Alogia

This article is about the psychological symptoms including poverty of speech and poverty of speech content. For inability to speak because of dysfunction in the central nervous system, see aphasia. For inability to speak often caused by a speech disorder or surgery, or by unwillingness to speak, see muteness. For the progressive metal band, see Alogia (band). For Alogian, see Alogi.

In psychology, alogia (/ˌeɪˈloʊdʒiə, əˈloʊdʒiə, əˈlɒdʒiə, -dʒə/; from Greek ἀ-, "without", and λόγος, "speech" + New Latin -ia)[1][2][3] is poor thinking inferred from speech and language usage.[4] There may be a general lack of additional, unprompted content seen in normal speech, so replies to questions may be brief and concrete, with less spontaneous speech. This is termed poverty of speech[4] or laconic speech.[5] The amount of speech may be normal but conveys little information because it is vague, empty, stereotyped, overconcrete, overabstract, or repetitive.[4][6] This is termed poverty of content[4] or poverty of content of speech.[6] Under Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms used in clinical research, thought blocking is considered a part of alogia, and so is increased latency in response.[7]

This condition is associated with schizophrenia, dementia, severe depression, and autism.[8][9] As a symptom, it is commonly seen in patients with schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder, and is traditionally considered a negative symptom. It can complicate psychotherapy severely because of the considerable difficulty in holding a fluent conversation.

The alternative meaning of alogia is inability to speak because of dysfunction in the central nervous system,[10][3] found in mental deficiency and dementia.[11][3] In this sense, the word is synonymous with aphasia,[3] and in less severe form, it is sometimes called dyslogia.[10]

  1. ^ Paraschakis, Antonios; Steinau, Sarah; Steinau, Sarah; Brackmann, Nathalie; Sternemann, Ulf; Biller-Andorno, Nikola; Habermeyer, Elmar. "Alogia definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Alogia Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster".
  3. ^ a b c d Shiel, William C. (Jr.). "Medical Definition of Alogia". MedicineNet. Archived from the original on 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2019-12-19. Alogia: 1. Complete lack of speech, as in profound mental retardation or advanced dementia. Alogia is synonymous in this sense with aphasia. 2. Poverty of speech, as commonly occurs in schizophrenia. From the Greek a-, without + logos, speech.
  4. ^ a b c d DSM-5 (2013), "Glossary of Technical Terms", p. 817. "alogia An impoverishment in thinking that is inferred from observing speech and language behavior. There may be brief and concrete replies to questions and restriction in the amount of spontaneous speech (termed poverty of speech). Sometimes the speech is adequate in amount but conveys little information because it is overconcrete, overabstract, repetitive, or stereotyped (termed poverty of content)."
  5. ^ Kaplan and Sadock's Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (2008), "Chapter 4 Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry", GLOSSARY OF SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS, p. 27 "laconic speech Condition characterized by a reduction in the quantity of spontaneous speech; replies to questions are brief and unelaborated, and little or no unprompted additional information is provided. Occurs in major depression, schizophrenia, and organic mental disorders. Also called poverty of speech."
  6. ^ a b Kaplan and Sadock's Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (2008), "Chapter 4 Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry", GLOSSARY OF SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS, p. 29 "poverty of content of speech Speech that is adequate in amount but conveys little information because of vagueness, emptiness, or stereotyped phrases."
  7. ^ Kaplan and Sadock's Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (2008), "6 Psychiatric Rating Scales", Table 6–5 Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), p. 44.
  8. ^ APA dictionary of psychology (2015), p. 816 "poverty of ideas a thought disturbance, often associated with schizophrenia, dementia, and severe depression. ...."
  9. ^ Hommer, Rebecca E.; Swedo, Susan E. (2015-03-01). "Schizophrenia and Autism—Related Disorders". Schizophrenia Bulletin. 41 (2): 313–314. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbu188. ISSN 0586-7614. PMC 4332956. PMID 25634913.
  10. ^ a b APA dictionary of psychology (2015), p. 40 "alogia n. inability to speak because of dysfunction in the central nervous system. In a less severe form, it is sometimes referred to as dyslogia."
  11. ^ Kaplan and Sadock's Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (2008), "Chapter 4 Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry", GLOSSARY OF SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS, p. 22 "alogia Inability to speak because of mental deficiency or an episode of dementia."