Psychotic Disorders

Question 1

What is psychosis?

Answer 1

Impaired perception of reality; Split between positive and negative symptoms

Question 2

What are some positive symptoms of psychosis?

Answer 2

Hallucinations (mostly auditory), delusions (false belief), Disorganized speech (Loose assoc., Tangentiality, Circumstantiality, Neologisms, Word salad)

Question 3

What are some negative symptoms of psychosis?

Answer 3

Affective flattening, anhedonia, Latency of response, though blocking

Question 4

Discuss Brief Psychotic disorder

Answer 4

Lasts from 1 day to less than 1 month!

Good prognosis if there was a inciting event

Question 5

Discuss Schizophreniform Disorder

Answer 5

Lasts from 1 monthe to 6 months.

Question 6

Discuss Schizophrenia disorder

Answer 6

Lasts for longer than 6 months. Only 1% of population

Question 7

What is the relationship between dopamine and brain activity?

Answer 7

Too much DA causes over-activation.

Amphetimaines causes psychosis

Question 8

Discuss the various dopamine pathways

Answer 8

Mesocortical: cognition, socialization, negative symptoms
Mesolimbic: arousal, behavior, memory, positive symptoms
Nigrostriatal: extrapyramidal symptoms
Tubuloinfundibular: Inversely proportional to DA (galactorrhea)

Question 9

How does serotonin affect the brain?

Answer 9

From dorsal raphe nucleus: negative symptoms and cognition

Question 10

How does GABA affect the brain?

Answer 10

A loss of inhibitory GABA causes increased DA activity

Question 11

Discuss Delusional Disorder

Answer 11

One or more delusions of at least 1 month duration without functional impairment. (folie a deux)