what is the purpose of a specialist liaison psychiatry service
provides specialized mental healthcare to patients with both physical and mental health conditions, often within general hospitals
what is somatisation disorder
- multiple physical symtpoms for at least 2 years
- patient refuses to accept reassurance or negative test results
what is illness anxiety disorder (hypochondriasis)
- persistent belief in the presence of an underlying serious DISEASE, e.g. cancer
- patient again refuses to accept reassurance or negative test results
what is functional neurological disorder (conversion disorder)
- typically involves loss of motor or sensory function
- the patient doesn’t consciously feign the symptoms (factitious disorder) or seek material gain (malingering)
- patients may be indifferent to their apparent disorder - la belle indifference - although this has not been backed up by some studies
what is dissociative disorder
- dissociation is a process of ‘separating off’ certain memories from normal consciousness
- in contrast to conversion disorder, involves psychiatric symptoms e.g. Amnesia, fugue, stupor
- dissociative identity disorder (DID) is the new term for multiple personality disorder as is the most severe form of dissociative disorder
what is factitious disorder
aka Munchausen’s syndrome
- intentional production of physical or psychological symptoms
what is malingering
fraudulent simulation or exaggeration of symptoms with the intention of financial or other gain
what is hoover’s sign
clinical tool used to differentiate organic from non-organic leg paresis
- in non organic paresis, pressure is felt under the paresis leg when lifting the non-paretic leg against pressure due to involuntary contralateral hip extension
- hoovers positive supports diagnosis of conversion disorder
what is Charles bonnet syndrome
CBS is characterised by persistent or recurrent complex hallucinations (visual or auditory), occurring in clear consciousness
- against a background of visual impairment
- insight usually preserved
- must occur in absence of any other significant neuropsychiatric disturbance
what is the most common ophthalmological condition associated with CBS
age related macular degeneration (ARMD)
- distortion of straight lines and reduced acuity
- smoking history
how can physical illness cause psychiatric illness
- direct alteration of brain function
- side effects of medications used to treat physical illness
- chronic stress/anxiety
what is post concussion syndrome and its features
a clinical diagnosis that refers to a collection of symptoms that persist following a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), typically for weeks or months
- headache
- fatigue
- dizziness
- poor concentration
- memory problems
- irritability
- anxiety
- sleep disturbances
- lasted for several months but eventually resolved
