Mental Illness Flashcards
Define depression and how it presents with chronic illness.
Mental state characterised by excessive sadness, persistent low mood, loss of interest, despair, feelings of worthlessness
Response to loss, failure, or helplessness e.g. loss of health/identity, reaction to symptoms/medication, physiological changes
Increased risk with increased severity of illness, pain & disability, negative life events, lack of social support.
Exacerbates pain & distress associated with physical health problems and adversely affects illness outcomes
(direct = reduced immune system, functional impairment
indirect = increased risk factors by unhealthy behaviour, compromised quality of life, impact on coping, poorer self-managment)
Problems:
- symptoms attributed to illness (e.g. fatigue)
- symptoms occur at home
- patient believes problems cannot be alleviated
- does not report (fear of appearing crazy/unable to cope/complaining)
- HCPs do not ask (not within their role, fear patient distress, reluctance to label as psychological difficulties)
Define anxiety and outline the management.
Response to a threat resulting in a generalised pervasive sense of unease/fear; sustained anxiety associated with unhelpful thinking patterns
(encompasses GAD, PTSD, OCD, body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis, phobias, panic attacks)
- increased vigilance for threats (symptoms)
- interpret ambiguous information as threatening
- increased recall of threatening memories
NICE = SSRIs, individual CBT, relaxation
