Mental Health and Disorders Overview

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Questions and Answers

Which of the following best describes the concept of mental health as defined by the WHO?

A condition where emotional needs are unmet.

Absence of disease or infirmity.

A state of complete physical, mental, and social wellness. (correct)

A state of physical wellness only.

What is the primary focus of psychiatry as a branch of medicine?

Psychological therapies exclusive to depression.

Study, treatment, and prevention of mental illness. (correct)

Study of mood and behavior without treatment.

Treatment of physical diseases only.

Which type of delusion involves a belief that others are plotting to harm the individual?

Nihilistic delusion

Persecutory delusion (correct)

Grandiose delusion

Somatic delusion

What characterizes obsessions in psychological disorders?

Repetitive ideas that are distressful and recognized as irrational. Signup and view all the answers

How is mood defined in the context of psychological terms?

A pervasive and sustained emotion subjectively experienced. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a type of delusion?

Obsessive Compulsion Signup and view all the answers

What is the definition of affect in psychological terms?

The external expression of emotion. Signup and view all the answers

Which disorder involves the individual believing that a part of themselves does not exist?

Nihilistic delusion Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is characterized by a sudden cessation of thought flow?

Thought Block Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for the inability to speak?

Mutism Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes echolalia?

Imitation of words or phrases made by others Signup and view all the answers

Which disorder involves a lack of logical connection between thoughts?

Loosening of Associations Signup and view all the answers

What type of hallucination involves false perceptions of sound?

Auditory Hallucinations Signup and view all the answers

What describes the compulsive behavior of repeatedly checking items for doubts?

Rituals Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is characterized by excessive speech that is rapid and uninterrupted?

Pressure of Speech Signup and view all the answers

What type of disturbance involves misperceptions of actual sensory stimuli, such as shadows appearing frightening?

Illusions Signup and view all the answers

What is anterograde amnesia characterized by?

Inability to recall events occurring after a certain point in time Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes disorientation?

Impaired ability to identify time, place, and person Signup and view all the answers

What term describes a diminished ability to understand one’s mental illness?

Impaired insight Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best defines 'mood' in psychological terms?

Pervasive and sustained emotion subjectively experienced Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary characteristic of panic as described in the content?

Acute, episodic attacks of anxiety associated with dread Signup and view all the answers

Which disorder is characterized by an inability to concentrate due to distraction?

Distractibility Signup and view all the answers

What defines elevated mood in psychological terms?

A mood that is more cheerful than usual Signup and view all the answers

Anhedonia is best described as:

Inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Mental Health & Mental Illness

Mental health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
People in a state of emotional, physical, and social well-being fulfill life responsibilities, function effectively in daily life, and are satisfied with their interpersonal relationships and themselves.

Mental Disorders

A mental disorder is a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and is associated with present distress.
Mental disorders affect mood, behavior, and thinking, such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and addictive disorders.

Psychiatry & Psychopathology

Psychiatry is the branch of medicine that is concerned with the study, treatment, and prevention of mental illness.
Psychopathology is the scientific study of the origins, symptoms, and development of psychological disorders.

Affect & Mood

Affect is the objectively observed expression of emotion.
Mood is a pervasive and sustained emotion subjectively experienced and reported by the person.

Delusions

Delusions are fixed false unshakable beliefs out of keeping with the person's cultural background.

Types of Delusions

Persecutory/paranoid delusion: The individual believes that "others" are planning to harm them or are spying on them.
Grandiose delusion: The individual claims to have a special relationship with a famous person or celebrity.
Thought Broadcasting: The individual believes that their thoughts are being broadcast over the air, radio, or some other unusual way, and that others can read or hear their thoughts.
Somatic delusion: The individual has vague and unrealistic beliefs about their health and bodily functions.
Referential delusion: The individual incorrectly interprets external events as having a direct reference to themself.
Nihilistic delusion: The individual has a false idea that the self, or a part of the self, doesn't exist.

Obsessions & Compulsions

Obsessions are repetitive ideas, images, feelings, or urges that persistently enter the person's mind despite resistance.
Obsessions are unwanted, distressful, and recognized as senseless and irrational.
Common obsessional content includes: dirt/contamination/cleaning, orderliness/symmetry, doubts/checking/counting, aggressive impulses/inappropriate acts, religion (blasphemous thoughts), ruminations (obsessive thoughts).
Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession.

