Psychiatry

Overview

  • Psychiatry: Branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness.

    • Psychiatrists: MDs who can prescribe medication.

    • Clinical Psychologists: Nonmedical professionals trained in psychotherapy, cannot prescribe medication.

Clinical Symptoms

  • Amnesia: Loss of memory.

  • Anxiety: Feeling of uneasiness, apprehension, or dread.

  • Apathy: Absence of emotions or interest.

  • Compulsion: Repetitive, uncontrollable urge to perform an act.

  • Conversion: Anxiety manifests as a physical symptom without physical basis.

  • Delusion: Fixed, false belief.

  • Dissociation: Splitting off uncomfortable thoughts from conscious awareness.

  • Dysphoria: Sadness, hopelessness.

  • Euphoria: Exaggerated well-being.

  • Hallucination: False sensory perception (e.g., hearing voices).

  • Illusion: False perception of a real stimulus.

  • Labile: Rapid emotional changes.

  • Mania: Elevated, excitable state with euphoria and hyperactivity.

  • Mutism: Little to no ability to talk.

  • Obsession: Involuntary, persistent idea or emotion.

    • -mania: Suffix indicating strong obsession.

  • Paranoia: Overly suspicious thinking.

Anxiety Disorders

  • Anxiety or fear disproportionate to the real danger, present for >6 months.

  • Manifests as tension, distress, avoidance, and physical symptoms.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

  • Obsessions and/or compulsions consume >1 hour a day or cause distress/impairment.

Trauma- and Stress-Related Disorders

  • Conditions caused by exposure to traumatic/stressful events.

Neurocognitive Disorders

  • Delirium (Mild NCD): Acute, temporary cognitive disturbance.

  • Major Neurocognitive Disorder (Dementia): Observable cognitive decline.

Dissociative Disorders

  • Impairment of memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior.

Feeding and Eating Disorders

  • Disturbance of eating behavior that impairs health/functioning.

Elimination Disorders

  • Inappropriate elimination of urine/feces.

    • Enuresis: Repeated voiding of urine in inappropriate places.

    • Encopresis: Repeated passage of feces in inappropriate places.

Sleep-Wake Disorders

  • Disturbed sleep causing distress/impairment.

Disruptive and Impulse Control Disorders

  • Problems in self-control of emotions/behaviors, violating rights of others.

Depressive Disorders

  • Sad, empty, or irritable mood affecting function.

Bipolar Disorders

  • Manic or hypomanic episodes, with or without depressive episodes.

Personality Disorders

  • Inflexible pattern of inner experience/behavior that deviates from cultural expectations, onset in adolescence/early adulthood.

Cluster A (Odd or Eccentric Behavior)

  1. Paranoid Personality Disorder

    • Distrust and suspicion of others without sufficient reason.

  2. Schizoid Personality Disorder

    • Detachment from social relationships and limited emotional expression.

  3. Schizotypal Personality Disorder

    • Acute discomfort in relationships, cognitive or perceptual distortions, and eccentric behavior.

Cluster B (Dramatic, Emotional, or Erratic Behavior)

  1. Antisocial Personality Disorder

    • Disregard for the rights of others, deceitfulness, impulsivity, and lack of remorse.

  2. Borderline Personality Disorder

    • Instability in relationships, self-image, and emotions; impulsive behavior.

  3. Histrionic Personality Disorder

    • Excessive emotionality and attention-seeking behavior.

  4. Narcissistic Personality Disorder

    • Grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy.

Cluster C (Anxious or Fearful Behavior)

  1. Avoidant Personality Disorder

    • Social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to criticism.

  2. Dependent Personality Disorder

    • Excessive need to be taken care of, leading to submissive and clinging behavior.

  3. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)

    • Preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control (distinct from OCD).

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  • Developmental deficits impairing personal, social, academic, or occupational function.

    • ADHD: Inattentiveness, over-activity, and/or impulsivity.

    • Autism Spectrum Disorder: Deficits in social communication/interaction and restricted/repetitive behaviors.

Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders

  • Abnormalities in delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking/speech, disorganized motor behavior, or negative symptoms.

Paraphilic Disorders

  • Intense, persistent sexual interests outside consenting adults.

    • Considered a disorder if distressed or harmful.

    • Para-: abnormal, -philia: attraction to

Sexual Dysfunctions

  • Disturbance in sexual desire, ability to respond, or experience of pleasure.

Gender Dysphoria

  • Difference between experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender causing distress.

Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders

  • Physical symptoms disrupting function.

Substance-Use and Addictive Disorders

  • Behavioral changes associated with substance use.

Psychotherapy

  • Treatment using psychological techniques (e.g., CBT, family therapy, group therapy, hypnosis, play therapy, psychoanalysis).

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

  • Electrical current to the brain for serious depressive episodes.

Psychiatric Medications

  • Antianxiety (Anxiolytic)

  • Antidepressants

  • Antipsychotics

  • Mood Stabilizers

  • Stimulants

Reference

  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)