Depression Flashcards
What are some questions to ask an anxious patient?
Do you feel on the edge
Are you worrying a lot
How you been irritable
How you had difficulty relaxing
What might be found in laboratory findings in depression?
Elevated cortisol
Dexamethasone nonsuppression
What are some physical signs of anxiety?
Palpitations
Sweating
Dizziness
Tachycardia
Hypertension
“Butterfly’s in stomach”
Diarrhoea
What are the 8 aspects of the mental state examination?
- Appearance
- Attitude towards the interview
- Speech and Language
- Mood and Affect
- Thought process and thought content
- Perception
- Cognition
- Insight
How do you make the diagnosis of depression?
2 weeks in which lowered mood is experienced on most days
Causes significant distress
It interferes with the person’s ability to function
Feelings of worthlessness and guilt
What does the Yerkes-Dodson therapy describe?
The relationship between the level of arousal and performance status is a bell curve
What is anxiety?
Anxiety that is out of proportion to the stimulus, in duration and intensity
Causes significant distress
What are the DSM-IV criteria for diagnosis of Major Depression?
At least 5 out of the following:
- Depressed mood
- Loss of interest in normal activities
- Significant increase or loss of weight
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- Psychomotor agitation
- Diminished ability to concentrate
- Fatigue
- Feeling of worthlessness or guilt
- Desire to die
What are some melancholic features of major depression?
Anhedonia
Worse in the morning, early waking, significant weight loss, excessive guilt
What are some questions to ask to elicit the symptoms of depression?
Low energy?
Loss of interest?
Loss of confidence in self?
Felt hopeless?
What must you exclude to make the diagnosis of depression?
Direct physiological effect from some physical pathology
Dereavement
Psychotic disorders
How prevalent are mental illnesses?
45% lifetime prevalence
