Alterations of Speech, Thought, Perception, and Self-Experience

This chapter presents and discusses alterations in several domains of human mental activity (speech, thought, perception, and self-experience) which may contribute to the overall shaping of the clinical picture and condition broader mental health suffering. These psychopathological manifestations are analyzed in historical and descriptive terms, focusing on major signs and symptoms related to alterations in speech, thought, perception, and self-experience. References are critically updated to offer concise options for further reading. Needless to say, no particular sign or symptom is per se pathognomonic of a specific psychiatric disorder, yet they offer essential anchor points for the overall clinical assessment. The latter is expected to intercept and discern the core gestalt that lays beyond the syndromic constellations of presented signs and symptoms keeping them meaningfully interconnected. In this respect, the psychopathological nomenclature encompassing disorders of speech, thought, perception, and self-experience is instrumental to facilitate the identification of prominent features of such gestalt.