Organic Mental Disorders

Question 1

What makes a disorder an OMD>

Answer 1

Recognised as having an organic explanation
Acquired (i.e. not a LD)
Primary (brain) or secondary (e.g. endocrine)

Question 2

What areas of mental health do OMDs affect?

Answer 2

Cognitive impairment e.g. memory, language, orientation, attention or executive function

Behavioural abnormalities

Mood changes

Psychotic symptoms

Question 3

What are the major acute OMDs?

Answer 3

Delirium
Organic Mood disorder
Organic Psychotic disorder

Question 4

What is delirium?

Answer 4

Transient & fluctuating global cognitive impairment with ass. behavioural changes

Question 5

What are the defining characteristics of delirium?

Answer 5

• Impaired attention/conc
• Disorientated (Time, place, person)
• Fluctuating arousal (quiet/drowsy –> agitated outburst) particularly at night
• Perceptual problems e.g. hallucination
• Mood changes
• Delusions
• Disorganised thinking & speech

Also ant memory, sleep/wake cycle and psychomotor problems

Question 6

Virtually any neuro or systemic problem can –> delirium, what are the most common?

Answer 6

Infection
Drugs e.g. steroids/opioids (both common post-op)
Withdrawal e.g. alc
Alc use
Liver/kidney disease
Hypoxia

Lot’s of others in brain, vit deficiencies, metabolic problems and endocrinopathies

Question 7

What are the commonest chronic OMDs?

Answer 7

Dementia
Amnesic Syndrome
ORganic Personality Change

Question 8

What makes dementia different to Delirium?

Answer 8

It’s a chronic and progessive global cognitive impairment,
It also doesn’t fluctuate much

Question 9

Define amnesic syndrome?

Answer 9

Ant AND Retrograde amnesia with preserved intellectual abilities, working memory & procedural memory

Question 10

What can cause amnesic syndrome>?

Answer 10

Hippocampal damage e.g. HSV or bilateral post-cerebral art occlusion

Diencephalic damage e.g. Korsakoff’s syndrome, 3rd ventricle tumours and post-subarachnoid haemorrhage problems such as ant communicating art aneurysm