Subclinical (psychology)

According to the psychiatric journal BMC Psychiatry: "Subthreshold psychiatric symptoms (SPS) are groups of symptoms with significant pathology that do not quite meet all criteria for a mental disorder based on common diagnostic manuals. Within the literature there are various names used for SPS including 'subclinical' and less frequently 'subsyndromal'. They have been associated with close to half the functional disability and economic cost related to mental illness, and may be associated with the risk of developing treatment resistant psychiatric disorders. This is well accepted for psychosis and is referred to as the prodromal phase of schizophrenia."

The British journal of psychiatry indicates concering subthreshold psychiatric symptoms: "Consistent with this, it has been well-established that subthreshold symptoms are associated with elevated risk for the development of future psychiatric illnesses (Hofstra et al., 2002), including psychotic (Hanssen et al., 2005;Poulton et al., 2000) and mood disorders (Carpenter et al., 2022;Kelleher, Keeley, et al., 2012;Uchida et al., 2017). Moreover, adolescents with subthreshold symptoms often experience significant distress , suicidality (Kelleher, Keeley, et al., 2012) and lower social functioning (Bal azs et al., 2013;Rai et al., 2010) compared to their peers without subthreshold symptoms. Psychosocial interventions designed to target subthreshold symptoms in adolescents could delay or prevent the onset of psychiatric illness (Addington et al., 2019;Dozois et al., 2009)."

Subclinical depression

See also: Clinical depression

According to the Encyclopedia of Human Behavior: "Subclinical depression usually refers to an elevation of depressive symptoms that usually do not warrant treatment but that may nevertheless interfere with an individual's ability to function effectively."

Subclinical narcissism

See also: Narcissism and Narcissistic personality disorder

According to the journal article A Study on Sub-Clinical Narcissistic Personality Score and Its Relationship with Academic Performance-An Indian Experience: "Sub-clinical narcissism is the presence of narcissistic personality traits in otherwise normal people. People with high levels of these traits said to have inflated self-esteem and possibly a high egotism. A 40 itemed Narcissistic Personality Inventory is used to measure this type of personality traits. Those individuals who score above 20 points from the available 40 points of NPI-40 Inventory is considered to be having higher levels of Subclinical Narcissism and prone to exhibit socially dislikeable personality traits."

Subclinical narcissism is not full-blown narcissistic personality disorder.

Subclinical psychopathy

See also: Psychopath

Subclinical psychopaths "are highly skilled in the art of manipulation and can size someone up within minutes of meeting him or her. They're called subclinical psychopaths, and the only difference between them and their better known clinical counterparts is in degree, not kind. Are they dangerous? Definitely. They have no compunction using others to get what they want and are masters at it. These people engage in dishonest activities, never committing a crime serious enough to warrant an arrest. Instead of becoming part of the criminal justice system, they skirt around the edges of it. Are there any sub clinical psychopaths who become serial killers like Henry Lucas and his lover Ottis Toole? No. While sub clinical psychopaths have no conscience, they're not apt to murder; rather, they're most likely to freeload and take money from someone who is lonely."

Dark Triad personality traits and subclinical narcissism and subclinical psychopathy

See also: Dark Triad personality traits

According to the psychological theory of the Dark Triad personality type, the three Dark Triad personality subtypes are subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism and subclinical psychopath. Overall, the Dark Triad personality traits share certain features, such as emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressiveness. The dark-triad personality traits are found to be more prominent in men than in women.

Overall, the Dark Triad personality traits share certain features, such as emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressiveness. The dark-triad personality traits are found to be more prominent in men than in women. Unlike the other personalities in the Dark Triad, Machiavellianism is not referred to in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for mental disorder V (DSM V).

The dark triad personality traits and their various sub-traits.

Journal articles on subclinical psychiatric conditions

• Subthreshold psychiatric symptoms in a primary care group practice, Archives of General Psychiatry. 1996 Oct;53(10):880-6. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830100026004.

• Distinguishing subclinical (subthreshold) depression from the residual symptoms of major depression, Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry. 2012 Oct; 24(5): 288–289. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1002-0829.2012.05.007

• Societal costs of subclinical depressive symptoms in Dutch adolescents: a cost-of-illness study, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 08 September 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13517Citations: 6

• Psychotherapy for subclinical depression: meta-analysis, British Journal of Psychiatry, 2014 Oct;205(4):268-74. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.113.138784.

• Subclinical psychiatric conditions and suicide risk, August 2017, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 136(4), DOI:10.1111/acps.12787

• Subclinical psychiatric symptoms and the brain: what can developmental population neuroimaging bring to the table? by Tanya White PhD., Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 01 Oct 2015, 54(10):797-798, DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.07.011 PMID: 26407488

External links

• Do Pre-onset Subthreshold Psychotic Symptoms Signal Worse Outcomes?, Medpage