hebephrenia

he·be·phre·ni·a  (hb-frn-, -frn-)

n.

A type of schizophrenia characterized by foolish mannerisms, senseless laughter, delusions, hallucinations, and regressive behavior.

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[Greek hb, youth + -phrenia.]

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hebe·phrenic (-frnk, -frnk) adj.

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hebephrenia

a form of insanity or dementia praecox that can appear at puberty, characterized by foolish behavior and deterioration of the mental faculties.

See also: Insanity

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

hebephrenia - a form of schizophrenia characterized by severe disintegration of personality including erratic speech and childish mannerisms and bizarre behavior; usually becomes evident during puberty; the most common diagnostic category in mental institutions disorganized schizophrenia, disorganized type schizophrenia, hebephrenic schizophrenia dementia praecox, schizophrenia, schizophrenic disorder, schizophrenic psychosis - any of several psychotic disorders characterized by distortions of reality and disturbances of thought and language and withdrawal from social contact