List I - Core Conditions Flashcards
How is grief commonly organised into stages?
- Denial
- This may include a feeling of numbness and also pseudohallucinations of the deceased, both auditory and visual
- Occasionally people may focus on physical objects that remind them of their loved one or even prepare meals for them
- Anger
- Commonly directed against other family members and medical professionals
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
People may not go through all 5 stages
Who is more at risk of atypical grief?
- Women and if the death is sudden and unexpected
* Problematic relationship before death or if the patient has not had much social support
What are the features of atypical grief?
- Delayed grief - said to occur when more than 2 weeks passes before grieving begins
- Prolonged grief - difficult to define, normal grief reaction that may take up to and beyond 12 months
What is anxiety defined as?
- Excessive worry about a number of different events associated with heightened tension
What are the important alternative diagnoses of anxiety?
- Hyperthyroidism
- Cardiac disease
- Medication induced anxiety
Which medications can trigger anxiety?
- Salbutamol
- Theophylline
- Corticosteroids
- Anti-depressants
- Caffeine
What is the step wise approach to the management of anxiety according to NICE?
- Step 1: education about GAD + active monitoring
- Step 2: low intensity psychological interventions (individual non-facilitated self-help or individual guided self-help or psychoeducational groups)
- Step 3: high intensity psychological interventions (cognitive behavioural therapy or applied relaxation) or drug treatment. See drug treatment below for more information
- Step 4: highly specialist input e.g. Multi agency teams
What is the drug treatment approach to the treatment of anxiety?
- Sertraline should be considered the first-line SSRI
- Patients under the age of 30 years NICE recommend you warn patients of the increased risk of suicidal thinking and self-harm. Weekly follow-up is recommended for the first month
What is the step wise approach to the management of panic disorder according to NICE?
- Step 1: recognition and diagnosis
- Step 2: treatment in primary care - see below
- Step 3: review and consideration of alternative treatments
- Step 4: review and referral to specialist mental health services
- Step 5: care in specialist mental health services
What is the recommended treatment of panic disorder in primary care according to NICE?
- Either CBT or drug treatment
- SSRI’s are first line - if contraindicated or no response after 12 weeks then imipramine or clomipramine should be offered
What is the ICD10 definition of bipolar affective disorder?
- Two or more episodes in which a persons mood and activity levels are significantly disturbed
Consisting of on some occasions: - Elevation in mood and increased activity and energy levels (hypomania or mania)
- Lowering of mood and decreased activity and energy levels (depression)
Repeated episodes of hypomania or mania only are classified as bipolar
What is the ICD10 of hypomania?
- Persistent mild elevation of mood including:
- Increased energy and activity
- Marked feelings of well-being
- Feelings of physical and mental efficiency
- Increased sociability
- Talkativeness
- Over-familiarity
- Increased sexual energy
- Decreased need for sleep
- Irritability, conceit, boorish behaviour may take the place of the more usual euphoric sociability
- Disturbances of mood are not accompanied by hallucinations and delusions
- Symptoms not to the extent that they lead to severe disruption of work or result in social rejection
What is the ICD10 of manic episode?
- Elevated mood
- Increased energy
- Reduced concentration
- Reduced need for sleep
- Inflated self esteem grandiosity
- Reckless behaviour - overspending, promiscuity
- Increased libido
- Racing thoughts, pressured speech
- Irritability, aggression
- Psychomotor agitation
- Disinhibition
What is the ICD10 for mania with psychotic symptoms?
- In addition to the mania described:
- Grandiose delusions
- Hallucinations (usually voices speaking directly to the patient)
- Excitement or excessive motor activity can be so extreme that the patient is incomprehensible
What are the indications for prescribing lithium?
Indications
- Mania- treatment and prophylaxis
- Bipolar affective disorder
- Recurrent depression
- Aggressive or self mutilating behaviour
What are the kinetics (ADME) of lithium?
- Absorption is rapid
- Excretion is via the kidneys - clearance depends on renal function, fluid intake, Na intake
- Levels after last dose (0.4-1.0) therapeutic range but guided by clinical response
What are the baseline investigations for lithium before starting a patient on it?
