Schizophrenia and psychosis Flashcards
Define psychosis
Out of touch with reality, experiencing a different reality to the rest and no insight of this
Define paranoia
mental illness where a delusional belief of any variety is the most prominent feature
Define delusion
a fixed false unshakable belief that the patient holds despite evidence to the contrary and is out of keeping with persons sociocultural norms
Name and describe 3 examples of specific delusions types
- Persecution: being followed/ spied on
- infestation: skin infected with parasites causing itching
- religious
- grandiose: beleive fantastic
- reference: everythings about you
- misidentification: they think those close to them have been replaced by an exact copy or that a single person is impersonating multiple familliar ppl
- jealousy: belief a sexual partner is cheating
- erotomanic: usually a celebrity/ high profile person is in love with them and secretly sends them messages or signs
- communicated: an already psychotic person transmits their belief to another
What is meant by ‘ideas of reference’
coincidental or innocuous events are interpreted as having great personal significance, associated with social phobias, psychosis or stress
What is an illusion
misinterpretation of a sensory stimulus that can occur in any sensory modality
What is a hallucination?
The perception of an object in absence of an external stimulus (may be auditory, visual (more likely delerium, olefactory (frontal lobe pathology), sensory)
What are the different types of auditory hallucinations? (4)
- 2nd person: talk directly to the pt
- 3rd person: talk about the pt
- running commentary: provide constant commentary on the pts actions
- may be elementary (hissing/ whistling)
- must be felt to originate from outside the body and be out of conscious control
- hearing voices in their head is not a hallucination- pseudohallucination
When are visual hallucinations common?
- eye pathology
- delerium
- epielpsy
- not so much in psychosis
- often bought on by tiredness or emotion
What is organic disorder?
- tactile or visual hallucinations without any auditory input
- seen in alcohol withdrawal
What is an obsessional thought?
- unwanted intrusive thought that the pt attempts to resist and causes them distress
- a person recognises a voice as their own
What is thought alienation
Experience of ones thoughts being under the control of an outside agency. May get thought insertion, thought withdrawl or thought broadcasting. Is a first rank symptom of schizophrenia
List 5 causes of psychosis other than schizoprenia
- amphetamines, stimulants and hallucinogens
- other psychiatric disorders: bipolar, depression, perpural psychosis, schizoaffective disorder, persitent delusional disorder, acute transient psychotic episode
- delerium
- dementia
- infections eg GPI
- temporal lobe epilepsy
- brain tumours
- cannabis
- cushings and steroids
- thryotoxicosis
- many meds
- drug and alcohol abuse and withdrawl
- encephalitis
- lupus
- hypercalcaemia
What are the hallmark features of acute psychosis?
- delusions
- hallucinations (every day for weeks)
- formal thought disorder (problem of speech and flow of thought- each sentence doesnt flow onto the next and they dont really make sense. this is rarer)
- disorders of self
- lack of insight
What are the first rank symptoms of schizophrenia (these are rare in organic causes of psychosis) (A-D)
- lack of insight
- Auditory hallucinations
- thought insertion, removal, interruption or Broadcasting
- External Control/ passivity (feelings, thoughts and actions are under external control)
- Delusional perceptions
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia
- underactivity
- low mood
- ambivalence
- social withdrawl
- emotional flattening
- self neglect
What is needed for schizophrenia diagnosis
- at least 1 of: thought disorder, somatic passivity,auditory hallucination or persistent delusions
- or 2 of’: hallucinations, breaks in train of thought, catatonic behaviour, negative symptoms
- symptoms must be present much of the time for at least 1 month (if <1mo= acute transient psychotic episode)
- marked impairment in functioning
- other causes ruled out
What are the 4 classifications of psychosis
- affective psychosis: experiences are conguent with mood, generally in those with mood or emotional disorders (schizoaffective disorder, mania or psychotic depression)
- transient psychotic disorders: substance misuse
- psychosis due to medical disorder: eg brain tumours
- schizophrenia like non affective disorder