Share your favorite professional euphemisms
Started by PsyDr
"self-unfavorable reporting"
I think the most recent version of the Greene book uses that one
"Poor historian" - does that count?
consanguinity
consanguinity
"therapeutic limit-setting."
aka "Get outta here with that bs"
Sanman
O.G.
"forgetful" for folks with obvious dementia
"Minimally responsive" for folks that are barely awake
"Difficulty maintaining established boundaries" for folks that are inappropriate
"Irritable" for folks that are just a**holes
"Verbally inappropriate reponses" for patient cursing you out.
So, when an irritable patient who was minimally responsive to direct questioning due to a possibly inebriated state and provided verbally inappropriate responses to staff, you can guess what happened.
"Minimally responsive" for folks that are barely awake
"Difficulty maintaining established boundaries" for folks that are inappropriate
"Irritable" for folks that are just a**holes
"Verbally inappropriate reponses" for patient cursing you out.
So, when an irritable patient who was minimally responsive to direct questioning due to a possibly inebriated state and provided verbally inappropriate responses to staff, you can guess what happened.
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"Unable to assess" - what I write on every blank of that intake assessment when a patient comes in and is ready to throw everything they can get their hands on including possibly me if they could pick me up
A recent favorite of mine was a neurologist writing in the opening of their note “This was a difficult visit.” Turns out a patient I saw for suspected Korsakoff syndrome was accompanied by an extended relative who was screaming at the neurologist for half the visit and was insistent that the patient had normal pressure hydrocephalus (even though imaging and symptoms don’t support NPH).
Daughter from California syndrome - Wikipedia
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It's like you were in the visits with me lol
"Unusual perceptual experience" - I'm not sure if this is actually a hallucination or what
This link pairs exceptionally well with your signature line.Daughter from California syndrome - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
About as specific and illuminating as 'unusual emotional experience.'
Without further elaboration or description, I have no idea of what is being referenced, lol.
"Altered mental status" - I am punting to psychiatry or neurology
ForensicPsychFightClub
Full Member
Well i’ll do one complicated one and one easy one. After a long day of intensive writing or emotionally draining evals, we have stopped using the word dissociating - we’re “transcending.”
In addition, we see a lot of SKS - ****ty kid syndrome
In PI work you will often evaluate people who, when they were kids, cycled through group homes, inpatient adolescent treatment, and various social workers who will give them the potpourri of childhood diagnoses. Bipolar Disorder, ODD, ADHD, Conduct Disorder, DMDD, RAD, just to name a few, usually applied to children that are about 7 or 8 or even younger. I’ve seen my fair share of Bipolar I 6 year olds in records. There is never a diagnostic rationale given for them, much less any assessments or test results. Instead whoever is diagnosing them just talks about all the ways they’ve been bad or acting out or all the petty crime they’ve done or the ways they’ve been a pain in the ass. Basically since they’re mental health professionals they feel compelled to apply a diagnosis but then just talk about how difficult they find this kid to deal with. Which is frustrating for us because in the records, this person will look like they have a lot of previous mental health concerns, but a layman won’t understand that these are useless diagnoses. So we joke that individuals get diagnosed with SKS - clowning on the terrible diagnostic work done at these settings than anything about the kids themselves.
In addition, we see a lot of SKS - ****ty kid syndrome
In PI work you will often evaluate people who, when they were kids, cycled through group homes, inpatient adolescent treatment, and various social workers who will give them the potpourri of childhood diagnoses. Bipolar Disorder, ODD, ADHD, Conduct Disorder, DMDD, RAD, just to name a few, usually applied to children that are about 7 or 8 or even younger. I’ve seen my fair share of Bipolar I 6 year olds in records. There is never a diagnostic rationale given for them, much less any assessments or test results. Instead whoever is diagnosing them just talks about all the ways they’ve been bad or acting out or all the petty crime they’ve done or the ways they’ve been a pain in the ass. Basically since they’re mental health professionals they feel compelled to apply a diagnosis but then just talk about how difficult they find this kid to deal with. Which is frustrating for us because in the records, this person will look like they have a lot of previous mental health concerns, but a layman won’t understand that these are useless diagnoses. So we joke that individuals get diagnosed with SKS - clowning on the terrible diagnostic work done at these settings than anything about the kids themselves.
Related: PICNIC - Problem In Caregiver, Not In Child (I adapted from IT version - problem in chair not in computer) for when the kid is whom we are consulted on but they are fine (or would be fine) but the paremt (or other caregiver) is nuts. Kid can wind up labelled with things for billing purposes or as an excuse for further treatment or even admission (to try to at least temporarily get then away from the person who is actually the problem).
That's how I feel about "Cluster B traits." WHICH ONES?
Agreed. Case formulation is most often far more useful and actionable than playing "quote the DSM/ICD categories."
That means, "Psych meds won't work, but I'll leave room for psychiatry to prescribe"
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Sanman
O.G.
Can you write manipulative a**hole in the chart? Asking for a friend.
"limited insight"
I read a report last week where an evaluator (likely 70 plus in age), used a Mark Twain quote. This was a psychological evaluation that was submitted into actual evidence in a serious case on appeals. A Mark Twain quote about trying to teach a pig to fly. He also thanked the Court for letting him "evaluate this very unusual individual." Meanwhile I frantically worry in each of my reports about if all my tenses are consistent.
Psychodynamic literature: "difficulty accepting role", "evidence of role manipulation", "behaviors that are either motivated by personal choice or immature defense mechanisms listed in the DSM-IV"
This is absolutely how you document hallucinations when it is likely that the patient is going to read the note and strongly disagree with the epistemic status of what they are experiencing. I end up documenting this a fair amount working in first episode psychosis.
ForensicPsychFightClub
Full Member
You gotta love those ones that make you seriously question whether you are insane for putting so much effort in. My favorite I ever reviewed was a 4-page IME that was written entirely in question-and-answer format where they wrote the questions themselves and then answered them, and they ultimately recommended 50 years of trauma therapy. Finally, the report just cut off in the middle of a sentence and ended - the 4th page was about a line and a half. This person had extensive cred in their niche of psychology.
What’s the go to example you guys have seen when it comes to poor report writing?
Sounds like some reports I've come across
Also tracks with some IMEs I've seen. Tbf, I've seen some well done ones too.
They definitely run the gamut. One side usually (but not always) just has to settle for hacks who will write anything for money as opposed to taking into account any semblance of empirically supported arguments.
I am the first person to try to make fun references and quotes, but I can't see doing that in an actual psych testing report.
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As a counterpoint, I've also seen some really top quality reports from psychologists and psychiatrists from previous generations though they tended to be quite lengthy in comparison to our current writing conventions.
Agreed, and I'm totally cool with length if it's needed (hell, my boards sanity eval sample was 75 pages, and every single one was needed). I just fail to see how a Mark Twain quote is probative and/or relative in any way. Funny enough though, I think I would like to have that guy as my therapist.
Not quite what the OP was getting at but I recently had a 32 month burp in my office and then tell me he just "mouth farted"
