mental status exam - personality disorders Flashcards
First Impressions:
Personal Appearance, Restlessness, Anxiety. Speak directly to the patient, establish eye contact.
General Description:
Appearance (Disheveled, Odorous); Behavior (Agitated, Rocking); Attitude (Argumentative, Dismissing, Uncooperative).
Speech
Echolalia, Palilalia and Neologisms are signs of Autism, Schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s. Poverty of Speech suggests Schizophrenia or Depression. Be attentive for Poverty of Content, Dysprosody (alternating speech patterns), Dysarthria and Stuttering.
Mood and Affect:
Mood = Subjective. Types of Mood: Euthymic, Alexithymia (Unable to Describe), Dysphoric, Anxious, Drepressed, Melancholia, Anhedonia, Apathetic, Labile (Swings), Elevated, Euphoria, Expansive, Hypomanic, Manic. Affect = Objective. Types of Affect: Appropriate, Inappropriate (Emotion doesn’t match presentation), La Belle Indifference (Too Calm about a Bad Dx), Restricted/Constricted, Blunted, Flat, Labile.
Thought Process:
Tempo (Flight of Ideas – Mania), Poverty of Thought (Schizophrenia), Preservation (Repetitive Thoughts), Circumstantial (Vague), Loose Associations (Changes Topic Randomly), neologism.
Thought Content:
Delusions = A Fixed False Belief: Control, Nihilism, Jealousy, Guilt, Self-Reference, Erotomania, Grandiosity, Persecution, Somatic (Body is Somehow Diseased). Preoccupations = Suicide or Homicide. Perceptions: Hallucinations – Auditory (Most Common), Visual (Suspect Drugs), Olfactory, Gustatory, Tactile (Cocaine/Meth).
Impulsivity
Especially concerning in Suicidal and Homicidal ideation.
Judgment
The Ability to make Sound, Reasoned, Responsible decisions to achieve pro-social outcomes.
Insight
Does the patient understand their diagnosis? Have them explain their disorder, their treatment plan and recognize that hallucinations and delusions are pathological. Test insight by having patients interpret proverbs.
Mini-Mental State Exam:
Assesses cognitive impairment, the hallmark of dementia, score <23/30. Testing areas include Orientation and Registration, Attention, Calculation, Recall and Language.
stage I sleep
Theta waves (3-7 Hz)
stage II sleep
Sleep Spindles and K-Complexes
Stage III/IV sleep
delta waves
rem sleep
Sawtooth Waves, Nocturnal Erections/Arousal, “Saccadic” Eye Movements and Dreaming. Associated with increased Pons activity. REM is necessary to “clear out the brain” and memory consolidation
Sleep-wake Transition
Hypnagogic = Wakefulness –> Sleep. Hypnopompic = Sleep –> Wakefulless. Either state may involve hallucinatory experiences.
Sleep Deprivation
The Cerebral Cortex suffers most. Only about 1/3 of lost sleep is made up overnight. <5Hrs/Night = Impaired Functioning. Sx = Decreased WBCs, Prefrontal Cortical Activity and Glucose Tolerance, Increased Cortisol, BP, Amygdala Activation and Negative Mood. In the first 3hrs of sleep HGH, PRL and 5-HT rise and DA and TSH fall.
-Melatonin is produced by the Pineal gland and is only produced at night. This is necessary for regulation of the Circadian Rhythm.
Developmental Aspects of Sleep:
By age 1, normal EEG patterns are detectable. By age 5, children consistently sleep through the night. In adults, 20% of sleep is spent in REM w/cycles every 90 minutes. Stage III/IV sleep declines in the elderly and they complain of not feeling rested.
Insomnia Disorder:
Chief Complaint of dissatisfaction with sleep quality/quantity with Difficulty Initiating/Maintaining sleep and Early Morning awakening w/inability to return to sleep. Sleep disturbance must occur at least 3 nights/wk over 3 months and cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, academic, occupational or behavioral function.
Hypersomnolence Disorder
Self-Reported Excessive Sleepiness despite sleeping at least 7hrs/day at least 3 times/wk over 3 months. Acute form <1mo, Subacute form 1-3mos.
Narcolepsy
Recurrent periods of an irrepressible need to sleep, lapsing into sleep or napping in the same day. Patients may experience Cataplexy w/sudden B/L loss of muscle tone precipitated by Laughter or Joking. Dx: Hypocretin deficiency in the CSF, Nocturnal Sleep Polysomnography shows REM latency <15mins.