Psychosis Flashcards
What is a delusion?
A fixed, false belief, firmly held despite evidence to the contrary, and out of keeping with the individuals culture background.
What are the two broad subtypes of delusion?
Bizarre (could not happen ever) and non-bizarre (could happen)
What is a hallucination?
A perception without stimulus.
What is an illusion?
Misrepresentation of stimulus.
What are the different types of hallucinations?
auditory, visual, somatic, olfactory and gustatory
What is the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia?
Two or more of following for 1mo.:
- delusions
- hallucinations
- disorganized speech
- grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
- -ve symptoms (e.g. flattening affect, alogia, avolition)
+ impaired function
+ continuous sign of disturbance for 6 mo.
What is the M to F ratio of schizophrenia?
1:1
What is the biological etiology of schizophrenia?
Overactivity of dopaminergic transmission in mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways.
In very general terms, how do anti-psychotics work?
Post-synaptic D2 receptor blockade.
Extrapyramidal symptoms are divided into 4 groups, what are they?
Acute dystonias (tx: anticholinergic), parkinsonism (tx: anticholinergic), akathesia (tx: beta-blocker), tardive dyskinesia (tx: stop or change med).
What atypical antipsychotic was pulled from market for safety reasons, but brought back for use in special circumstances?
Clozapine
What is a persecutory delusion?
Fearing you’ll be harmed.
What is an erotomanic delusion?
Love at a distance (e.g. Jennifer Aniston is in love with me, based on her screen presence, etc.)
What is a nihilistic delusion?
Something is not there at all, but is being imagined as such (e.g. pt states they have no heart at all).
Differentiate hallucination from illusion.
Hallucination is perception without a stimulus whereas illusion is perception with a stimulus (e.g. hearing sound while home alone and thinking someone is breaking in).
