Judgment Skills
- Ability to understand one’s personal circumstances and place these within a context, plus the ability to choose fitting goals by socially acceptable means. In disorders such as dementia or frontal lobe syndrome, patients have serious misconceptions about what they can still achieve. Patients with schizophrenia or mania may have very unrealistic goals. The depressed patient is pessimistic or underestimates their potential, while the anxious patient has a realistic view on his capabilities, but tends to stress dangers and/or obstacles.
Intelligence
- Ability to gather knowledge, call on this knowledge and use it rationally in coping with novel situations. An assessment of the level of intelligence is based, among other aspects, on the level of education received, on the vocabulary the patient uses and on the problem-solving competence at the time of anamnesis. For more specific research into a patient’s intelligence, neuropsychological test batteries are used. Dysfunctions in intelligence are indicative of mental retardation and developmental disorders. In addition, a variety of psychiatric disorders can reduce intelligence compared to premorbid functioning, in particular cognitive disorders, schizophrenia and depression.
Insight Into The Disease
- Ability to understand, explain and accept complaints on a cognitive level. When insight into the disease is absent, the cause of the symptoms of the disease are attributed to something else, and it is impossible for the patient to accept alternative explanations. Disorders of insight are indicative of schizophrenia, mania and cognitive disorders. When insight into the disease is absent, there is often also a dysfunctional disease awareness (patient is aware that there is something wrong and therefore seeks help). A dysfunctional disease awareness means that the patient is unable to recognise signs or symptoms of illness, which is indicative of dementia, schizophrenia, mania, depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms, but also of dissociative disorders or morpho-dysphoria.
Abstract Reasoning
- Ability to adequately solve new and complex problems. An impairment in abstract reasoning means that the patient can no longer generalise, and often thinks concretely. This is indicative of dementia, mental retardation, but also of schizophrenia or autism.
Executive Functions
- Ability to plan the initiation, sequence, control and abortion of complex acts. Conditions of undisturbed executive functions are: proper attention, some abstract reasoning and proper imprinting. Dysfunctions in executive functioning are indicative of obsessive-compulsive disorder, dementia, schizophrenia and brain trauma.
