping from topic to topic?

Flight of ideas occurs when someone talks quickly and erratically, jumping rapidly between ideas and thoughts. Flight of ideas is not a medical condition in itself. It is a symptom that may occur as part of mania, psychosis, and some neurodevelopmental conditions.

What is tangential thinking a symptom of?

Tangentiality is the tendency to speak about topics unrelated to the main topic of discussion. While most people engage in tangentiality from time to time, constant and extreme tangentiality may indicate an underlying mental health condition, particularly schizophrenia.


What is tangential thinking?

[1] Tangentiality refers to a disturbance in the thought process that causes the individual to relate excessive or irrelevant detail that never reaches the essential point of a conversation or the desired answer to a question.

What does tangential speech mean?

Tangential speech: Also known as tangentiality, this describes the phenomenon in which a person constantly digresses to random, irrelevant ideas and topics.


Staying on Topic - Conversations with Friends (visual aids)



What is a Alogia?

Some people are naturally quiet and don't say much. But if you have a serious mental illness, brain injury, or dementia, talking might be hard. This lack of conversation is called alogia, or “poverty of speech.” Alogia can affect your quality of life.

What is Circumlocutory speech?

Circumlocutory speech is a “language disorder where the patient refers to an object, event, or person, describing its characteristics instead of using its name,” says WebMD. More informally, circumlocutory speech is when a person takes a while to “get to the point” or uses excessive wording to illustrate a thought.

What is nihilistic delusion?

Nihilistic delusions, also known as délires de négation, are specific psychopathological entities characterized by the delusional belief of being dead, decomposed or annihilated, having lost one's own internal organs or even not existing entirely as a human being.


What is derailed thinking?

disconnected thought processes, as manifested by a tendency to shift from one topic to another that is indirectly related or completely unrelated to the first. Thought derailment is a symptom of schizophrenia; the term is essentially equivalent to cognitive derailment.

What is circumferential thinking?

A circumstantial thought process is also known as circumstantiality. It's when you include a lot of unnecessary and insignificant details in your conversation or writing. This takes away from the main point of what you're saying.

What is tactile delusion?

Tactile hallucinations are sensations of touch without any physical stimulus. Some people may experience sensations of touch or movement on the skin, or within the body. Hallucinations are things that appear real to the person experiencing them but are actually just perceptions created by the mind.


What are the four types of thought disorders?

Perseveration: excessive repetition of words, ideas, or subjects. Echolalia: speech repeats words or phrases of interviewer. Blocking: interruption of speech while ostensibly in pursuit of a goal. Stilted speech: odd language use that may be excessively formal, pompous, outdated, or quaint.

What is rambling a symptom of?

Rambling and long-winded anecdotes could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease, according to research that suggests subtle changes in speech style occur years before the more serious mental decline takes hold.

Why do I keep zoning out during conversations?

Nearly everyone zones out from time to time. It might happen more frequently when you feel bored or stressed, or when you'd rather be doing something else. It's also pretty common to experience prolonged spaciness or brain fog if you're dealing with grief, a painful breakup, or other difficult life circumstances.


Why do I drift off in conversations?

Your mind may wander a lot during conversations because you're not trying to do any different. Make a conscious effort to stay focused on the people you're talking to. If you catch yourself zoning out, switch your attention back to the interaction (without stopping to be too hard on yourself).

What does a psychotic break look like?

Typically, a psychotic break indicates the first onset of psychotic symptoms for a person or the sudden onset of psychotic symptoms after a period of remission. Symptoms may include delusional thoughts and beliefs, auditory and visual hallucinations, and paranoia.

What type of disorder that can disrupt thinking?

Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a complex psychotic disorder characterised by disruptions to thinking and emotions, and a distorted perception of reality.


What is catatonic behavior?

Catatonia is a disorder that disrupts a person's awareness of the world around them. People with this condition sometimes react very little or not at all to their surroundings, or might behave in ways that are unusual, unexpected or unsafe to themselves or others.

What is Overinclusive thinking?

Overinclusive thinking is usually conceptualized as the inability to preserve conceptual boundaries and identified as a cognitive characteristic of individuals with schizotypy who show an over-responsiveness to associative or irrelevant aspects of words and extraneous stimuli (Payne and Friedlander, 1962).

What is Capgras syndrome?

Background Capgras syndrome is characterized by a delusional belief that a person has been replaced by an imposter. It has been described in psychiatric and neurological (neurodegenerative and nonneurodegenerative) diseases.


What is Erotomania disorder?

Erotomania is a form of delusional disorder in which an individual believes that another person, usually of higher status, is in love with him. It is a relatively rare condition, and while the incidence is unknown, the lifetime prevalence of delusional disorder is 0.2% [1].

What is the Jerusalem Syndrome?

The Jerusalem syndrome is an acute psychotic state observed in tourists and pilgrims who visit Jerusalem. The main symptom of this disorder is identification with a character from the Bible and exhibiting behaviours which seems to be typical for this character.

What is taciturn speech?

silent, taciturn, reticent, reserved, secretive mean showing restraint in speaking. silent implies a habit of saying no more than is needed. the strong, silent type. taciturn implies a temperamental disinclination to speech and usually connotes unsociability.


What is the meaning of a laconic speech?

adjective. laconic [adjective] using only a few words to say something.

What is convoluted speech?

(esp. of expression in speech or writing) having a complicated structure and therefore difficult to understand: a convoluted story/speech/plot.