1b Psychosis Flashcards
What is psychosis?
difficulty perceiving and interpreting reality (i.e. failure of reality testing)
What are some examples of psychotic disorders?
Bipolar
Schizoaffective disorder
depression
delusional disorder
What are the three symptom domains in psychosis?
Positive symptoms
Negative symptoms
disorganisation
What are the positive symptoms of psychosis?
Hallucinations
Delusions
What is a delusion?
A fixed, false belief not in keeping with social/cultural norms
What are the negative symptoms of psychosis?
Alogia
Anhedonia
Affective flattening
Avolution/apathy
What is alogia?
Paucity/poverty of speech, little content
Slow to respond
What is affective flattening?
Unchanging facial expressions
Few expressive gestures
Poor eye contact
Lack of vocal intonations
Limited emotional range
What is avolution?
Poor self-care
Lack of drive/persistence at work/education
Lack of motivation
What are the types of disorganisation symptoms?
Bizarre behaviour
Formal thought disorder
What is formal thought disorder?
Lack of logical connection between thoughts
What are the environmental risk factors for psychosis?
Drug use, especially cannabis
Prenatal/birth complications
Maternal infections
Migrant status
Socioeconomic deprivation
Childhood trauma
What neurotransmitter is most implicated in antipsychotic medication?
Dopamine
What causes the positive symptoms of psychosis?
Increased dopamine activity in mesolimbic dopamine system implicated in causing positive symptoms of psychosis
What makes something a ‘typical’ versus an ‘atypical’ antipsychotic?
Typical antipsychotics are older agents and have an increased risk of causing EPSE
