Severe Mental Health Conditions Flashcards
Are people with Severe Mental Illnesses more or less likely to have physical health issues?
More likely
According to NICE guidelines, which SMIs should also have records kept to encourage physical health monitoring, which core areas are included?
Bipolar Disorders and Schizophrenic Disorders
Key areas include:
Alcohol and smoking consumption
Blood Glucose
Blood Pressure
BMI and lipid profile
What is Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD)?
A mood disorder characterised by extreme mood swings of mania and depression
What causes Bipolar Defective Disorder?
Aetiology unknown, theories include:
Genetic Predisposition
Neurotransmission theory
Brain structure (changed to grey matter)
Environmental factors e.g. trauma
What are the four basic types of Bipolar Disorder?
Bipolar I
Bipolar II
Cyclothymic disorder
Other specified and unspecified bipolar and related disorders
What are the two most common types of Bipolar Affective Disorders?
Bipolar I & II
What is the difference between Bipolar I and Bipolar II?
The main difference between bipolar I and bipolar II disorders is in the severity of the manic episodes.
A person with bipolar I will experience an episode of mania, while a person with bipolar II will experience a hypomanic episode (a period less severe than a full manic episode).
A person with bipolar I may or may not experience a depressive episode, while someone with bipolar II will experience a major depressive episode.
What must you have to be diagnosed with bipolar I?
You must have had at least one manic episode lasting 7 days or more to receive a bipolar I disorder diagnosis. A person with bipolar I disorder may or may not have a major depressive episode. The symptoms of a manic episode may require hospital care.
What must you have to be diagnosed with bipolar II?
Bipolar II disorder involves a major depressive episode lasting at least 2 weeks and at least one hypomanic episode (4 days). People with bipolar II disorder typically don’t experience manic episodes intense enough to require hospitalization.
What are the characteristics of mania?
Increased activity or subjective energy
Euphoria
Decreased need for sleep
Impulsivity and risk taking behaviour
Flight of ideas and pressure of speech, non-linear conversation
Grandiosity and invincibility
Mood liability
What are the treatments and interventions for BPAD?
Medications e.g. Lithium, Valporate
Antipsychotics & antidepressants
CBT & psychotherapy
Stress management & self-care
What is psychosis?
Psychosis describes the set of symptoms characterised as a loss of touch with reality, such as hallucinations and delusions. It is not a condition in it’s own right and can be caused by a number of factors.
What is the difference between primary and secondary pyschosis?
Secondary is when the symptoms are due to a known medical illness or substance use, and primary (or idiopathic), is when the symptoms cannot be explained by another medical cause (i.e. are as a result of isolated mental health illness)
What is schizophrenia and its symptoms?
Schizophrenia is characterised by significant impairments in the way reality is perceived and changes in behaviour related to:
Persistent delusions: the person has fixed beliefs that something is true, despite evidence to the contrary
Persistent hallucinations: the person may hear, smell, see, touch, or feel things that are not there
Experiences of influence, control or passivity: the experience that one’s feelings, impulses, actions, or thoughts are not generated by oneself, are being placed in one’s mind or withdrawn from one’s mind by others, or that one’s thoughts are being broadcast to others
Disorganized thinking, which is often observed as jumbled or irrelevant speech
Highly disorganised behaviour e.g. the person does things that appear bizarre or purposeless, or the person has unpredictable or inappropriate emotional responses that interfere with their ability to organise their behaviour
“Negative symptoms” such as very limited speech, restricted experience and expression of emotions, inability to experience interest or pleasure, and social withdrawal; and/or
extreme agitation or slowing of movements, maintenance of unusual postures.
What are the most common causes of pyschosis?
Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders (including BPAD)
Substance/medication-induced psychotic disorder
Major depressive and mood disorders
Dementia
Hormone related disorders (Addison’s, Cushings etc.)
Brain and spinal chord infections
Lupus
Lyme disease
MS
Post-partum Pyschosis
Stroke
Vitamin deficiencies
TBIs
Traumatic experiences
Unusually high levels of stress and anxiety