- Physical examination and weight
- U&E’s, renal function, TFT’s, Ca
- ECG
- Pregnancy test - female
What are the monitoring requirements for lithium?
- Aim for the therapeutic window of 0.4-1.0
- Monitor levels every 3/12 when the patient is stable
- Renal, thyroid, Ca2+, weight and ECG
- Avoid drugs which reduce renal excretion such as ACEi, NSAID’s diuretics, thiazides, etc
What are the early side effects of lithium use?
- Dry mouth, metallic taste in mouth, fine tremor, fatigue, polyuria, polydipsia
What are the late side effects of lithium use?
- Diabetes insipidus, hypothyroidism, arrhythmias, ataxia, dysarthria, weight gain
What are the signs/causes of lithium toxicity?
- Drugs (NSAIDs, diuretics), renal failure, UTI, dehydration
- Levels - may occur if lithium >1.5 but treat the symptoms as well as the levels
- Symptoms
- Early - blurred vision, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, coarse tremor, ataxia, dysarthria
- Late - confusion, renal failure, delirium, fits, coma, death
What is the management of lithium toxicity?
- Medical emergency - A to E
- Stop the lithium
- Give fluids
- Start diuresis / dialysis
- Treat the cause - e.g. stop nephrotoxic drugs
What is pseudodementia?
- Understood as a specific clinical entity, characterised by cognitive deficits, mimicking dementia occurring on a background of psychiatric disorders, especially depression
How can depression be differentiated from dementia?
Factors suggesting a diagnosis of depression over dementia:
- Short history, rapid onset
- Weight loss, sleep disturbance
- Patient worried about poor memory
- Reluctant to take tests, disappointed with results
- Mini-mental test score variable
- Global memory loss (dementia characteristically causes memory loss)
What is the ICD10 definition of depression?
Core symptoms:
- Low mood - may be worse in the morning
- Anhedonia - inability to derive pleasure
- Anergia - reduced energy levels
Additional symtoms:
- Decrease in activity
- Concentration reduced
- Sleep disturbance
- Reduced appetite
- Self esteem reduced
- Self confidence reduced
- Ideas of guilt
- Ideas of worthlessness
- Psychomotor retardation
- Agitation
- Weight loss
- Loss of libido
How is a mild depressive episode classified?
- Two core symptoms + 2 additional symptoms
* Distressing to the patient but they can usually continue with most activities
How is a moderate depressive episode classified?
- Two core + 3 additional symptoms
* Patient is likely to have great difficulty continuing with their ordinary activities
How is a severe depressive episode classified?
- Three core + 4 additional symptoms
- Suicidal thoughts and acts are common
- A number of somatic symptoms are usually present
- May present with or without psychotic symptoms
When does NICE guidance indicate use of ECT as a form of treatment?
- For severe life threatening or treatment resistant depression, catatonia or severe mania
- For depression, when the patient has tried two different types of (antidepressants) treatment at the right dose and for the right length of time and they have made no difference
How successful is ECT?
- 8/10 people report significant improvement in their depressive symptoms
How long is ECT treatment?
- Patients usually undergo a course lasting around 2 weeks with 6-12 treatments throughout that period
What does the procedure involve?
- Patient cannot eat or drink anything from midnight the night before the procedure and stops any psychiatric medicine for the procedure
- Patient is under short acting general anaesthetic and given a muscle relaxant and O2
- Electrodes are placed either side of temples
- Observations HR, RR, temp, O2, BP, ECG monitored
- Electric current is passed through the brain by the clinician (who has been trained)
- This induces a controlled seizure
- Patient can eat and drink and continue with medication after the procedure
What are the risks of ECT?
- Possible headache after the procedure for 1 hour or so - patient can take paracetamol
- Problems with short term memory, although this usually improves over time, usually in weeks to months
- 1/50000 risk of death from the GA
Summarise the whole process of preparing a patient for ECT?
- Initial consultation - 2 ineffective treatments for depression have failed, doctor with explain the procedure and give the patient an information leaflet to consider the treatment
- Consent for the procedure, patient informed they can withdraw at anytime and made aware of risks and benefits
- Patient meets with anaesthetist to discuss medicines, physical examination, blood tests
- Procedure itself as described, no eating or drinking from midnight the night before
What is the biological theory of depression?
