Athymhormia

Last updated
Athymhormia
Specialty Neurology, Psychiatry
Symptoms Loss or reduction of desire and interest toward previous motivations, loss of drive and the desire for satisfaction, curiosity, the loss of tastes and preferences, and flat affect.

Athymhormia is a disorder of motivation, one of that class of neuro-psychiatric conditions marked by abnormalities or deficiencies in motivation. It is a disorder of diminished motivation. Symptoms include the loss or reduction of desire and interest toward previous motivations, loss of drive and the desire for satisfaction, curiosity, the loss of tastes and preferences, and flat affect. In athymhormia, however, these phenomena are not accompanied by the characterizing features of depression nor by any notable abnormality in intellectual or cognitive function. [1] [2]

Contents

Origin of diagnostic category

The diagnostic category was coined in 1922 by the French psychiatrists Dide and Guiraud, originally in reference to the behavior identified in some patients with schizophrenia. [3]

Cause

The cause of this condition has been hypothesized to derive from abnormalities in the limbic frontal cortex, the striatum, globus pallidus, and dorso-medial thalamic nucleus. In the context of the theory of those who propose the existence of a distinct neural pathway for mood and interest, or the "hormothymic" system, athymhormia may be a disorder of this system. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mood disorder</span> Mental disorder affecting the mood of an individual, over a long period of time

A mood disorder, also known as an affective disorder, is any of a group of conditions of mental and behavioral disorder where the main underlying characteristic is a disturbance in the person's mood. The classification is in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anhedonia</span> Inability to feel pleasure

Anhedonia is a diverse array of deficits in hedonic function, including reduced motivation or ability to experience pleasure. While earlier definitions emphasized the inability to experience pleasure, anhedonia is currently used by researchers to refer to reduced motivation, reduced anticipatory pleasure (wanting), reduced consummatory pleasure (liking), and deficits in reinforcement learning. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), anhedonia is a component of depressive disorders, substance-related disorders, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders, where it is defined by either a reduced ability to experience pleasure, or a diminished interest in engaging in previously pleasurable activities. While the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) does not explicitly mention anhedonia, the depressive symptom analogous to anhedonia as described in the DSM-5 is a loss of interest or pleasure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thought disorder</span> Disorder of thought form, content or stream

A thought disorder (TD) is a disturbance in cognition which affects language, thought and communication. Psychiatric and psychological glossaries in 2015 and 2017 identified thought disorders as encompassing poverty of ideas, neologisms, paralogia, word salad, and delusions—all disturbances of thought content and form. Two specific terms have been suggested—content thought disorder (CTD) and formal thought disorder (FTD). CTD has been defined as a thought disturbance characterized by multiple fragmented delusions, and the term thought disorder is often used to refer to an FTD: a disruption of the form of thought. Also known as disorganized thinking, FTD results in disorganized speech and is recognized as a major feature of schizophrenia and other psychoses. Disorganized speech leads to an inference of disorganized thought. Thought disorders include derailment, pressured speech, poverty of speech, tangentiality, verbigeration, and thought blocking. One of the first known cases of thought disorders, or specifically OCD as it is known today, was in 1691. John Moore, who was a bishop, had a speech in front of Queen Mary II, about "religious melancholy."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mood swing</span> Extreme or rapid change in mood

A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning, or be disruptive. When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as part of a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, where erratic and disruptive mood swings are a defining feature.

Functional abdominal pain syndrome (FAPS), chronic functional abdominal pain (CFAP), or centrally mediated abdominal pain syndrome (CMAP) is a pain syndrome of the abdomen, that has been present for at least six months, is not well connected to gastrointestinal function, and is accompanied by some loss of everyday activities. The discomfort is persistent, near-constant, or regularly reoccurring. The absence of symptom association with food intake or defecation distinguishes functional abdominal pain syndrome from other functional gastrointestinal illnesses, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Depression (mood)</span> State of low mood and aversion to activity

Depression is a mental state of low mood and aversion to activity. It affects about 3.5% of the global population, or about 280 million people of all ages. Depression affects a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings, and sense of well-being. Experiences that would normally bring a person pleasure or joy give reduced pleasure or joy, and the afflicted person often experiences a loss of motivation or interest in those activities.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID), also known as disorders of gut–brain interaction, include a number of separate idiopathic disorders which affect different parts of the gastrointestinal tract and involve visceral hypersensitivity and motility disturbances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Functional dyspepsia</span> Medical condition

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a common gastrointestinal disorder defined by symptoms arising from the gastroduodenal region in the absence of an underlying organic disease that could easily explain the symptoms. Characteristic symptoms include epigastric burning, epigastric pain, postprandial fullness, and early satiety. FD was formerly known as non-ulcer dyspepsia, as opposed to "organic dyspepsia" with underlying conditions of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, or cancer.

