Psychiatry Flashcards
(120 cards)
What are the core symptoms of depression?
- Low mood > 2 weeks
- Anhedonia (lack of interest)
- Lack of energy
What are the biological symptoms of depression?
- Sleep disturbance
- Early morning wakening
- Diurnal variation of mood (low in morning)
- Reduced appetite
- Weight loss
- Psychomotor retardation / agitation
- Loss of libido
What are the psychological symptoms of depression?
- Low self esteem
- Guilt/self-blame
- Hopelessness
- Suicidal thoughts
- Hypochondriacal thoughts
- Lack of concentration
Name the ICD-10 diagnosis for depression
- Mild = 2 core + 2 others
- Moderate = 2 core + 3-4 others
- Severe = 3 core + more than 4 others
What are the symptoms of psychotic depression?
Delusions
- Hypochondriacal
- Guilt
- Nihilistic
- Persecutory
Hallucinations
- Auditory
- Olfactory
- Visual
Name some risk factors for developing depression
- Genetics/family history
- Childhood experiences
- Personality traits (anxiety, impulsivity, obsessionality)
- Social circumstances (marital status, employment, life events)
- Physical illness
Name some differentials for depression
- Other mood disorders - bipolar
- Endocrine - hypothyroidism, cushing’s
- Psychoactive substance/alcohol abuse
- Other psychiatric disorders
- Anxiety
- Eating disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Dementia
- Bereavement
How is depression managed?
- Biological
- Anti-depressants (for 6 months after episode)
- SSRIs (fluoxetine, sertraline)
- SNRIs
- TCAs (amitriptyline)
- MAOIs
- Adjuvants (antipsychotics, mood stablisers)
- ECT
- Anti-depressants (for 6 months after episode)
- Psychological
- CBT
- Mindfulness
- Psychoeducation
- Social - family, housing, finances, support groups
- Risk assessment
Name some reasons for hospital admission in a depressed patient
- Risk of suicide
- Risk of harm to others
- Self-neglect
- Severe depressive/psychotic symptoms
- No social support
- ECT
- Treatment resistant
- Co-morbidity
What are the indications for ECT?
- Severe depressive illness (failed other treatments)
- Life threatening
- Prolonged and severe manic episode
- Catatonia
- High suicide risk
- Stupor
- Severe psychomotor retardation
How long is treatment continued for in depression?
- 6 months after resolution of symptoms if 1st episode
- 2 years after resolution of symptoms if 2nd episode
- Long term if multiple episodes
What is bipolar?
Periods of prolonged and profound depression with periods of excessive elevated and/or irritable mood
Name some causes of mood disorders
- Predisposing
- Genetics
- Childhood experiences
- Previous history
- Neurochemical imbalances
- Precipitating
- Bereavement
- Social circumstances - unemployment, divorce
- Perpetuating (maintaining)
- Difficult relationships
- Financial difficulties
- Alcohol/drug misuse
- Chronic health problems
What are the clinical features of mania?
I DIG FASTER
- Irritability
- Disinhibition
- Increased libido
- Grandiose delusions
- Flight of ideas
- Activity/appetite increased
- Sleep decreased
- Talkative - pressure of speech
- Elevated mood/energy increased
- Reduced concentration
What is the ICD-10 criteria for bipolar?
- Mania - 3/9 symptoms to be present
- Bipolar requires 2 episodes of mania and depression
- 1 must be mania
- At least 1 week of symptoms
How is bipolar treated?
- Risk assessment
- Suicide/self-harm
- Risks to self - eg. risk of excessive debt
- Biological
- Mood stabilisers (lithium, valproate, carbamazepine)
- Avoid in women of child-bearing age
- Benzodiazepines (short term)
- Antipsychotics (olanzapine)
- Avoid antidepressants!
- ECT if severe and uncontrolled
- Mood stabilisers (lithium, valproate, carbamazepine)
- Psychological
- Psychoeducation
- CBT
- Social
- Support/self-help groups
- Calming activities
What is a delusion?
A fixed, false belief that is held on inadequate grounds and not affected by rational arguments or evidence and is not in keeping with cultural or religious norms
Name some different types of delusions
- Persecutory = people/organisations are trying to inflict harm on the patient
- Delusions of reference = objects, events or actions of other people have a special significance
- Grandiose
- Guilt/worthlessness
- Nihilistic = world is doomed/career is over etc
- Hypochondriacal
- Jealous
- Sexual/amorous
- Religious
- Control = personal thoughts or actions are controlled by an outside agent
- Posession of thoughts
What are the different types of possession of thoughts?
- Thought insertion
- Thought withdrawal
- Thought broadcasting
What is a hallucination? Name some different types
A perception in the absence of an external stimulus
- Auditory
- 2nd person
- 3rd person (schizophrenia)
- Visual
- Olfactory
- Tactile
- Gustatory
What is psychosis?
A mental state in which reality is greatly distorted, characterised by:
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Thought disorder
Name some risk factors for developing schizophrenia
- Predisposing
- Genetic/family history
- Neurochemical
- Age 15-35
- Childhood abuse
- Low SES
- Precipitating
- Cannabis
- Adverse life events
- Psychostimulants
- Perpetuating
- Lack of social support
- Substance abuse
- Low medication compliance
Name Schneider’s first rank symptoms (positive schizophrenia symptoms)
- Delusions - grandiose, nihilistic, religious, ideas of reference
- Hallucinations - 3rd person
- Thought disorder - withdrawal, insertion, broadcast
- Passivity phenomenon - actions/feelings controlled by an external force
Symptoms for > 1 month
Name some negative symptoms of schizophrenia
- Avolition (lack of motivation)
- Asocial behaviour
- Anhedonia
- Alogia (poverty of speech) - quantitative and qualitative decrease in speech
- Affect blunted - decreased capacity to express feelings
- Attention (cognitive) defects - including language, memory, executive functions
May be preceded by a prodome = patient becomes reserved, anxious,suspicious and irritable with a disturbance in everyday functions