Psychology Flashcards
Which section allows psychiatric patients receiving treatment under section to be able leave the unit whilst supervised?
Section 17
What is a section 5(2)?
Allows hospital inpatients to be detained by the doctor who is responsible for their care, if they believe that the patient has a mental health disorder that requires further assessment.
Outline section 2 of the mental health act.
Section 2 is used to detain a patient with a presumed underlying psychiatric condition to allow a thorough assessment to be completed and a diagnosis to be reached. It lasts up to 28 days and requires two doctors, one of whom must be section 12 approved (often a psychiatrist).
Outline section 135 of the mental health act.
Allows the police to forcibly enter private property and apprehend a patient in order to take them to a place of safety. The patient can be kept there for up to 24 hours whilst further assessments and management are planned.
What is an informal admission?
When a patient requires inpatient treatment for a psychiatric condition and agrees to be admitted
What are the main features of schizoid personality disorder?
Disinterest in forming relationships and being generally emotionally detached with a flat affect.
People with schizoid personality disorder tend to maintain few relationships and have a tendency towards solitary lifestyles.
What are the main features of emotionally unstable personality disorder?
Characterised by an intense fear of abandonment and distorted self-worth. They are prone to intense but fragile relationships. They may be impulsive and have violent outbursts of emotion.
What are the main features of histrionic personality disorder?
Patients with histrionic personality disorder are classically preoccupied with their appearance and constantly in need for recognition.
They also have a tendency to be inappropriately flirtatious.
They may demonstrate dramatic expressions of emotion and react badly to rejection.
What is the first-line management option for seasonal affective disorder?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
What is an Argyll Robertson pupil?
Pupils that accommodate but do not react
Associated with neurosyphilis
How is syphilis treated?
Penicillin (e.g. benzathine penicillin)
What are some of the biological symptoms of depression?
Sleep disturbance
Appetite disturbance
Weight disturbance
What is the first-line management option for depression?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
What is the first-line medical treatment option for catatonia?
Benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam)
https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13256-018-1714-z
List some typical antipsychotics.
Haloperidol
Chlorpromazine
Loxapine
Prochloperazine
Flupentixol Decanoate
What is a somatic delusion?
Delusions related to the patient’s health or bodily function.
What are the main side-effects of tricyclic antidepressants?
Blurred vision
Dry mouth
Constipation
Tachycardia
Delirium
Urinary retention
What is the preferred SSRI in patients with a background of cardiovascular disease?
Sertraline
How is Wernicke’s encephalopathy treated and prevented?
Thiamine Replacement
What is the mainstay of managing neuroleptic malignant syndrome?
Stop the offending drug
Supportive (e.g. external cooling)
What is the first-line treatment option for Dementia with Lewy Bodies?
Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors (e.g. rivastigmine)
What is the first-line treatment option for schizoaffective disorder?
Antipsychotic (e.g. risperidone) and Mood Stabiliser (e.g. lithium)
What is schizoaffective disorder?
Condition in which patients demonstrate features of schizophrenia (e.g. delusions, hallucinations) for at least 1 month alongside features of mood disorder (e.g. mania or depression).
The mood disturbances must be present for the majority of the period of illness, however, there should be a period of at least 2 weeks where psychosis is observed in the absence of mood symptoms.
How do baby blues manifest?
Usually within the first 2 weeks of life
Tearful
Weepy
Labile Mood
Irritable
Poor Sleep
For further information:
● NICE guidelines on Antenatal and postnatal mental health: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg192/chapter/1-Recommendations#recognising-mental-health-problems-in-pregnancy-and-the-postnatal-period-and-referral-2
How are baby blues managed?
Reassurance (symptoms usually resolve within 2 weeks)
How should moderately severe postnatal depression be managed?
High Intensity Psychological Intervention
Antidepressant Pharmacotherapy (e.g. SSRI or TCA)
For further information:
● NICE guideline on Antenatal and postnatal mental health: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg192/chapter/1-Recommendations#recognising-mental-health-problems-in-pregnancy-and-the-postnatal-period-and-referral-2
Which commonly used mood stabiliser is strongly associated with congenital cardiac defects?
Lithium (associated with Ebstein anomaly)
For further information:
● BNF provides invaluable advice on the safety of drugs in pregnancy and breastfeeding
● CKS Scenario: Women of childbearing age https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/bipolar-disorder/management/women-of-childbearing-age/
● NICE guideline on Antenatal and postnatal mental health https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg192/chapter/1-Recommendations
What are the main features of neonatal opiate withdrawal syndrome?
tremors, seizures, increased tone, reduced sleep)
Gastrointestinal Symptoms (vomiting and diarrhoea, feeding difficulties)
Autonomic Symptoms (sweating, fever, yawning, increased respiratory rate)
For further information:
● Paper in Pediatrics journal (2020) on Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/146/5/e2020029074
What is Fregoli syndrome?
Delusional disorder in which an individual holds a false and fixed belief that different people are, in fact, a single person who is able to shapeshift and change their appearance. It is often paranoid in nature and tends to be associated with feelings of being persecuted or chased.
What is De Clérambault’s Syndrome?
A paranoid delusion that another person (often a celebrity) is in love with the patient. The object of the delusion is typically a person who is unattainable due to high social or financial status, marriage or disinterest. The object may also be imaginary, deceased or someone the patient has never met.
What is a DOLS?
Legal framework that allows a patient to be deprived of some of their rights (e.g. prevented from leaving hospital, applying mittens to preventing lines from being pulled out)
This can be implemented in a hospital or care home setting and is done in the patient’s best interests
What is adjustment disorder?
States of subjective distress and emotional disturbance, usually interfering with social functioning and performance, arising in the period of adaptation to a significant life change or a stressful life event.
What is agoraphobia?
Spectrum of disease which is characterised by phobias that revolve around fears of leaving home and entering public places (e.g. crowded tubes). It may manifest acutely with panic attacks.
How is serotonin syndrome treated?
Remove causative agent
Benzodiazepines (reduce agitation)
Cooling
What is somatisation?
Phenomenon in which psychological issues manifest with physical symptoms (e.g. abdominal pain).
