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• Mental Health Related Terms

- I -

• Id

In Freudian theory, the part of the personality that is the unconscious source of unstructured desires and drives. See also ego; superego.



• Idealization

A mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others.



• Ideas of reference

Incorrect interpretations of casual incidents and external events as having direct reference to oneself. May reach sufficient intensity to constitute delusions.



• Identification

A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, by which one patterns oneself after some other person. Identification plays a major role in the development of one's personality and specifically of the superego. To be differentiated from imitation or role modeling, which is a conscious process.



• Identity

Self-knowledge about one's characteristics or personality. A sense of self.



• Idiot savant

A person with gross mental retardation who nonetheless is capable of performing certain remarkable feats in sharply circumscribed intellectual areas, such as calendar calculation or puzzle solving.



• Illusion

A misperception or misinterpretation of a real external stimulus, such as hearing the rustling of leaves as the sound of voices. A false perception; the mistaking of something for what is not. See also hallucination.



• Imprinting

A term in ethology referring to a process similar to rapid learning or behavioral patterning that occurs at critical points in very early stages of animal development. The extent to which imprinting occurs in human development has not been established.



• Impulse-Control Disorders

Disorders characterized by the inability to inhibit impulses which might be harmful to oneself or others.



• Inappropriate affect

An affect type that represents an unusual affective expression that does not match with the content of what is being said or thought.



• Incoherence

Speech or thinking that is essentially incomprehensible to others because words or phrases are joined together without a logical or meaningful connection. This disturbance occurs within clauses, in contrast to derailment, in which the disturbance is between clauses. This has sometimes been referred to as 'word salad' to convey the degree of linguistic disorganization. Mildly ungrammatical constructions or idiomatic usages characteristic of particular regional or cultural backgrounds, lack of education, or low intelligence should not be considered incoherence. The term is generally not applied when there is evidence that the disturbance in speech is due to an aphasia.



• Incorporation

A primitive defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which the psychic representation of a person, or parts of the person, is figuratively ingested.



• Individuation

A process of differentiation, the end result of which is development of the individual personality that is separate and distinct from all others.



• Indoleamine

One of a group of biogenic amines (e.g., serotonin) that contains a five-membered, nitrogen-containing indole ring and an amine group within its chemical structure. inhibition Behavioral evidence of an unconscious defense against forbidden instinctual drives; may interfere with or restrict specific activities.



• Initial insomnia

Difficulty in falling asleep.



• Insomnia

A subjective complaint of difficulty falling or staying asleep or poor sleep quality. Types of insomnia include:



• Instinct

An inborn drive. The primary human instincts include self-preservation, sexuality, and according to some proponents the death instinct, of which aggression is one manifestation.



• Integration

The useful organization and incorporation of both new and old data, experience, and emotional capacities into the personality. Also refers to the organization and amalgamation of functions at various levels of psychosexual development.



• Intellectualization

A mental mechanism in which the person engages in excessive abstract thinking to avoid confrontation with conflicts or disturbing feelings.



• Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Through one-on-one conversations, this approach focuses on the patient's current life and relationships within the family, social, and work environments. The goal is to identify and resolve problems with insight, as well as build on strengths.



• Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)

A form of psychotherapy that focuses on a patient's interpersonal relationships; it may be used to treat depression.



• Intersex condition

A condition in which an individual shows intermingling, in various degrees, of the characteristics of each sex, including physical form, reproductive organs, and sexual behavior.



• Introspection

Self-observation; examination of one's feelings, often as a result of psychotherapy.



• Introversion

Preoccupation with oneself and accompanying reduction of interest in the outside world. Contrast to extraversion.



• Isolation

A defense mechanism operating unconsciously central to obsessive-compulsive phenomena in which the affect is detached from an idea and rendered unconscious, leaving the conscious idea colorless and emotionally neutral.