Psychopathology

Question 1

What characterizes depression?

Answer 1

• Either dysphoria or anhedonia
• Somatic symptoms
  Insomnia*
  Appetite and weight change*
  Pain
  Breathing difficulties
  Headaches
  Fatigue*
  Sensory loss

Question 2

How do the rates of depression change over adulthood?

Answer 2

• Overall, more women(25%) than men(13%)
• Often more symptomatic than clinically
• Women, middle ages, have highest rate
• Drops in aging population, less than 5%

Question 3

What are the risk factors for depression?

Answer 3

• Female, unmarried or widowed
• Stressful life events
• Chronic illnesses
• SES
• Caring for sick
• Social support

Question 4

What is delirium?

Answer 4

Seen as disturbances of consciousness
- Confusion
- Memory loss (can be static)
- Disorganized thinking
- Emotional or personality changes

Question 5

How common is delirium?

Answer 5

• More common in elderly population, symptoms are more sever in older adults as well
• Develops quickly

Question 6

What are the causes to delirium?

Answer 6

• Medical conditions that causes fever
• Dehydration
• Sleep deprivation
• Drug-use

Question 7

What do different dementia diagnosis have in common?

Answer 7

• Gradual changes, fatal and degenerative
• Function starts to decline; cognition and taking care of yourself, overcome motor function
• Inappropriate social behavior
• Personality changes
• Sundowning

Question 8

What do dementia diagnoses not have in common?

Answer 8

• Variation in symptom intensity and specific symptoms
• Causes to the diagnosis

Question 9

Huntington’s Disease

Answer 9

• Similar to Parkinson (motor function)
• Involuntary flicking movements with arms and legs and affect cognition (reasoning and thinking)
• Hallucinations, paranoia, depression and personality changes
• Causes dementia
• Slow and progressive

Question 10

Vascular Dementia

Answer 10

• Result of small cerebral accidents
• Reduced blood flow
• People at risk are smokers and those with either pulmonary illnesses or vascular ones
• Strokes
• Sudden onset and highly variable compared to alzheimers , depends on where the damage is at

Question 11

Full-Blown LBD

Answer 11

Masses of alpha-synuclein, a protein that may help regulate neurotransmitters
- Come and goes in waves
- Specific symptoms; aggressive behaviour, sleep difficulties, ANS regulation problems and visual hallucinations
- Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, motor symptoms like slow walking and hand tremor
- Similar to alzheimers as well