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Flattening of Affect and Personal Constructs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

F. M. McPherson ,
Valerie Barden ,
A. Joan Hay ,
D. W. Johnstone  and
A. W. Kushner
F. M. McPherson
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
Valerie Barden
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
A. Joan Hay
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
D. W. Johnstone
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
A. W. Kushner
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
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Extract

Affective flattening is a disorder of emotional expression, of which a good definition is ‘a gross lack of emotional response to the given situation’ (Fish, 1962). It is a clinical sign whose assessment depends upon the clinician's intepretation of the patient's facial expression, tone of voice and content of talk (Harris ' Metcalfe, 1956). Although these are subtle cues, it has been shown that experienced clinicians can assess the severity of affective flattening with a high level of inter-rater agreement (Miller et al., 1953; Harris ' Metcaife, 1956; Wing, 1961; Dixon, 1968). The disorder is usually associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, although it may occur in other conditions, such as the organic psychoses (Bullock et al., 1951).

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 116 , Issue 530 , January 1970 , pp. 39 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1970 

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