#clinical psychology
- Ab hoc et ab hac - A Latin phrase literally translated as 'from this one and from that one' or 'about this and about that'. In clinical psychology, neurology, and psychiatry, it describes a chaotic, incoherent speech with no logical connection between ideas, typical of patients experiencing delirium episodes, dementia, acute mental confusion, or severe intoxication with psychoactive substances.
- Ab irato - A Latin phrase translated as 'by an angry person' or 'under the impulse of rage'. In psychopathology, clinical psychology, and forensic psychiatry, it describes acts, statements, or assaults committed during an intense affective state, where extreme rage temporarily narrows the field of consciousness and reduces the patient's capacity to control impulses or evaluate consequences.
- abandon - The act of leaving, or permanently giving up on a person (child, partner), an asset, or an ongoing action. In clinical psychology and psychiatry, it is a central concept studied for its profound impact on emotional development, generating attachment traumas, severe anxiety, and persistent dysfunctional cognitive schemas.
- abdicație - A literary noun form historically used as a synonym for 'abdicare', denoting the result or official document certifying the relinquishment of authority. In psychiatric semiology and forensic medicine evaluations, the term emphasized the formal act of behavioral relinquishment generated by severe emotional lability, external psychological pressure (blackmail, coercion), or a disabling cognitive deficit.