- Monoamine theory - depression associated with decrease in brain NAd (noreadrenaline) and/or 5HT (serotonin)
Antidepressants rapidly block NAd or 5HT uptake but clinical improvement takes up to 4-6 weeks
Which drug groups are included in the monoamine re-uptake inhibitors?
- Tricyclics - amytriptyline, lofepramine
- SSRI’s - fluoxetine, citalopram, etc
- Noreadrenaline re-uptake inhibitors - reboxetine
- SNRI’s - venlafaxine
- Noreadrenaline and specific serotonin antidepressant (NaSSa) - mirtazapine
What are the possible side effects of SSRI’s?
- Agitation
- Nausea/loss of appetite
- Indigestion/diarrhoea/constipation
- Loss of libido/erectile dysfunction
- Dizziness/dry mouth/blurred vision/sweatiness/headaches
Why are monoamine oxidase inhibitors less frequently used?
Examples: Phenelzine, Moclobemide (RIMA-reversible inhibitor)
- Poorer tolerability, interactions and diet restrictions
- Monoamine breaks down tyramine in your gut
- If you eat food containing tyramine e.g. cheese, red wine, bovril it can be toxic
- Can lead to a hypertensive crisis
What are some of the problems with antidepressants?
Suicidal ideas - motivation improves before mood giving an increased risk period (all types) - possibly more with SSRI’s therefore important to warn patients
* Some are very toxic in overdose - TCA’s
Serotonin syndrome - excess serotonin via SSRI + TCA/MAOI/ST Johns Wort/ecstasy
- Side effects - restlessness, fever, tremor, myoclonus, confusion, fits, arrhythmias
- Supportive treatment - most are mild and are better within 24 hours
Hyponatraemia - greater risk in older, thin females in summer with poor renal function
* Can occur with all antidepressants but SSRI’s worst, lofepramine/mirtazapine are best
Give an example of an alternative treatment that should be advised against taking for depression?
- St Johns Wort - has different potencies with potential serious interactions with other drugs such as oral contraceptives, anticoagulants and anti-convulsants
How long should patients be treated with antidepressants for?
- 6-9 months following recovery
- If multiple episodes consider for at least 2 years
- If starting an antidepressant it should be tried for at least 4-6 weeks
How should a patient be counselled if they report their antidepressant isnt working?
- Check they are taking it
- For a reasonable length of time for it to work
- Alcohol use may stop it working (as well as use of street drugs at the same time)
- Consider if the underlying diagnosis is correct
- Consider perpetuating factors
- Options are to switch or to augment
When does NICE recommend low intensity psychological interventions for depression?
- Mild to moderate depression
- Medication not indicated at this stage
- Patients can use the IAPT - improving access to psychological therapies
When does NICE recommend a combination of antidepressant and high intensity psychological intervention?
- Moderate to severe depression
- Antidepressant and high intensity psychological intervention - usually CBT or IPT
- If patients decline medication and high intensity psychological intervention they can consider counselling or brief psychodynamic therapy
What are examples of low intensity interventions for depression?
- Advice - improving sleep hygiene, taking regular exercise
- CBT based self help - books and computer packages targeting specific diagnoses
- Many have good evidence base - 30% of people with bulimia improve with self help alone
- 6-8 sessions/delivered by a trained practitioner, working through a book with patient
- Structured group Physical activity programme - 10-14 weeks
- Group CBT
What are examples of high intensity interventions for depression?
- Use an antidepressant or
- CBT 16-20 sessions over 3-4 months
- IPT - 16-20 sessions over 3-4 months
- Behavioural activation - 16-20 sessions over 3-4 months
- Behavioural couples therapy - not commonly used
What is the cognitive behaviour model?
- Model used to analyse thoughts, behaviours, moods, biology according to triggers
- Helps to review the way in which a person sees the world and challenges their thoughts to have a more constructive/positive outlook
What is the theory behind CBT?
- Early experiences can dictate how we appraise events and the world around us
- Its not the event that causes problems but how we appraise it
What is done in practice with CBT?