Disorders of the Stream of Thought

Tangentiality: The patient never gets from the desired point to the desired goal.
Circumstantiality: The patient gives countless and unnecessary details but gets from the desired point to the desired goal.
Poverty of Thoughts: The person has few, slow, unvaried thoughts associated with poverty of speech.
Thought Block: The sudden cessation of thought flow with complete emptying of the mind, not caused by an external influence.
Loosening of Associations: Lack of logical connection between thoughts.
Flight of Ideas: Successive rapidly shifting incomplete ideas but with an understandable link.
Thought Perseveration: Repeating the same sequence of thoughts persistently and inappropriately.
Incoherence: A mixture of phrases that have no meaning with no logical connection.

Abnormalities of Speech

Echolalia: Imitation of words or phrases made by others.
Pressure of Speech: Rapid, uninterrupted speech that is increased in amount.
Mutism: Inability to speak.
Elective Mutism: Refusal to speak in certain circumstances.
Poverty of Speech: Restricted amount of speech.
Stuttering (Stammering): Frequent repetition or prolongation of a sound or syllable, leading to markedly impaired speech fluency.
Clang Associations (Rhyming): Association of words similar in sound but not in meaning (e.g. deep, keep, sleep).
Word Salad: Incoherent mixture of words and phrases.

Abnormalities of Perception

Illusions: Misperceptions or misinterpretations of real external sensory stimuli, e.g. Shadows may be misperceived as frightening figures.
Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions not associated with real external stimuli, may involve any of the five senses.

Types of Hallucinations

Auditory hallucinations: False perceptions of sound (voices, noises, music, and other noises).
Visual hallucinations: False visual perceptions (formed images, such as of people, or unformed images, such as flashes of light).
Tactile hallucinations: False perceptions of the sense of touch, sensations that something is crawling on or under the skin.

Disorders of Memory

Amnesia: Partial or total inability to recall past experiences, can be organic or emotional in origin.
- Anterograde amnesia: Inability to recall events occurring after a point in time.
- Retrograde amnesia: Inability to recall events prior to a point in time.
- Total amnesia: Inability to recall recent and remote events.
- Circumscribed amnesia: Inability to recall events for a limited time.

Orientation & Disorientation

Orientation: The ability to relate the self correctly to time, place, and person.
Disorientation: Impaired ability to identify time, place, and person.

Judgment & Impaired Judgment

Judgment: The ability to assess a situation correctly and to act appropriately within that situation.
Impaired judgment: Diminished ability to understand a situation correctly and to act appropriately.

Insight & Impaired Insight

Insight: The ability to understand the objective condition of one's mental illness.
Impaired insight: Diminished ability to understand the objective condition of one's mental illness.

Attention & Concentration

Attention: The ability to focus on the matters in hand.
Concentration: The ability to maintain attention.

Disorders of Attention & Concentration

Distractibility: Inability to concentrate attention, attention drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli.

Mood Disturbances

Depressed mood: Feeling of sadness, pessimism, and a sense of loneliness.
Anhedonia: Lack of pleasure in acts which are normally pleasurable.
Grief: Sadness appropriate to a real loss (e.g. death of a relative).
Elevated Mood: A mood more cheerful than usual.
Anxiety: Feeling of apprehension accompanied by autonomic symptoms (such as muscle tension, perspiration, and tachycardia), caused by anticipation of danger.
Panic: Acute, self-limiting, episodic intense attack of anxiety associated with overwhelming dread and autonomic symptoms.
Phobia: Irrational exaggerated fear and avoidance of a specific object, situation, or activity.
Agitation: A state of restlessness and tension, exhibiting a variety of physical symptoms.
Psychosis: Loss of contact with reality.
Schizophrenia: A serious mental disorder characterized by a dysfunction in thinking, perception, expression of emotions, and behavior.

Other Important Terms

Affect: The objectively observed expression of emotion.
Mood: A pervasive and sustained emotion subjectively experienced and reported by the person.

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Description

Explore the critical aspects of mental health and the spectrum of mental disorders in this quiz. Gain insights into psychiatry, psychopathology, and the impact of various mental conditions on daily life and interpersonal relationships. Test your knowledge about the definitions, symptoms, and classifications of mental health issues.