Psychiatric Disorders and Syndromes Flashcards
What is depersonalisation-derealisation disorder?
Involves depersonalisation (feeling of separated or outside their body) and derealisation (feeling the world is not real)
What is dissociative amnesia?
Forgetting autobiographical information after a traumatic experience causing gaps in memory
What is dissociative identity disorder?
AKA Multiple personality disorder
- Clear lack of identity
- Multiple separate identities with unique names, personalities and memories
Associated with severe stress and trauma in childhood
What is catatonia?
Abnormal movement, communication and behaviour
Patients are awake but not behaving normally
What causes catatonia?
Severe depression
Bipolar disorder
Can occur with psychosis e.g. in schizophrenia
What is reactive attachment disorder?
Emotional withdrawal and inhibition, sadness, fearfulness, irritability and impaired cognition
Struggle to form close relationships or attachments, do not respond well to affection or discipline
What causes reactive attachment disorder?
Severe neglect and trauma in early childhood
What is attachment theory?
Importance of creating healthy, consistent and secure attachments to at least one nurturing individual during early childhood particularly first 2 years of life
What is Munchausen syndrome?
Conscious effort to fake illness and seek medical attention for personal gain
Symptoms are invented, exaggerated or induced
Provides attention, affection, relationships and care from others
What is hoarding disorder?
Excessive accumulation of possessions and emotional difficulty in getting rid of items
Person does not see behaviour as a problem or appreciate impact it has on themselves on others
What is hoarding disorder associated with?
Self-neglect
Depression
Anxiety
What is Alien hand syndrome?
After damage to corpus callosum
Patient loses control of one of their hands and acts independently
What is Cotard delusion?
False belief they are dead or dying
Caused by depression, schizophrenia or neurological conditions
What is Capgras syndrome?
False belief that an identical duplicate has replaced someone close to them
Suspicious and aggressive to the imposter
What is De Clérambault’s syndrome?
AKA erotomania
False belief that a famous person in love with the patient
Patient often young, single woman
What is Alice in Wonderland syndrome or Todd syndrome?
Incorrectly perceiving sizes of body parts or objects
Associated with changes to perception of time and migraine symptoms
What is Koro syndrome?
Delusion that sex organs (particularly penis) are shrinking or retracting and will disappear
Patients can believe this will lead to death
Causes anxiety and panic attacks, primarily in Asia
What is body integrity dysphoria?
Strong feeling that part of the body doesn’t belong to them e.g. a leg
Typically want to remove that part of their body
Desire to be disabled or paralysed and to use a wheelchair
What is foreign accent syndrome?
Sudden change in a person’s voice
Others perceive them as having changed accent
They are aware that their voice has changed
Most common cause is a stroke in the left hemisphere
What is functional neurological disorder/conversion disorder?
Sensory and motor symptoms that are not explained by any neurological disease
Can have weakness, gait disturbance, seizures, sensory loss and vision disturbance
May be a history of significant trauma or stress
Stress converted to physical symptoms
What is Ekbom syndrome?
Patient believes they have been infested with parasites
Patient complains of crawling sensations on the skin, can be due to organic cause e.g. B12 deficiency
What is a Fregoli delusion?
Patient thinks that everyone they meet is the same person with different disguises
Associated with injury to right frontal area, left temporoparietal and fusiform gyrus
