Thought disorder facts for kids

Thought disorders sometimes show in writing. This is a letter of a person affected by thought disorder, it is difficult to read. The woman who wrote this suffered from psychosis.

Thought disorder is a term used in psychiatry. It describes when people have trouble thinking clearly and in an organized way. This can make their spoken and written language seem unusual or hard to follow. Experts believe that how we use language shows how our thoughts are working. So, if someone has trouble speaking, they might also have trouble thinking clearly.

Thought disorder is often a symptom of certain mental illnesses, especially those called psychotic conditions. However, other things can also cause it.

What is Thought Disorder?

Thought disorder means a person's thinking process is not smooth or logical. It can make their conversations confusing. It can also make their writing hard to understand. This condition is usually long-lasting.

How Does it Affect People?

People with thought disorder might talk a lot without stopping. They might also jump from one idea to another very quickly, even in the middle of a sentence. Sometimes, they use words that do not fit together at all. This is often called 'word salad' because it sounds like a mix of unrelated words.

Who Discovered More About It?

A famous doctor named Eugen Bleuler gave schizophrenia its name. He believed that a main sign of schizophrenia was problems with thinking. While things like delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) are also thought problems, 'formal thought disorder' is different. It specifically refers to how a person's thoughts flow and how they express them in speech. When people say 'thought disorder,' they usually mean this specific problem with the flow of ideas.

See also

In Spanish: Trastorno formal del pensamiento para niños