Topic summary
Disorganized speech
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Thought disorder.
Formal thought disorder
Formal thought disorder (FTD), also known as disorganized speech or disorganized thinking, is a disorder of a person's thought process in which they are unable to express their thoughts in a logical and linear fashion. Mild forms of disorganised speech are quite common, and to be considered as a diagnostic criterion for psychosis it must be severe enough to prevent effective communication. Disorganized speech is a core symptom of psychosis, and therefore can be a feature of any condition that has a potential to cause psychosis, including schizophrenia, mania, major depressive disorder, delirium, postpartum psychosis, major neurocognitive disorder, and substance induced psychosis. FTD reflects a cluster of cognitive, linguistic, and affective disturbances, and has generated research interest from the fields of cognitive neuroscience, neurolinguistics, and psychiatry.