Lecture 17&19: mental illness, mood/anxiety disorders Flashcards

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1
Q

What is mental illness?

A
  • health condition mediated by the brain
  • characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination)
  • associated with distress and/or impaired functioning, including disability, pain, and/or death
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2
Q

Why is addiction not seen as a mental illness by some people?

A
  • some people view addiction as a choice, whereas many other mental disorders are viewed as illnesses/diseases
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3
Q

How did the use of antibiotics to treat the mania caused by syphilis helped to change the opinion of people about mental illness?

A
  • antibiotics were already used to treat other things that were accepted as diseases because they were ‘physical’
  • when we found out that an antibiotic could treat mental illness, people realized that a psychiatric disorder was as real of a disease as a physical one, and it could be treated by physicians with medications
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4
Q

What are mood disorders? List 3 of them.

A

Disorder of emotions!

  • major depressive disorder
  • bipolar disorder
  • cyclothymic disorders
  • depression induced by substance use
  • seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
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5
Q

In the case of depression, it has been shown that there is a loss of hippocampal volume and an increased activation to the amygdala. How do these changes affect the levels of cortisol and how is cortisol related to depression?

A
  • the amygdala triggers the hypothalamus to start the HPA axis stress response, which ultimately releases cortisol. increased activation of amygdala = higher cortisol
  • increased sensitivity to negative stimuli ^
  • chronic high cortisol levels damage the hippocampus, which is part of the negative feedback response. with less hippocampal volume, it is less effective = higher cortisol
  • ‘normal’ (not atypical) depression is caused by high cortisol levels
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6
Q

It has been hypothesized that allergies might play a role in major depressive disorder. Indicate 3 reasons supporting this hypothesis

A
  1. rates of allergies are higher in patients with depression
  2. during spring, there’s an increase in hospital admissions and suicide rates
  3. pollen increases production of cytokines
    –> cytokines activate the HPA axis
    –> cytokines also take away tryptophan (needed for 5-HT)
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7
Q

What is anxiety?
Anxiety disorder?

A
  • normal reaction to stress
  • anxiety disorder:
    • excessive & disproportionate fear/anxiety or avoidance of perceived threats
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8
Q

Fear vs anxiety?

A

Fear → feeling evoked by threat or impending danger
Anxiety → anticipation of real or imagined future threat of danger

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9
Q

How is FGF2 involved in anxiety? What is the use of knowing that FGF2 is involved in anxiety?

A
  • potential biomarker (gene) for anxiety
  • lower FGF2 = higher anxiety
  • may regulate anxiety via the HPA axis
  • it’s important for supporting the genetic hypothesis/basis for anxiety disorders
  • also supports that anxiety is a disease
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10
Q

Anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders have high concordance. Explain the common mechanism to both diseases

A
  • both caused by / associated with irregularities / dysfunctions in the HPA axis
  • both involve increased stress response
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11
Q

How does the dysregulation of GABA neurotransmission in the brain contribute to anxiety disorders?

A
  • dysregulation of GABA elevates reactivity of the amygdala –> increased sensitivity to stress –> increased cortisol levels –> anxiety disorder
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12
Q

How do benzodiazepines work?

A
  • GABA agonists
  • facilitate binding of inhibitory NT GABA to its receptors
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