Psychiatry Flashcards
Describe the checklist overview for a psych assessment
Introduction, history of presenting complaint, past psychiatric history, family history, personal history, past medical history, medication/drugs/alcohol, forensic history
What should be included in personal history in psych assessment?
birth (normal?pregnancy complications?labour complications?)
early development (milestones, general small child life)
home environment
school-social, academic
qualifications
work-employment, redundancies
relationships and children
What should be covered in forensic history?
Juvenile crime, court appearances, convictions, length of sentences, crimes against person/property, experiences of prison
What should be included in a mental state examination?
Appearance and behaviour Speech-speed, spontaneous/monosyllabic, volume, language, neologisms, punning Mood/affect Thoughts-content, form, stream Perceptions Cognition Insight Risk assessment
In formulation of a psych assessment, what are the 5Ps?
Presenting problem Predisposing factors Precipitating factors Perpetuating factors Protective factors
What are functional hallucinations?
for a specific stimulus there is a hallucination eg tap running and voices being heard. Both perceived simultaneously
What are reflex hallucinations?
normal stimulus provokes a hallucination in a different sensory modality eg voices only heard whenever lights are switched on
What are hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations?
Hypnagogic=hallucinations occurring at transition from wakefulness to sleep
Hypnopompic=hallucinations occurring at transition from sleep to wakefulness
What are extracampine hallucinations?
Hallucinations outside of normal sensory field or range ef sensation of seeing something behind you
What are the disorders of stream of thought in terms of disorders of tempo?
Flight of ideas
Inhibition or slowness of thinking
Circumstantiality (non direct thinking that digresses from the main point of the conversation)
What are the disorders of stream of thought in terms of disorders of continuity of thought?
Perseveration (repetition of a certain response, regardless of absence or cessation of a stimulus)
Thought blocking
What are the disorders of possession of thought?
Obsessions and compulsions
Thought alienation- thought insertion, withdrawal and broadcasting
Describe primary delusions
New meaning arises in connection with some other psychological event (original)
3 types=delusional mood, delusional perception and sudden delusional idea
Describe secondary delusion
Arising from some other morbid experience/ previous abnormal experience. Psychologically understandable
What are the possible contents of delusions?
Persecutory, infidelity, love, grandiosity, guilt, nihilistic, poverty
What are the disorders of memory?
Dissociative amnesia (during periods of extreme trauma) Confabulation (falsification of memory a/w organic pathology-filling-in gaps in memory)
What are the disorders of emotion?
Anhedonia (loss of pleasure)
Apathy
Incongruity of affect (eg smiling when saying how upset about dog dying)
Blunting of affect
Describe conversion and belle indifference
Conversion= unconscious mechanism of symptom formation, psychological symptom causing a somatic symptom eg paralysis of hand
Belle indifference= lack of concern and/or feeling of indifference about above disability or symptom
What are the disorders of experience of self?
Depersonalisation
Derealisation
Passivity phenomenon (somatic passivity, made acts/feelings/drives)
What is catatonia and provide examples?
Catatonia=excited or inhibited motor activity in absence of a mood or neurological disorder
Eg
Waxy flexibility-limbs when moved feel like lead pipe/wax and remain in the position in which they were left
Echolalia- automatic repetition of words heard
Echopraxia-automatic repetition by patient of movements made by the examiner
Logoclonia- repetition of last syllable of a word
Negativism- motiveless resistance to movement
Palilalia- repetition of a word over and again with increasing frequency
Verbigeration- repetition of one or several sentences or strings of fragmented words, often in a monotonous tone
ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for depression/ key features
(at least 2) core symptoms: anhedonia, anergia, low mood
associated symptoms: change in sleep (normally early morning waking), change in appetite, change in libido, diurnal mood variation, agitation, loss of confidence, loss of concentration, guilt, hopelessness, suicidal ideation
What is bipolar affective disorder?
Types?