- Problem and goals are defined
- Map out the problem in terms of thoughts, behaviours, physiology, emotions
- Use diaries to monitor and identify problematic thoughts, or other problems
- Help the patient to learn to think in more helpful ways
- Patient does behavioural experiments - what will happen if i go to the party? will exercise lift my mood?
What is the role of interpersonal therapy?
- Time limited and structured psychotherapy for moderate to severe depression
- Psychological symptoms can be understood in response to current difficulties in our everyday interactions with others
- In turn the depressed mood can also affect the quality of our relationships
- Focuses on interpersonal difficulties, roles and grief
- When a person is able to interact more effectively, their psychological symptoms often improve
- IPT focusses on:
- Conflicts
- Life changes
- Grief and loss
- Relationship problems
What is behavioural activation?
- Depression can lead to isolation, avoidance and withdrawal from regular activities
- People wait until they are better to do things - unfortunately they never feel better so never do things
- BA works on small steps and building up - e.g. walking the dog everyday
What is considered in terms of the management and assessment of social problems?
- Often act as precipitating and/or perpetuating factors
- Important to assess
- Importance of occupation and function
- ADLs - take me through a typical day
- Where are you living
- Isolation
- Support at home
- Working
- Finances?
Which services can you direct patients to for social support?
- Debts - citizens advice
- Food banks
- Voluntary organisations - age UK, alzheimers society
How/when is referral to secondary care made for depression?
- Significant risk of self harm, danger to others, psychotic symptoms or severe agitation - patients should be referred as an emergency
- Significant depression with functional impairment persists despite adequate treatment in primary care setting
- When additional community support from community mental health team or day hospital staff are required
- Indication for specialist psychological treatment
What should always be assessed in any depressed patient but also any other psychiatric patient?
- Risk of harm to self, others, neglect
* Psychotic symptoms
What is the stepped care for depression according to NICE?
STEP 1: All known and suspected presentations of depression * Low-intensity psychological and psychosocial interventions, medication and referral for further assessment and interventions
STEP 2:
Persistent sub-threshold depressive symptoms mild to moderate depression
* Low-intensity psychological and
psychosocial interventions, medication
and referral for further assessment and interventions
STEP 3: Persistent sub-threshold depressive symptoms or mild to moderate depression with inadequate response to initial interventions; moderate and severe depression * Medication, high-intensity psychological interventions, combined treatments, collaborative care and referral for further assessment and interventions
STEP 4: Severe and complex depression; risk to life; severe self-neglect * Medication, high-intensity psychological interventions, electroconvulsive therapy, crisis service, combined treatments, multi-professional and inpatient care
What are the short term biological treatments for depression?
- Exercise
* ECT
What are the short term psychological treatments for depression?
- Exercise
- Behavioural activation
- Problem solving
- Self help/computer based CBT
- Psycho-education
- CBT/IPT
What are the short term social treatments for depression?
- Housing
- Financial assistance
- Exercise
- Socialisation
What are the medium/long term biological treatments for depression?
- Antidepressants
- Antipsychotics
- Mood stabilisers
What are the medium/long term psychological treatments for depression?
- CBT/IPT
* Psychoanalysis if refusal of CBT/antidepressants
What are the medium/long term social treatments for depression?
- Improve social networks
- Increase daily activities
- Employment
- Housing
- Finances
What is the ICD10 for anorexia nervosa?
- Disorder characterised by deliberate weight loss, induced and sustained by the patient
- Occurs most commonly in adolescent girls and young women (males may also be affected)
- Associated with a specific psychopathology whereby a dread of fatness and flabbiness of body contour persists as an intrusive overvalued idea and the patients impose a low weight threshold on themselves
- Usually undernutrition of varying severity with secondary endocrine and metabolic changes and disturbances of bodily function
- Symptoms include restricted dietary choice, excessive exercise, induced vomiting and purgation, and use of appetite suppressants and diuretics
What is atypical anorexia nervosa according to the ICD10 classification?
- Fulfil some of the features of anorexia nervosa but in which the overall picture does not justify the diagnosis
e. g. marked dread of being fat may be absent in the presence of marked weight loss and weight reducing behaviour
What is bulimia nervosa according to the ICD10 classification?
