AMENZA. - A state of mental confusion with hallucinations of various kinds and motor restlessness; capable of complete recovery, it manifests itself in acute form, chiefly in young individuals, in connection with intoxication of the brain during toxic or infectious diseases, endocrine disorders, metabolic disorders, disorders of the excretory organs, or episodically in the course of other mental illnesses. Particularly in the latter case, or when the clinical picture is clearly secondary to distinctly identifiable pathological causes, various authors prefer to speak of an «amental syndrome».
The disparity between the above-mentioned medical meaning of a. and the Latin meaning of «amentia» = foolishness, madness (A. Forcellini, Lexicon totius latinitatis, s. v.) should be emphasized. In this general sense of «mental alienation» the attribute «amentes» used in canon law (CIC, can. 2201) is to be understood, «amentes» meaning precisely those who are affected by «insania circa omnia obiecta atque negotia» (cf. S. R. Rota, Decisiones seu sententiae, XXVII, Roma 1935, dec. XXII, n. 6, p. 282).