affect lability definition
As a verb, affect is most commonly used in the sense of to cause a change in: the ways in which smoking affects health. The verb effect means to bring about or execute: medical treatment designed to effect a cure. Its corresponding noun means a result.. Usage Note: Affect and effect are often confused because they sound alike and have related meanings. First, bear in mind that there are two words spelled affect. One means to put on a false show of, as in She affected a British accent. The other affect, the one that is confused with effect, is both a noun and a verb. As a noun it is uncommon and means roughly emotion.. Affective lability : unstable, rapidly changing emotions. Quick changes of emotions or unstable mood is rather common for everyone. So this symptom can have very different forms and severity. Mild forms are not at all a sign of a major psychiatric disorders. But we refer to people with a quickly changing emotional response who have rapid and extreme mood changes within a very short period, and without appropriate external reasons. (lā′bīl′, -bəl) adj. 1. Open to change; readily changeable or unstable: labile chemical compounds; tissues with labile cell populations. 2. Fluctuating widely: labile hypertension; labile emotions. 3. Decomposing readily: the labile component of organic matter. constricted affect restricted affect. flat affect lack of emotional expression. inappropriate affect affect that is incongruent with the situation or with the content of a patient's ideas or speech. labile affect that characterized by rapid changes in emotion unrelated to external events or stimuli. Another important peculiarity of affect is that with the repetition of a negative affect which is caused by the same factor or analogous factors, its manifestation can be reinforced (the phenomenon of “accumulation” of affect), sometimes creating the impression of pathological conduct. 9) Additionally, there are chemical modifications of Hb, such as carbamylated Hb, found in uremic (often diabetic) patients; high circulating fetal hemoglobin (HbF), seen in [beta]-thalassemia, pregnancy, leukemia, and hereditary conditions; (10) and labile HbA1c, (11) found with pathologic conditions that affect red cell half-life such as hemolysis ... Labile affect is also known as pseudobulbar affect, emotional incontinence, or involuntary emotional expression disorder (IEED). Example: In describing her marriage, a woman is sobbing bitterly one moment, then laughing wildly the next. constricted affect restricted affect. flat affect lack of emotional expression. inappropriate affect affect that is incongruent with the situation or with the content of a patient's ideas or speech. labile affect that characterized by rapid changes in emotion unrelated to external events or stimuli. Pathological emotional expression, generally due to neurological degeneration or other complications; may or may not be mood-congruent. In other words, the patient might sob uncontrollably in an only moderately sad situation (an excessive but mood-congruent reaction), or he or she might also cry when upset or angry (a mood-incongruent reaction).
Unstable, rapidly changing emotions.