[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Behavioral science](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/) › [Psychiatric assessment and psychopathology](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/areas/assessment/) › Psychopathology: affect, mood, consciousness and memory

# Psychopathology: affect, mood, consciousness and memory

- Concept

The words used to describe emotions, alertness, attention and memory problems, and what each one points to.

Updated Nov 13, 2026

## Key points

- Mood is the emotional state the patient reports; affect is the expression of that state as the interviewer observes it.
- Affect is described by its range (full or constricted) and by whether it fits the thought content.
- Incongruent affect does not match what is being said, such as smiling while describing a tragic event.
- Affective blunting, flattened affect, anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure) and alogia (poverty of speech) are negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
- Anterograde amnesia: new memories cannot be stored after the causative event; retrograde amnesia: events before it are lost.
- In people with alcohol use disorder, thiamine deficiency causes Wernicke encephalopathy or Korsakoff psychosis.

## What it is

This part of psychopathology describes emotional expression (affect), the emotional state the person reports (mood), the level of consciousness and attention, and memory. Precise terms matter: blunted or flattened affect is a negative symptom of schizophrenia, and an acute, fluctuating change in consciousness with inattention points to delirium, which is often the first sign of another, sometimes serious, disorder. Memory terms separate failure to store new memories from loss of earlier ones, and amnesia from brain causes from dissociative amnesia.

## Structure

- The level of consciousness ranges from hyperalert through lethargic and stuporous to comatose.
- Inattention and a fluctuating level of consciousness that develop over hours to days are the core of delirium.
- In delirium, patients are disoriented to time and sometimes to place or person.
- Memory is checked as immediate, short-term (recent) and long-term (remote) memory.
- Dissociative amnesia results from extreme psychological trauma or stress, unlike amnesia from brain injury, thiamine deficiency or other brain causes.
- Post-traumatic amnesia after concussion or more severe head trauma affects the periods immediately before and after the injury.

## Terms for mood and affect

| Term | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Mood | The emotional state the patient reports |
| Affect | The expression of that state as the interviewer observes it |
| Full affect | Normal range of emotional expression |
| Constricted affect | Reduced range of emotional expression |
| [Blunted or flattened affect](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/schizophrenia/) | Markedly reduced emotional expression; a negative symptom of schizophrenia |
| Incongruent affect | Expression that does not fit the content, such as smiling while describing a tragedy |
| [Anhedonia](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/schizophrenia/) | Loss of interest or pleasure; a negative symptom of schizophrenia |
| [Alogia](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/schizophrenia/) | Poverty of speech; a negative symptom of schizophrenia |

## Clinical notes

- In very old people, delirium often makes them quiet and withdrawn, changes that may be mistaken for depression; check attention and consciousness.
- Abnormal cognition most often comes from delirium or dementia, but it also occurs with substance intoxication or withdrawal and with depression.
- A patient with alcohol use disorder and new memory loss should be assessed for thiamine deficiency (Wernicke encephalopathy, Korsakoff psychosis).

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## What is the difference between mood and affect?

Mood is the emotional state the patient reports; affect is its expression as the interviewer observes it.

## A patient laughs while describing the death of her son. How is this affect described?

Incongruent (inappropriate) affect: the expression does not match the content.

## After a head injury a man cannot store any new memories of what happened since the accident. What type of amnesia is this?

Anterograde amnesia: inability to store new memories after the causative event.

## Which deficiency causes Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff psychosis in people with alcohol use disorder?

Thiamine deficiency.

[Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/behavioral-science/psychopathology-affect-mood-consciousness-and-memory/)

## Elsewhere in DurgiPedia

- [Mental status: orientation, attention and screening tests](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-exam/mental-status-orientation-attention-and-screening-tests/)
- [Level of consciousness and the Glasgow Coma Scale](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-exam/level-of-consciousness-and-the-glasgow-coma-scale/)

## Connections

## Related 4

- [The mental status examination](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/the-mental-status-examination/)
- [Psychopathology: perception and thought (hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder)](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/psychopathology-perception-and-thought/)
- [Amnestic syndromes: Korsakoff and other causes](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/amnestic-syndromes-korsakoff-and-other-causes/)
- [Normal psychological ageing vs dementia](https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/normal-psychological-ageing-vs-dementia/)

## Related conditions 7

- [Major depressive disorder](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/major-depressive-disorder/)
- [Bipolar disorder](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/bipolar-disorder/)
- [Delirium](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/delirium/)
- [Dementia (major neurocognitive disorder)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/dementia/)
- [Schizophrenia](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/schizophrenia/)
- [Wernicke encephalopathy (thiamine deficiency)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/wernicke-encephalopathy/)
- [Dissociative disorders](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/dissociative-disorders/)

## In Pharmacology 1

- [Thiamine](https://durgical.com/en/pharmacology/thiamine/)

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Educational content on behavior and the clinical relationship; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for assessment by a health professional. If you or someone near you is at risk, seek help now from an emergency service or a mental-health helpline.

Sources: [Initial Psychiatric Assessment](https://www.msdmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/approach-to-the-patient-with-psychiatric-symptoms/initial-psychiatric-assessment) (MSD Manual Professional Edition, 2024); [Amnesias](https://www.msdmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/function-and-dysfunction-of-the-cerebral-lobes/amnesias) (MSD Manual Professional Edition, 2025); [Delirium](https://www.msdmanuals.com/professional/neurologic-disorders/delirium-and-dementia/delirium) (MSD Manual Professional Edition, 2025); [Schizophrenia](https://www.msdmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/schizophrenia-and-related-disorders/schizophrenia) (MSD Manual Professional Edition, 2025).

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Source: https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/psychopathology-affect-mood-consciousness-and-memory/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/behavioral-science/psychopathology-affect-mood-consciousness-and-memory/