Organic mental disorders

Question 1

definne the difference between an organic and functional psychiatric disorder

Answer 1

Functional psychiatric disorders = characterised by disturbance of the functioning of the brain. Organic mental disorders = characterised by demonstrable organic brain damage or mental disorder arising in the context of demonstrable physical disease/ Group of disorders which have a recognised organic explanation

Question 2

what are the common cogitive impairment features of it?

Answer 2

Disorientation, Impaired attention/concentration, Memory (anterograde +/- retrograde amnesia), Language, Judgement, Insight

Question 3

what are the common behavioural abnormalities of it?

Answer 3

Agitation, aggression, Slowing, psychomotor retardation, Abnormal social conduct

Question 4

what mood changes occur?

Answer 4

low, anxiety, mania

Question 5

what psychotic features occur?

Answer 5

hallucinations (visual), delusions (persecutory)

Question 6

name acute organic mental disorders

Answer 6

delerium, organic psychotic or mood disorder

Question 7

name chronic organic mental disorders

Answer 7

dementia, amnesic synndrome, organic personality change

Question 8

define delerium

Answer 8

Transient organic mental syndrome of acute or subacute onset which is characterised by global cognitive impairment

Question 9

presenting features of delerium

Answer 9

Impaired attention/concentration, Anterograde memory impairment, Disorientation in time, place or person, Fluctuating levels of arousal (often nocturnal exacerbations), Disordered sleep/wake cycle, Increased/decreased psychomotor activity, Disorganised thinking as indicated by rambling, irrelevant or incoherent speech, Perceptual distortions, leading to misidentification, illusions, and hallucinations, Changes in mood such as anxiety, depression and lability

Question 10

causes if delerium

Answer 10

infection, meds, alcohol/drug withdrawl, drug abuse, metabolic, vitamin deficiencies, endocrinopathies, neurological, toxins/ industrial exposures, SLE, cerebral vasculitis, paraneoplastic synndromes.

Question 11

define Dementia

Answer 11

A syndrome which characterised by global cognitive impairment which is chronic in nature. The underlying brain pathology is variable and usually but not always progressive.

Question 12

types

Answer 12

Alzheimer, Vascular, Lewy body, Fronto-temporal, Due to other brain disorders, e.g. Huntington’s chorea, Head injury, Parkinson’s disease

Question 13

what is Amnesic synndrome?

Answer 13

Preserved global intellectual abilities BUT Anterograde amnesia, Retrograde amnesia (temporal gradient), Preserved registration/working memory (e.g. digit span), Preserved procedural (implicit) memory

Question 14

causes of amnesic syndrome…

Answer 14

hippocampal damage OR diencephalic damage

Question 15

hippocampal damage is caused by…

Answer 15

Herpes simplex virus encephalitis, Anoxia, Surgical removal of temporal lobes, Bilateral posterior cerebral artery occlusion, Closed head injury, Early Alzheimer’s disease

Question 16

diencephalic damage is caused by…

Answer 16

Korsakoff’s syndrome (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), 3rd ventricle tumours and cysts, Bilateral thalamic infarction, Post subarachnoid haemorrhage, especially from anterior communicating artery aneurysms