The accurate identification of accelerated, agitated and anxious states is of paramount relevance for the correct diagnosis and the selection of a suitable psychopharmacological treatment. Choosing antidepressants, antipsychotics and/or mood stabilizers is presently contingent to the identification of specific phenotypic profiles in anxiety disorders, mixed and manic episodes and/or delirium states. Today, the anamnesis and psychopathological examination are hindered by the vagueness of the conceptualization of these experiences in diagnostic textbooks. We propose a selective review of literature of how these have been conceptualised aiming at increasing the segregation of specific phenomenological profiles across these phenomena.