Mental Health Disorders Flashcards
What do mental illnesses involve?
Clinically significant changes in emotion, thinking or behaviour.
According to a 2019 survey, 75% of respondents would be reluctant to disclose a mental illness to their coworker and were 3 times less likely to disclose a mental illness than a physical one. Outline the top 3 reasons for this reluctance.
- Belief that there is a stigma around mental illness
- Not wanting to be treated differently or judged
- Being afraid of negative consequences (i.e., losing job)
What is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V)?
Diagnostic tool published by American Psychiatric Association. Useful for having an accurate description of a disorder.
What are the 3 general approaches to identifying the neurochemical basis for a mental health disorder?
- Study neurochemical correlates of animal and human models of the disorder
- Consider neuronal mechanisms of effective drug treatment
- Measure neurotransmitters in patient populations
In what ways can neurotransmitters in patient populations be measured?
CSF, brain scans, post-mortem brain tissue analysis
What is schizophrenia and how common is it?
A chronic condition occurring in 1-1.5% of the global population.
When do symptoms of schizophrenia start?
Often begin in late adolescence and early adulthood.
Why might schizophrenia be categorized as a thought disorder?
Lack of reasoning
Illogical thinking
Failure to recognize reality
What are the two categories for describing symptoms of schizophrenia?
Positive and negative
Give examples of positive symptoms of schizophrenia
Hallucinations
Delusions
Disorganized speech
Unusual ways of thinking
Bizarre behaviour
How do positive symptoms of schizophrenia respond to drug treatment?
Well
Give examples of negative symptoms of schizophrenia
Reduced speech
Flat affect
Loss of motivation
Social withdrawal
Apathy and anhedonia
How do negative symptoms of schizophrenia respond to drug treatment?
Do not respond well
How does the DSM V define schizophrenia?
Characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behaviour, and other symptoms that cause social or occupational dysfunction.
According to the DSM V, what criteria must be met for an individual to be diagnosed with schizophrenia?
Symptoms must have been present for six months and include at least one month of active symptoms
Differentiate between the role of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia in its diagnosis.
Positive symptoms often lead to proper diagnosis.
Negative symptoms may be harder to diagnose and share similarities to other disorders.
What are the drugs used in treatment of schizophrenia referred to as?
Neuroleptics
Antipsychotics
Major tranquilizers
When was the first drug treatment for schizophrenia discovered?
1952
What was the first drug discovered to be effective for some individuals with schizophrenia?
Chlorpromazine
Describe the discovery of chlorpromazine for treatment of schizophrenia.
First used as a pre-anasthetic prior to surgery.
Noticed it induced calmness without sedation
What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?
Excess DA function results in positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
How does chlorpromazine relate to dopamine?
Acts as agonist at dopamine, specifically at D2 receptors.
How do amphetamine type drugs relate to dopamine?
Induce psychotic reactions in healthy individuals that could be reverse by dopamine agonists
What needs to happen in order for animal models of schizophrenia to be useful in developing treatments?
Results from animal model must translate into results in the patient with schizophrenia
Describe the animal model example of pre-pulse inhibition
Used as model of sensory gating based on evidence that schizophrenic individuals fail to filter sensory stimuli.
May lead to sensory overload and fragmented thinking.
Procedure used in animals is the same as humans.
What are the two types of neuroleptics?
Typical (first generation)
Atypical (second generation)
How do typical neuroleptics work?
Act on dopamine receptors
Give examples of typical neuroleptics
Chlorpromazine, haloperidol
How do atypical neuroleptics work?
Act on dopamine and serotonin receptors - have some antidepressant effects
Give examples of atypical neuroleptics
Clozapine, risperidone, quetiapine, olanzapine
Are typical or atypical neuroleptics more likely to produce extrapyramidal effects?
Typical
What are some extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptics?
Parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia
What is tardive dyskinesia?
Stereotypes involuntary movements (e.g., lip smacking, fly catching movements of tongue or movements of arms and legs)
What is the rule of thirds for neuroleptics?
- One third show excellent improvement with meds
- One third show some improvement but may still require further hospital admissions
- One third will be resistant to drug treatment, require significant time in hospitals
Describe the inquest of Ashley Smith
Mental health issues
Transferred around
Choked to death in cell while guards watched and died
Some argue should also look back to when she was in another institution and restrained and received forcible injections of unnecessary drugs
What are the three categories that the DSM V divides anxiety disorders into?
- Anxiety disorders
- OCD
- Traumatic related disorders
Give 4 examples of anxiety disorders.
- GAD
- Social anxiety disorder
- Panic disorder
- Phobias
What is generalized anxiety categorized by?
Constant excessive worry about daily life events and activities
What is social anxiety?
Extreme fear of being evaluated/criticized by others
What is the estimated lifetime prevalence of social anxiety?
12%
What is a panic attack?
A sudden rush of intense fear or discomfort, which includes at least 4 of the possible symptoms.