Athymhormic syndrome, psychic akinesia, or auto-activation deficit (AAD) is a rare psychopathological and neurological syndrome characterized by extreme passivity, apathy, blunted affect and a profound generalized loss of self-motivation and conscious thought. For example, a patient spent 45 minutes with his hands on a lawn mower, totally unable to initiate the act of mowing. This "kinetic blockade" disappeared instantaneously when his son told him to move. The existence of such symptoms in patients after damage to certain structures in the brain has been used in support of a physical model of motivation in human beings, wherein the limbic loop of the basal ganglia is the initiator of directed action and thought. It is a disorder of diminished motivation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epididymal cyst</span> Medical condition

Epididymal cyst is a harmless sac in the testicles filled with fluid. The most frequent clinical presentation occurs when a routine physical examination yields an unexpected finding, which is then confirmed by scrotal ultrasonography. Although the exact cause of epididymal cysts is unknown, it is likely a congenital anomaly associated with hormonal imbalances during the embryonic stage of development.

Odynorgasmia, or painful ejaculation, also referred to as dysejaculation, dysorgasmia, and orgasmalgia, is a physical syndrome described by pain or burning sensation of the urethra or perineum during or following ejaculation. Causes include: infections associated with urethritis, prostatitis, epididymitis; use of anti-depressants; cancer of the prostate or of other related structures; calculi or cysts obstructing related structures; trauma to the region.

Bipolar II disorder (BP-II) is a mood disorder on the bipolar spectrum, characterized by at least one episode of hypomania and at least one episode of major depression. Diagnosis for BP-II requires that the individual must never have experienced a full manic episode. Otherwise, one manic episode meets the criteria for bipolar I disorder (BP-I).

Congenital hypoplastic anemia is a congenital disorder that occasionally also includes leukopenia and thrombocytopenia and is characterized by deficiencies of red cell precursors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basal ganglia disease</span> Group of physical problems resulting from basal ganglia dysfunction

Basal ganglia disease is a group of physical problems that occur when the group of nuclei in the brain known as the basal ganglia fail to properly suppress unwanted movements or to properly prime upper motor neuron circuits to initiate motor function. Research indicates that increased output of the basal ganglia inhibits thalamocortical projection neurons. Proper activation or deactivation of these neurons is an integral component for proper movement. If something causes too much basal ganglia output, then the ventral anterior (VA) and ventral lateral (VL) thalamocortical projection neurons become too inhibited, and one cannot initiate voluntary movement. These disorders are known as hypokinetic disorders. However, a disorder leading to abnormally low output of the basal ganglia leads to reduced inhibition, and thus excitation, of the thalamocortical projection neurons which synapse onto the cortex. This situation leads to an inability to suppress unwanted movements. These disorders are known as hyperkinetic disorders.

Cyclothymia, also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia / psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of depression and periods of symptoms of elevated mood. These symptoms, however, are not sufficient to indicate a major depressive episode or a manic episode. Symptoms must last for more than one year in children and two years in adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autoimmune enteropathy</span> Medical condition

Autoimmune enteropathy is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by weight loss from malabsorption, severe and protracted diarrhea, and autoimmune damage to the intestinal mucosa. Autoimmune enteropathy typically occurs in infants and younger children however, adult cases have been reported in literature. Autoimmune enteropathy was first described by Walker-Smith et al. in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonic ulcer</span> Medical condition

Colonic ulcer can occur at any age, in children however they are rare. Most common symptoms are abdominal pain and hematochezia.

Progressive cardiac conduction defect(PCCD) is a hereditary cardiac condition marked by a progressive delay in impulse conduction via the His-Purkinje system, resulting in right or left bundle branch block (RBBB or LBBB), syncope, and occasionally sudden cardiac death.

Menstruation can have a notable impact on mental health, with some individuals experiencing mood disturbances and psychopathological symptoms during their menstrual cycle. Menstruation involves hormonal fluctuations and physiological changes in the body, which can affect a person's mood and psychological state. Many individuals report experiencing mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and even depression in the days leading up to their menstrual period. This cluster of symptoms is often referred to as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). For some individuals, the psychopathological symptoms associated with menstruation can be severe and debilitating, leading to a condition known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). PMDD is characterized by intense mood disturbances, cognitive, and somatic symptoms, which occur in a cyclical pattern linked to the menstrual cycle. In addition to PMDD, menstruation can exacerbate existing mental health conditions. The complex relationship between menstruation and mental well-being has garnered increased attention in both scientific research and public discourse.

Post-mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) is used to describe persistent neuropathic pain that follows breast surgery, such as mastectomy and lumpectomy. PMPS manifests as pain in the arm, axilla, chest wall, and breast region.

References

  1. Carota, Antonio; Staub, Fabienne; Bogousslavsky, Julien (2002). "Emotions, behaviours and mood changes in stroke". Current Opinion in Neurology. 15 (1). Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health): 57–69. doi:10.1097/00019052-200202000-00010. ISSN   1350-7540.
  2. Bogousslavsky, J. (2003). "William Feinberg Lecture 2002". Stroke. 34 (4). Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health): 1046–1050. doi: 10.1161/01.str.0000061887.33505.b9 . ISSN   0039-2499.
  3. Habib, Michel (2004). "Athymhormia and Disorders of Motivation in Basal Ganglia Disease". The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 16 (4). American Psychiatric Association Publishing: 509–524. doi:10.1176/jnp.16.4.509. ISSN   0895-0172.
  4. Habib, M.; Poncet, M. (1988). "[Loss of vitality, of interest and of the affect (athymhormia syndrome) in lacunar lesions of the corpus striatum]". Revue Neurologique. 144 (10): 571–577. ISSN   0035-3787. PMID   3194605.

Further reading