Psychiatry

Psychotic Disorders · Mood Disorders · Anxiety & Related Disorders · Eating & Somatoform Disorders · Organic Psychiatry · Personality, Legal & ECT

Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia — Schizophrenia: ≥ 1 month of core symptoms (DSM/ICD) — delusions, hallucinations (typically auditory 3rd person/running c
Schizoaffective & Delusional Disorders — Schizoaffective disorder: prominent mood episode CONCURRENT with schizophrenic symptoms (not sequential).
Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders — Baby blues: up to 50% of mothers; days 3–10; mild tearfulness/lability — self-limiting, reassurance only.

Depression — Core symptoms (≥ 2 weeks): low mood · anhedonia · low energy/fatigue.
Bipolar Disorder — Bipolar I: ≥ 1 manic episode (≥ 7 days or hospitalisation): elevated/expansive mood, ↑ energy, grandiosity, ↓ need for s
Dysthymia, Cyclothymia & SAD — Dysthymia (persistent depressive disorder): chronic low mood ≥ 2 years, not meeting full depressive episode criteria.
Grief & Abnormal Bereavement — Normal grief: stages of denial → anger → bargaining → depression → acceptance (Kübler-Ross); up to 6 months.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder — GAD: excessive, uncontrollable worry about multiple everyday matters on most days for ≥ 6 months.
Panic Disorder — Panic disorder: recurrent unexpected panic attacks + persistent worry about further attacks or their implications (≥ 1 m
OCD — OCD: obsessions (intrusive, ego-dystonic thoughts/images/urges) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviours/mental acts to
PTSD — PTSD: after an exceptionally threatening event — re-experiencing (flashbacks, nightmares) · avoidance/numbing · hyperaro
Phobias & Social Anxiety — Specific phobia: marked fear of an object/situation, out of proportion, with avoidance.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder & Health Anxiety — Body dysmorphic disorder: preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in appearance causing significant distress/imp

Anorexia Nervosa — Anorexia: deliberate weight loss (BMI < 17.5), fear of weight gain, distorted body image, amenorrhoea (females).
Bulimia Nervosa — Bulimia: recurrent binge eating + compensatory behaviours (self-induced vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise) ≥ once
Somatic Symptom & Factitious Disorders — Somatic symptom disorder: persistent physical symptoms without adequate medical explanation, causing distress — symptoms

Delirium vs Dementia — Delirium: ACUTE onset, fluctuating course, impaired consciousness/attention, often reversible cause (infection, drugs, h
Dementia: Types — Alzheimer's (~60%): insidious memory impairment, hippocampal/medial temporal atrophy; NICE acetylcholinesterase inhibito

Personality Disorders — Personality disorders: enduring, inflexible patterns beginning by early adulthood, causing distress/impairment.
Mental Capacity & Consent — Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific; it is presumed present unless proven otherwise.
Mental Health Act: Key Sections — Section 2: admission for assessment (± treatment) — up to 28 days; two doctors + approved mental health professional (AM
ECT — ECT indications: severe life-threatening depression (refusing food/fluid) · psychotic depression · severe postnatal depr