Category: D

  • Distractibility

    Distractibility

    Inability to maintain attention. The person shifts from one area or topic to another with minimal provocation. Distractibility may be a manifestation of an underlying medical disease, medication side effect, or a mental disorder such as an anxiety disorder, mania, or schizophrenia. The tendency to be easily drawn away from any task at hand and…

  • Dissociative trance disorder

    A proposed disorder (listed in dsm-iv-tr appendix b, “criteria sets and axes provided for further study”) characterized by a disturbance of the normally integrative functions of memory, identity, or consciousness or by a conviction of having been taken over by a spirit, a deity, or another person (i.e.,possession). In a trance, consciousness is altered and…

  • Dissociative symptoms

    Any altered form of consciousness that changes the sense of self or the ability to integrate memories and perceptions.  

  • Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

    Formerly known as multiple personality disorder. It consists of the existence within one person of two or more distinct personalities or personality states (alters or alter personalities). Each personality state has its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and the self, and at least two of them alternate…

  • Dissociative fugue

    A dissociative disorder marked by sudden, unexpected travel away from one’s customary environment, with inability to recall one’s past. The disturbance is accompanied by confusion about one’s personal identity or even the assumption of a new identity. Impulsive flight from one’s life and familiar surroundings following a traumatic event; the patient begins a new life…

  • Dissociative amnesia

    Formerly known as psychogenic amnesia. A memory impairment, characterized by sudden and brief loss of personal information, with no other cognitive disturbance, often in response to traumatic or stressful events. Inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. This was formerly…

  • Disruptive behavior disorders

    In children and adolescents, the disruptive behavior disorders are characterized by willful disobedience and externally directed behavior, including blaming of others for problems. In dsm-iv-tr, this category includes conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.  

  • Disruptive behavior and attention-deficit disorders

    In dsm-ivtr, a group of mental disorders that includes attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder.  

  • Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene

    A gene that controls the birth of new neurons in addition to integration of those neurons into existing brain circuitry. This finding suggests that loss of the gene, as occurs in some cases of schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorders and major depressive disorder, may lead to an increased risk of compromised cognition and behavioral…

  • Displacement

    A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which emotions, ideas, or wishes are transferred from their original object to a more acceptable substitute; often used to allay anxiety. This mechanism is commonly observed in dreams and in the formation of phobias. In psychology, the transfer of hostility from the person or object causing the frustration to…