Ch. 4 Psychopharm 1 - Intro Flashcards
What are the five major classes of psychiatric medications?
+ Antipsychotics
+ mood stabilizers
+ anti-depressants
+ anti-anxiety & sedative/hypnotics
+ stimulants
What are antipsychotics used for?
Schizophrenia
What are mood stabilizers used for?
+ Bipolar disorder
+ Anti-mania
+ Some mood stabilizers are antiepileptic drugs
++ calcium channel blockers, adrenergic, blocking agents, and atypical antipsychotics can produce mood stabilization
What are anti-depressants used for
+ Mainly depression
+ anxiety, OCD, eating disorders, fibromyalgia, diabetic neuropathy, enuresis (kids)
What are anti-anxiety drugs (Anxiolytics) used for?
+ acute anxiety
+ sedation/muscle relaxant
+ seizures
+ alcohol withdrawal
What are stimulant drugs used for?
+ ADHD
+ narcolepsy
Anticholinergic effects
Cholinergic receptors are blocked, causing:
+ dry mouth
+ urinary retention
+ increased heart rate
+ raised BP
What is the most dangerous or worst side effect of anticholinergic affect
Urinary retention!
+ Monitor for UTI
What are some anti-adrenergic effects for medication’s?
+ Low blood pressure (orthostatic HP)
+ low heart rate (brady)
+ central nervous system effects: sedation, depression, sexual problems
Most prominent among undesirable side effects are the central nervous system findings of sedation, altered thought process, depression, and orthostatic or exercise hypotension. Sexual problems, especially in men, are also prominent
Anti-muscarinic drug that inhibits action of acetylcholine
Atropine
Which mental illness is created by excess dopamine and serotonin
Schizophrenia
Which mental illness results from a deficiency of serotonin and norepinephrine
Depression
Which mental illness results from low GABA? What happens when GABA is enhanced/potentiated
+ anxiety
+ anxiety is reduced
What is the effect of gabba as a neurotransmitter?
Anxiety is calmed. GABA is “inhibitory” so has calming affect on mental processes
Which mental illness results from a deficiency of acetylcholine and high amount of glutamate
Alzheimer’s
Purpose of the autonomic nervous system
+ Communication between brain and rest of the body
+ homeostasis
+ links emotional changes to physical changes 
Which deficient Neuro transmitters lead to depression
Serotonin and norepinephrine (some dopamine - MAOIs)
Which Neuro transmitters in excess cause schizophrenia
Dopamine and serotonin
Which neurotransmitter reduces anxiety
GABA
Which Neuro transmitters affect Alzheimer’s? Are they low or high?
+ Deficient, acetyl choline
+ excess glutamate
What are the four dopamine pathways?
+ Mesolimbic
+ meso cortical
+ Nigrostriatal
+ tuberinfundibular
Which pathway is responsible for positive symptoms of
Mesolimbic
Which pathway is responsible for negative symptoms of schizophrenia
Meso cortical
Which pathway is associated with extrapyramidal side effects – EPS
Nigrostriatal
Which pathway is responsible for prolactin and hyperprolactinemia
Tuberinfundibular
What are the extra pyramidal side effects?
+ Dystonia
+ akathisia
+ parkinsonism
+ tardive dyskinesia
What does the term psychotic mean
Loss of contact with reality
What is the difference between hallucinations and delusions?
+ Hallucinations are external manifestations of sensory experiences – auditory, visual, tactile
+ delusions are false fixed believes in the brain - delusions: grandiose, somatic, paranoid
Mental health diseases that can have hallucinations and delusions
+ Schizophrenia
+ psychosis
+ depression
+ mania
+ Alzheimer’s disease
+ drug induced
What are antipsychotic drugs used for?
+ ANY mental diseases that manifest with hallucinations and delusions: schizophrenia, bipolar 1, depression
+ agitation
