Psychosis Flashcards
Define psychosis
A state of impaired reality whereby there is misinterpretation of thoughts, and misperception.
Which 3 symptoms are collectively described as “perception impairment”
- Hallucinations
- Illusions
- Pseudo-hallucinations
List 3 symptoms which come under “thought impairment”
- Delusions
- Formal thought disorder
- Disordered thought
Define “hallucination”
Perception in the absence of an external stimulus
Which modality are hallucinations normally in psychosis?
Auditory
Give 2 common broad causes of visual hallucination
Organic
Drug-induced
Give 2 causes of olfactory/gustatory hallucination?
Frontal lobe pathology
Epilepsy
What is an illusion?
Misperception of a real stimulus
How would you distinguish a hallucination from a pseudo-hallucination?
Pseudo-hallucination = "internal" Hallucination = "external"
Define a delusion
A fixed, firmly held false belief which is unshakeable despite evidence to the contrary, and that is out of keeping with the person’s sociocultural norms.
How would formal thought disorder present?
Incoherent speech which seems like complete gobbledy-gook - no link from one word to the next
Give 4 symptoms of disorganised thought
- Flight of ideas
- Loosening of association
- Neologisms
- Thought blocking
How would flight of ideas present?
Accelerated thinking and hence speech, continuous stream of concepts which ARE connected, often by puns or homophones.
How does loosening of association differ from flight of ideas and formal thought disorder?
FTD - completely incoherent
FOI - concepts are connected (just)
LOA - coherent syntax, but no link between phrases
What diagnoses would you consider in a patient presenting with psychotic symptoms?
1. Rule out delirium and organic causes, including drug-induced Then consider: - Schizophrenia - Depression, mania - Anxiety disorders
