psych Flashcards
What is an illusion?
False perception arising from a present stimulus
What is a hallucination?
False perception of a stimulus in the absence of a stimulus
What are hypnopompic hallucinations?
Hallucinations which occur as you wake up
What are hypnogogic hallucinations?
Hallucinations which occur as you fall asleep
What are 2nd person auditory hallucinations?
Auditory hallucinations that are directed at the patient, with or without referring to them by name
“You are …”
What are 3rd person auditory hallucinations?
Auditory hallucinations that do not refer to the patient, but provide a running commentary
“He is doing …”
“John is…”
What are reflex hallucinations?
Hallucination in a different modality to that of the stimulus
What are extracampine hallucinations?
Hallucinations which occur outside of the patient’s sensory field
“I can see someone standing behind me”
What are pseudohallucinations?
Outdated term.
Person has insight regarding their hallucinations; knows they aren’t real
What is a delusion?
Belief that is not linked with reality and is not culturally appropriate, and cannot be shifted.
What is an over-valued idea?
Belief that is not linked with reality, but can be shifted
What are persecutory delusions?
Delusions linked around persecutory beliefs: pt is being watched/monitored, perceived threat
What are grandiose delusions?
Patient believes they have special powers or are on a special mission which elevates them beyond the realms of reality
What are nihilistic delusions?
Patient believes that they are dead/dying/decaying, or that their insides are rotting etc.
What are Capgras delusions?
Someone in the patient’s life has been replaced by an imposter
What are Fregoli delusions?
One person is masquerading as multiple people
What is a delusion of subjective doubles?
Patient believes they have a doppelganger that is doing bad things using their image??
What is a delusional perception?
A true perception, to which a patient attributes a false meaning.
For example, a perfectly normal event such as the traffic lights turning red may be interpreted by the patient as meaning that the martians are about to land.
Usually preceded by prodromal symptoms?
What is thought alienation?
Thoughts are interfered with by an external agent
What is thought insertion?
An external agency is putting thoughts into your head that DO NOT BELONG TO YOU
What is thought withdrawal?
An external agency is removing your thoughts from your mind
What is thought broadcast?
Patient believes that everyone can hear their thoughts
What is thought echo?
Person hears their thoughts as if they were spoken out loud
What is thought block?
Person’s mind goes completely blank, as if their thoughts have stopped. Cannot pick the thought up again.
What is concrete thinking?
Patient with concrete thinking will take phrases and idioms literally
What is loosening of association?
Thought process loses cohesion. Thoughts move between unlinked topics. AKA Knight’s move thinking
What is word salad?
Extreme form of knight’s move thinking where the patient says many words which are understood, but they do not make sense
What is circumstantiality?
Person takes a very long time to get to the point and answer the question
What is perseveration?
Repetition of a response regardless of the absence or presence of stimulus
What is confabulation? Which conditions is it most commonly seen in?
Confabulation occurs when the patient cannot form memories and so the brain fills in the gaps.
Commonly seen in:
- Alcoholism (destruction of mammillary bodies)
- Dementia
- Schizophrenia
What is somatic passivity?
Patient believes that an external force is impacting on them
What is “made act/feel/drive”?
External force is making the patient act/feel a certain way, or giving them the urge to do things
What is catatonia?
Person is awake, but does not move, talk, or react to anything but pain
What is psychomotor retardation?
Person’s thoughts/movements are excessively slow
What is pressure of speech?
Person speaks so quickly, so forcefully that you cannot get a word in
What is flight of ideas?
Patient has many ideas, linked to one another. It is the thought process that is affected.
Define anhedonia
Person no longer feels pleasure from activities they used to enjoy
Define apathy
Lack of energy/drive to do things
What is incongruity of affect?
Exhibition of emotions which are inappropriate to the situation, e.g. person laughing about something that they feel sad about
What is blunting of affect?
Person does not express emotions; you cannot tell how they feel about things
What is conversion?
Person converts trauma that they have experienced/witnessed into a physical symptom
What is Belle Indifference?
Person converts trauma into a physical symptom but does not care about the physical symptom
What is depersonalisation?
Person feels detached from themselves and their actions
What is derealisation?
Patient feels that everything around them is unreal
Define obsession
Patient keeps thinking unwanted thoughts
Define compulsion
Patient keeps getting the urge to do things. Often linked with obsession
What is akathisia?
A side effect of treatment (antipsychotics mostly, but some antidepressants (SSRIs)) whereby the patient feels restless, cannot keep still
What is the acronym for MSE?
Always - Appearance Be - Behaviour Sure - Speech To - Thoughts Assess - Affect/Mood Patients' - Perceptions Cognitive - cognition Ideas - Insight
List 8 questions to ask in suicide risk assessment?
- Current method
- Patient’s belief in the lethality of the method (what did you think would happen?)
- Planned or impulsive?
- Did you leave a note/set your affairs in order?
- How did you come to A&E?
- Did you use alcohol/drugs before?
- What are your thoughts now? (Do you regret it?)
- Have you ever attempted suicide before?
List Schneider’s first rank symptoms of schizophrenia
- Auditory hallucinations
- Thought alienation (insertion, withdrawal, broadcast)
- Passivity
- Delusional perception
What is the triad for serotonin syndrome?
- Neuromuscular excitability
- Autonomic dysfunction
- Altered mental state
MCQ: Mood congruent delusions are seen in: 1. Schizophrenia 2. Delusional disorder 3. Depressive psychosis 4. Dementia
Answer: depressive psychosis
Cotard etc.