Depression+ hypomania/mania
Bipolar I= mania and depression (sometimes only mania)
Bipolar II=more episodes of depression, milder hypomania
Rapid cycling bipolar=episodes only last a few hours or days (rarer)
What is cyclothymia?
Having highs and lows but much milder and so doesn’t fit the criteria for bipolar affective disorder
Describe features of hypomania
Lasting for at least 4 days Elevated mood (euphoric/dysphoric/angry) Increased energy Increased talkativeness Poor concentration Mild reckless behaviour eg overspending Sociability/overfamiliarity Increased libido/sexual disinhibition Increased confidence Decreased need for sleep Change in appetite
Describe features of mania
Lasting for over a week Extreme elation-uncontrollable Overactivity Pressure of speech Impaired judgement Extreme risk taking behaviour eg spending spree Social disinhibition Inflated self-esteem and grandiosity Can have psychotic symptoms Mood congruent or incongruent
What are the psychoses?
Schizophrenia, delusional disorder, schizotypal disorder, depressive psychosis, manic psychosis, organic psychosis
Epidemiology of schizophrenia and prognosis
Lifetime risk of 1%
Onset typically in 2nd to 3rd decade of life but a 2nd smaller peak of incidence in late middle age
M:F 1:1
Stable incidence globally
Overall die 25 years earlier than the general population
What is schizophrenia?
Splitting of thoughts or loss of contact with reality. Affects thoughts, perceptions, mood, personality, speech, volition, sense of self
Describe the symptoms of schizophrenia?
First rank symptoms (need at least 1): thought alienation, passivity phenomena, 3rd person auditory hallucinations, delusional perception
Secondary symptoms (at least 2): delusions, 2nd person auditory hallucinations, hallucinations in other modality, thought disorder, catatonic behaviour, negative symptoms
What are positive symptoms?
Hallucinations, delusions, passivity phenomena, thought alienation, lack of insight, disturbance in mood
What are negative symptoms?
Blunting of affect, amotivation, poverty of speech and thought, poor non-verbal communication, deterioration in functioning, self neglect, lack of insight
In a smaller proportion of people with schizophrenia this can be seen after a prolonged period of living with the disorder
Features of generalised anxiety disorder?
Lasting for over 6 months, tiredness, poor concentration, irritability, muscle tension, disturbed sleep (initial insomnia rather than EMW), anxiety across different situations
Features of panic disorder
Physical; palpitations, chest pain, choking, tachypnoea, dry mouth, urgency of micturition, dizziness, blurred visions, paraesthesia
Psychological; feeling of impending doom, fear of dying, fear of losing control, depersonalisation, derealisation
Features of OCD
Obsessive thoughts or images-often unpleasant (death/sexual/blasphemous), repetitive, intrusive, irrational, recognised as patient’s own thoughts
Compulsions-checking, washing, counting, symmetry, repeating certain words or phrases
DSM classification of a personality disorder
DSM IV: enduring pattern inner experience and behaviour, deviates from cultural expectations, pervasive and inflexible, onset in adolescence/early adulthood, stable over time, leads to distress
DSM V added: impairments in self and interpersonal functioning
What personality disorders are in cluster A?
‘Odd/eccentric’
Schizoid, paranoid, schizotypal
What personality disorders are in cluster B?
‘Dramatic/erratic’
EUPD/BPD, histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial
What personality disorders are in cluster C?
‘Anxious/fearful’
Obsessive-compulsive (anankastic)
Dependent
Avoidant
Features of emotionally unstable personality disorder?
EUPD/Borderline personality disorder/BPD
Impulsivity-acting without thought of consequences, substance misuse, disordered eating, sexual behaviours, risk-taking behaviour, self harm, overspending
Intense unstable relationships
Fear of and attempts to avoid abandonment
Unstable mood
Chronic feelings of emptiness
Thoughts of self harm and suicide
Uncertainty around self-image, aims and preferences
May also experience transient stress induced paranoia or dissociation-can include hearing voices