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- confusing and not clearly reasoned: muddled thinking The book's message is hopelessly muddled.
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Oct 28, 2013 · Whistle above or below that range, don’t eat. The dolphin may or may not have gained any understanding beyond that simple paradigm, but surely the behaviors observed during the...
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Part I: Understanding the Basic Theory of Analysis. This section provides the foundational theory essential to analysis. It delineates the eight basic structures present in all thinking. Part 3: Using Analysis to Figure Out the Logic of Anything.
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- Overview
- Causes of Disorganized Thinking
- Thought Content vs. Thought Process
- Types of Disorganized Thinking
- Diagnosis
- Treatment for Disorganized Thinking
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Thinking refers to our ability to make decisions, solve problems, reason, and remember. In a broader sense, thinking is the totality of experiences in one’s mind.
It's fairly common for people with schizophrenia to have trouble keeping their thoughts straight and expressing what's in their minds. Disorganized thinking is one of the primary symptoms of schizophrenia.
Disorganized thinking can lead to various thought process disorders that cause tangential thought, disjointed thoughts, a collapse or sudden stop in the thought process, randomly spoken words, and incoherence.
It's not clear what causes disorganized thinking (or what causes schizophrenia). It may be related to a variety of factors, like genetics and family history, environment, and past trauma. There is evidence that people with disorganized thinking have structural differences in their brains, as they show unusual activation in regions involved in:
•Language and speech processing
•Auditory perception
•Social interaction
•Higher-order cognitive functions like decision-making, evaluating, brainstorming, and learning
Your thoughts, emotions, sensations, memories, and fantasies are the essential building blocks of the way your brain thinks. Any disruption in your thought process, or the way these blocks are linked together, will impact other areas of your life.
It makes sense to try to understand disorganized thinking from two perspectives: thought content and thought process. While changes in someone's thought content affect what they perceive or think about, changes in thought process impact the way they form their ideas and express them.
Distractibility
Some people with disordered thinking experience distractibility. They may begin talking about one thing and then completely shift topics before completing their sentence. This is often due to nearby stimuli that interfere with the thought process. For example: "I moved to New York after college. What are you eating for lunch?"
Circumstantial Thinking
Circumstantial thinking occurs when a person talks in circles, providing excessive and unnecessary detail before getting to the point.
One Classic Example
Here's an example from neuroscientist and neuropsychiatrist researcher Nancy Coover Andreasen: Question: "What is your name?" Response: "Well, sometimes when people ask me, I have to think about whether or not I will answer because some people think it's an odd name even though I don’t really because my mom gave it to me and I think my dad helped but it's as good a name as any in my opinion, but yeah it's Tom."
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes criteria to help your doctor diagnose schizophrenia. Your doctor will look for typical symptoms of the condition, like disordered speech, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized or catatonic behavior, and reduced emotional expression.
They may also look for disorganized thinking by examining how you communicate and direct your attention.
Your doctor will also need to rule out other conditions that can affect thought processes, like:
•Autism
•Bipolar disorder
•Mania
Medication
The right medication can help to reduce disordered thinking and improve functioning. This may include antidepressants, mood stabilizers, or anti-anxiety medication alongside antipsychotics for long term management of the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Psychotherapy
Talk therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), can help you better identify thought process abnormalities and find ways to cope with unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking.
Social Skills Training
An inability to clearly communicate your thoughts and feelings can take a toll on your family, social life, and work relationships. Social skills training can help you improve communication with others to better navigate these relationships.
Disorganized thinking can be difficult to deal with, but with the help of your doctor and the support of those close to you, you can make great strides and cope. Learning more about the symptoms of schizophrenia can help with this process, as can joining an in-person or online support group. Finding support can provide an outlet to express your emotions and help you adopt strategies to better communicate your thoughts.
Living With Schizophrenia
12 Sources
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1.Hart M, Lewine RR. Rethinking thought disorder. Schizophr Bull. 2017;43(3):514-522. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbx003
2.Wensing T, Cieslik EC, Müller VI, Hoffstaedter F, Eickhoff SB, Nickl‐Jockschat T. Neural correlates of formal thought disorder: An activation likelihood estimation meta‐analysis. Hum Brain Mapp. 2017;38(10):4946-4965. doi:10.1002/hbm.23706
Jun 16, 2016 · If treating an underlying condition doesn't sharpen thinking skills, your doctor may refer you to a neuropsychologist for formal tests of your thinking ability, particularly signs of dementia. Most of the time, however, people with fuzzy thinking do not have dementia.
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- Analysis. Analysis is a core CT skill used to identify and examine the structure of an argument, the propositions within an argument and the role they play (e.g.
- Evaluation. Evaluation is a core CT skill that is used in the assessment of propositions and claims (identified through the previous analysis) with respect to their credibility; relevance; balance, bias (and potential omissions); as well as the logical strength amongst propositions (i.e.
- Inference. Similar to other educational concepts like synthesis (e.g., see Bloom et al., 1956; Dwyer, 2011; 2017), the final core CT skill, inference, involves the “gathering” of credible, relevant and logical evidence based on the previous analysis and evaluation, for the purpose of drawing a reasonable conclusion (Dwyer, 2017; Facione, 1990).
Dec 1, 2023 · Learn what critical thinking skills are, why they’re important, and how to develop and apply them in your workplace and everyday life.
Feb 10, 2023 · Anxiety brain fog happens when a person feels anxious and has difficulty concentrating or thinking clearly. Many conditions may cause anxiety and brain fog, including mental health diagnoses...
