Psychiatry Flashcards
Mental Status Examination
categories
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546682/
- appearance
- behavior
- motor activity
- speech
- mood
- affect
- thought
- process
- thought content
- perceptual disturbances (delusions, illusions, Hallucionations)
- cognition (MMSE, MoCA)
- insight
- judgment.
Mental Status Examination
Irregular thought processes types
- circumstantial
- tangential
- the flight of ideas
- loose/disorganised
- perseveration
- thought blocking
Mental Status Examination
Circumstantial thought process
describes someone whose thoughts are connected but go off-topic before returning to the original subject
Mental Status Examination
Tangential thought process
Is a series of connected thoughts that go off-topic but do not return to the original topic.
Mental Status Examination
Flight of ideas thought process
Flight of ideas is a type of thought process similar to a tangential one in which the thoughts go off-topic, but without completing the thought or train of thoughts; and the connection between the thoughts is less obvious and challenging for a listener to follow.
Common in MANIA
Mental Status Examination
loose, disorganised thought process
No connection occurs between the thoughts AND no train of thought to follow.
it most often occurs in schizophrenia
Mental Status Examination
Perseveration
Perseverations are a thought process where the patient returns to the same subject, regardless of topic or question
May occur in DEMENTIA
Mental Status Examination
Thought Blocking
observed in psychosis when a patient has interruptions in their thoughts, making it challenging to either start or finish a thought.
Mental Status Examination
Affect - definition
affect reflects the person’s EXTERNAL emotional expression - which can be evaluated by the interviewer. It can be described as:
- EUTHYMIC (normal, well-balanced mood)
- DYSTHYMIC (sullen, flat)
- EUPHORIC (intensely elated mood)
Mental Status Examination
Mood - Definition
mood reflects person’s INTERNAL emotional experience (e.g. good
, ok
, frustrated
, angry
)
Mental Status Examination
Insight - Definition
It refers to a patient’s understanding of their illness and functionality. Insight is typically described as poor, limited, fair, or if a previous comparison depicts worsening versus improving
DEPRESSION Dx
2 core symptoms (depressed mood, low energy, anhedonia)
+
2 or more of the other symptoms
(<2 = mild; >2 + <5 moderate; >5 severe)
+
for at least 2 weeks
DEPRESSION Sx
Depressed mood (CORE) + SIGECAPS
– S = Sleep (decreased overall pattern and architecture)
– I = Interest/Enjoyment/
Anhedonia (low) (CORE)
– G = Guilt/Hopelessness/Pessimist/Self-blaming/Nihilistic
– E = Energy (low) (CORE)
– C = Concentration (decreased)
– A = Appetite (usually low, but can be increased)
– P = Psychomotor retardation
– S = Suicidal thoughts
typically, in depression, mood is worse in the morning and betters as the day progressed (this is called “diurnal variation”)
DEPRESSION
major depression with ATYPICAL features
- mood remains reactive (lifting of depressive symptoms during happy life events)
- reversed diurnal variation (i.e. evening are the most difficult time of the day for the mood)
- feeling rejected and unloved (interpersonal rejection sensitivity)
- leaden paralysis (dull/heavy limbs to lift)
- hyperphagia/weight gain
- hypersomnia
Rx: MAOi
Dysthymic Disorder (Persistent Depressive Disorder)
Chronic condition characterised by depressive symptoms that:
- occur for most of the day
- more days than not
- for > 2 years
common features:
- H: Hopelessness (despondency)
- E: Energy (decreased)
- S: Self-esteem (decreased)
- S: Sleep (decreased)
- A: Appetite (decreased)
- D: decision making (impaired)
DEPRESSION
Sleep disturbances features
MOST COMMON - waking up during the night and having trouble going back to sleep (also referred as middle insomnia). if successful [in going back to sleep], broken sleep thereafter
- early morning wakening and being unable to get back to sleep at all (also referred as terminal insomnia)
- increased REM stage
- Decreased stage 3 non-REM stage (less stage 3 means less restorative periods => daylight tiredness)
LESS COMMON/UNCOMMON
- increased sleep latency (i.e. difficulty falling asleep) = MORE COMMON IN ANXIETY or associated with the use of nocturnal stimulants (e.g. caffeine)
- Hypersomnia and oversleeping
- Dramatic dreams (including dreams about death) ARE NOT TYPICAL OF DEPRESSION
DEPRESSION
Risk Factors
- perfectionism
- obsessionality
- intellectual developmental delay
- Family history of depression.
- Family history of Autism
- Substance Misuse.
- Unemployment
- Low socioeconomic status.
- Elderly person with cognitive decline or bereavement.
- All family members who have experienced family violence.
– Experience of child abuse
DEPRESSION
groups are at higher risk of depression
- Women
- Postpartum women
- Young rural males
- Adolescents
DEPRESSION
Features in children/adolescents
- Anhedonia/Apathy may be as severe or more apparent than mood abnormalities (often expressed as severe boredom)
- impaired concentration
- sadness(sad appearance)
- psychomotor agitation (“jumpy”, not relaxed)
- despondency (hopelessness)
- excessive irritability
- feeling rejected, unloved, inadequacy, worhtlessness (interpersonal rejection sensitivity)
- somatic complaints (eg, headaches, abdominal pain, insomnia), and persistent self-blame.
- anorexia, weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain)
- sleep disruption (including nightmares)
- suicidal ideation
DEPRESSION
Firstline choice of treatment in children/adolescents
Fluoxetine
TCA’s, Mirtazapine, Venlafaxine are not recommended/approved for use in adolescents
DEPRESSION vs SCHIZOPHRENIA
PATTERN
- episodic
vs
- progressive
DEPRESSION
Treatment according to the classification
- Mild depression: CBT > antidepressants
-
Moderate depression: CBT = antidepressants
(initial choice of therapy based on patient preference) -
Moderate to Severe depression: Antidepressants > CBT
(although concurrent psychological therapies may often be helpful if the patient can concentrate enough to participate in these.)
DEPRESSION
Antidepressants alone are ————— effective in patients with severe depression
50% to 60%
DEPRESSION
ECT indications
ECT indicated in some forms of severe depression:
- psychotic depression
- melancholic depression
- voluntary patient with severe depression
- If previous good response to ECT in patients
with severe depression