differential diagnosis

Question 1

differential diagnosis defintion:

Answer 1

process of determining which of two or more disorders a person has based on overlapping symptoms

Question 2

importance of differential diagnosis:

Answer 2

errors in mental health diagnoses have implications for costs, resources, pharmaceutical interest and patient outcomes

Question 3

six steps of DD:

Answer 3

1. ruling out malingering and factitious disorder
2. ruling out a substance etiology
3. ruling out an etiological medical condition
4. determining primary disorders
5. differentiating adjustment disorder from the residual other specified and unspecified conditions
6. establishing boundary with no mental disorder

Question 4

some patients may do what to clinician?

Answer 4

deceive clinician by producing or feigning the presenting symptoms

Question 5

malingering:

Answer 5

when the motivation is the achievement of a clearly recognizable goal such as avoiding legal responsibilities, obtaining drugs

Question 6

factitious disorder:

Answer 6

when the deceptive behavior is present even in the absence of obvious internal rewards

Question 7

differentiating adjustment disorder from the residual other specified:

Answer 7

if the judgment is made that the symptoms have developed as a maladaptive response to a psychosocial stressor then its adjustment.
if it is judged hat a stressor is not responsible then other specified and unspecified.

Question 8

course of illness possibilities in process of elimination: (4)

Answer 8

1. current symptoms
2. past symptoms if any
3. psychosocial history
4. medical history

Question 9

dsm 5 handbook for differential diagnosis provides decisions trees for making a diagnosis based on the presence of either:

Answer 9

hallucinations or delusions

Question 10

most common medical cause of acute psychosis:

Answer 10

substance-induced psychosis

Question 11

substance induced psychosis:

Answer 11

psychotic symptoms may occur during intoxication or withdrawal and psychosis typically subsides when sober or within month of stopping substance use

Question 12

3 questions to rule out a substance etiology:

Answer 12

1. do psychiatric symptoms result from the direct effects of the substance?
2. is the substance use a consequence of having a primate psychiatric disorder aka self-medication
3. do the psychiatric symptoms ever occur outside of substance use?

Question 13

medically induced psychosis conditions: (8)

Answer 13

1. heavy metal toxicity
2. delirium
3. metabolic disorders
4. endocrine disorders
5. infectious illness
6. neurologic condirions
7. genetic conditions
8. autoimmune disease

Question 14

do personality disorders include persistent psychotic symptoms?

Answer 14

no they last for a short time and are related to the characteristic symptoms