Mental health and dental correlations Flashcards
Define psychiatric illness
• A condition that impacts aperson’s thinking, feeling or mood and their ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis
Define psychosis, list its biological causes and what it may occur due to (i.e, other related disorders or conditions)
- Psychosis is a mental disorder where a person loses the capacity to tell what’s real from what isn’t
- Abnormal functioning of the frontal and temporal lobes and the dopaminergic projections to these areas
May occur due to: • Schizophrenia • Drugs • Schizoaffective disorder • Medical conditions e.g. brain tumours, metabolic disorders, medications
Define schizophrenia
- Schizophreniais a mental illness characterized by relapsing episodes of psychosis
- Major symptoms include hallucinations (hearing voices), delusions (having beliefs not shared by others), and disorganized thinking
Define delusions
• A fixed, false belief that is not in keeping with social or cultural norms. Delusions are resistant to reasoning or evidence to the contrary. Often a patient will gather ‘evidence’ to support their ideas.
Delusions may be
• Bizarre – strange, completely implausible e.g. aliens have implanted a chip in the brain
• Non-bizarre – clearly incorrect, but at least possible e.g. being under government surveillance
• Mood congruent or incongruent – e.g. a depressed person may believe the world is about to end, a manic person may believe they have special powers
Define hallucinations
• An apparent perception of an external object when no such object is present
Generally involves abnormal perception using at least one of the senses.
• Auditory
• Visual
• Olfactory
Define bipolar disorder
• Mental health condition which causes a person’s moods to swing from extremely happy and energised (manic) to extremely depressed and often suicidal.
List common symptoms of schizophrenia
Two or more of the following (for at least one month)
• Delusions
• Hallucinations
• Disorganised speech
• Grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour
• Negative symptoms
Negative symptoms • Anhedonia: don't find activities interesting anymore • Reduction in speech • Impaired attention • Social withdrawal • Apathy • Blunted emotional responses
List common symptoms of psychosis
- Delusions
- Perceptual disturbance / hallucinations
- Disorganised speech and behaviour
- Substance use
List common symptoms of bipolar
- Inflated self-esteem
- Flight of ideas
- Pressure of speech
- Increased energy / easily distracted
- Decreased sleep
- Risky behaviour
- Psychosis
Describe the difference between dementia and psychosis
Dementia is longstanding and not reversible, unlike psychosis which is more acute, and can be generally be reduced or reversed.
Understand how depression is clinically managed
- SSRIs are commonly used to treat both anxiety and depression.
- As the chemicals in the brain return to normal balance, the person’s mood regulates.
- Most antidepressants take at least 6-8 weeks to reach peak effect
Understand how psychosis is clinically managed
• Antipsychotic medication is used to reduce dopamine levels in the brain
Understand how bipolar is clinically managed
- Antipsychotic medication
- Anti-epileptic medications are often given as mood stabilisers
- Antidepressant medication
Therapy
• Gaining rapport
• Trust
• Insight
Know dental manifestations of depression/ anxiety
Medication side effects: • Dry mouth (xerostomia) more commonly associated with Tricyclics • Individuals may consume lollies or chew chewing gum to increase saliva production • Teeth clenching • Poor OH • Caries • Advances perio • Poor nutrition/ diet
Know dental manifestations of psychosis
- Clozapine causes hypersalivation, thus agents are given to dry the mouth
- Swallowing dysfunction
- Tongue protrusion
- Parkinsonian-like movements – lip chewing, lip smacking, general movements
- Akathisia – restlessness, inability to sit still, a tendency to move body (especially legs)
- Tardive dyskinesia – involuntary movements
