Introduction to Psychiatry

Question 1

Do most people fully recover from a mental illness?

Answer 1

Yes

Question 2

List some examples of mental illness treatments.

Answer 2

A range of treatment options are available:

Psychotherapies, social therapies, medication.

Excellent evidence base

Question 3

What are the differences between mental and physical health?

Answer 3

People often don’t perceive themselves to be ill:
No therapeutic contract
Reluctance to accept treatment
Use of Mental Health Act (50,000 detentions per year)

No scientific to diagnosis:
Similar to 18th Century medicine.
Diagnose by symptom cluster - not aetiology or pathology.
Uncertainty about diagnosis.
Dispute about existence of mental illness.

Perceived lack of treatment.

Question 4

What is agoraphobia?

Answer 4

Avoiding (fear of) crowded situations.

Question 5

List some signs a patient has had panic attacks before (periods of intense anxiety).

Answer 5

Sudden fear 
Heart Racing 
Shaking 
Dry mouth
Last 10-15 minutes then subside

Question 6

A patient washes her hair for 5 hours and has an elaborate “decontamination regime”. What term can you use to describe this symptom?

Answer 6

Compulsion

Question 7

List some physical symptoms of anxiety.

Answer 7

Palpitations 
Sweating 
Dry mouth 
Splanchnic vasoconstriction (butterflies) 
Tremor 
Paraesthesia (pins and needles) 
Depersonalisation 
Syncope

Question 8

List some examples of OCD symptoms of OBSESSIONS.

Answer 8

Ego-dystonic thoughts 
Repetitive, circular ruminations - may be bizarre and sound delusional 
Insight maintained 
Unbidden and resisted 
Resistance leads to anxiety

Question 9

List some examples of OCD symptoms of COMPULSIONS.

Answer 9

Often ritualistic, stereotyped, precise.

E.g. Handwashing, counting, arranging and symmetry, checking door locks. Start again if interrupted or doubt.

Question 10

List 5 classification of anxiety and briefly explain each one.

Answer 10

Generalised anxiety disorder - Anxiety you’re feeling pretty much all the time. Fairly stable.

Panic disorder - Very unstable; sudden increases then decreases.

Agoraphobia - Fear of market place; don’t want to leave your house.

Simple phobia - Straight-up scared. Can have more than one. Very normal; people who are scared of dead spider in room 5 ft away → Not normal therefore a simple phobia.

Social phobia - Scared of giving talks; quite often normal → anxious and avoidant when being looked at by a large number of people.

OCD

PTSD