Gestures are movements that accompany communication, such as nodding, using the hands or changing posture to emphasise a point. Blunted affect may involve fewer spontaneous gestures or a narrower range of expressive movement. Conversation can consequently appear less animated, although the person’s ideas and feelings may remain substantial.<\/p>\n
Blunted affect is a reduction in outward emotional expression, including facial movement, vocal variation and gestures. It is one negative symptom associated with schizophrenia, but similar appearances have other causes. Expression and feeling are distinct: a person may experience strong emotions without displaying them in familiar ways.<\/p>\n
Observation should take account of cultural conventions, physical limitations, medication-related stiffness and individual habits. A reduction from someone’s usual gestures may be more informative than comparison with a highly expressive speaker. Clinicians examine gestures alongside facial and vocal expression rather than treating one feature as diagnostic. Supporters can use clear verbal information and check understanding when non-verbal cues are limited. Requiring exaggerated gestures may feel artificial or uncomfortable. The practical aim is successful communication and social participation while identifying any treatable cause of reduced movement or expression.<\/p>\n
Gestures can support speech by indicating size, direction or emphasis as well as emotion. Their reduction may therefore affect how easily a listener follows an explanation. Clear verbal detail or visual aids can compensate. The need for such adaptations should be judged in the situation rather than assumed from diagnosis, because expressive movement varies greatly between individuals and cultures.<\/p>\n
Further reading:<\/strong> Research record 30208377<\/a>; Research record 35020936<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gestures are movements that accompany communication, such as nodding, using the hands or changing posture to emphasise a point. Blunted affect may involve fewer spontaneous gestures or a narrower range of expressive movement. Conversation can\u2026Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[22],"class_list":["entry","author-","has-excerpt","post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-symptoms","tag-blunted-affect"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schizophrenia.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}