- Syndrome characterised by repeated bouts of overeating and an excessive preoccupation with the control of body weight, leading to a pattern of overeating followed by vomiting or use of purgatives
- Shares many psychological features with anorexia nervosa, including an over-concern with body shape and weight
- Repeated vomiting is likely to give rise to disturbances of body electrolytes and physical complications
- Often but not always an earlier episode of anorexia nervosa (interval ranging months to years)
What is atypical bulimia nervosa according to the ICD10 classification system?
- Fulfil some of the features of bulimia nervosa but in which the overall picture does not justify the diagnosis
e. g. recurrent bouts of overeating and overuse of purgatives without significant weight change
What are the three main types of eating disorder?
- Anorexia nervosa
- Bulimia nervosa
- Other specified feeding and eating disorders
What are the main components of anorexia according to DSM 5?
- BMI <18.5
* Core psychopathology
What are the main components of bulimia according to DSM 5?
- BMI >18.5
- Core psychopathology
- Regular binge/purge x1/week
What does core psychopathology refer to in terms of eating disorders?
- Fear of fatness
- Pursuit of thinness
- Body dissatisfaction
- Body image distortion
- Self evaluation based on weight and shape
What are the common behaviours associated with eating disorders?
- Dieting
- Fasting
- Calorie counting
- Excessive exercise
- Water loading
- Diet pills, thyroxine, diuretics, appetite suppressants
- Excessive weighing
- Body checking
- Culinary behaviours
- Avoidance
- Isolation
- Bingeing
- Purging
- Starve-binge-purge cycle
- Misuse of insulin
- Laxatives
- DSH
- Substance misuse
What are the CVS effects of starvation?
- Bradycardia
- Hypotension
- Sudden death
What are the CVS effects of bingeing/purging?
- Arrhythmias
- Cardiac failure
- Sudden death
What is the ironic name of the questionnaire for eating disorders?
- SCOFF questionnaire
- S - do you make yourself SICK because you feel uncomfortably full?
- C - do you worry you have lost CONTROL over how much you eat?
- O - have you recently lost more than ONE stone in a 3 month period?
- F - do you belief yourself to be FAT when others say you are too thin?
- F - would you say that FOOD dominates your life?
Which psychiatric disorder has the highest mortality rate of any?
- Anorexia nervosa
- Most deaths due to physical complications of dieting, bingeing and purging
- 20-40% deaths in AN due to suicide
What are the components of the physical risk assessment of a person who has an eating disorder?
- Clinical history and physical assessment
- Body mass index
- ECG
- Blood investigations
What are the features of the clinical history and physical assessment of a person with an eating disorder?
- Rapid weight loss
- Physical comorbidity e.g. diabetes
- CVS - chest pain, postural dizziness, palpitations, blackouts
- Excessive exercise
- Water loading
- Alcohol
- Infection
- Haematemesis
- Pregnancy
- Medication
- BMI
- Irregular pulse
- Brady cardia
- Hypotension
- Postural hypotension
- Hypothermia
- Proximal myopathy
What is BMI level below which is considered part of diagnosis for anorexia nervosa?
- <18.5
What are the cardiac abnormalities that can be seen in a patient with anorexia nervosa?
- Most AN deaths are due to cardiac arrest
- Cardiac abnormalities are present in up to 86% of patients with AN
- T wave changes (hypokalaemia)
- Bradycardia (<40 bpm)
- QTc prolongation (>450ms)
What are the blood investigations required for a person with an eating disorder?
- FBC
- U&Es
- LFTs
- Glucose
- CK
- Phos, Mg, Ca
- TFTs
- Zn
What is the main physiological consequence of starvation?
For a person with an eating disorder.
- Hypoglycaemia
What is the main physiological consequence of vomiting?
For a person with an eating disorder.
- Hypokalaemia
What is the main physiological consequence of water loading?
For a person with an eating disorder.
- Hyponatraemia
What is the main physiological consequence of laxative misuse?
For a person with an eating disorder.
- Hyperkalaemia
* Hyponatraemia