Blog

Edward is in the midst of a major depressive episode. He has just learned that his best friend is going through a divorce and feels responsible for it, even though he had nothing to do with it. Which symptom of depression is this?

A 22-year-old woman hyperventilates every time she drives over a bridge and slows to a dangerously low speed. She tries to rationalize her reaction by explaining that she is just being cautious and protecting herself from traffic, but the hyperventilating and slow pace is dangerous. She realizes that this is irrational but is unable to control it. She becomes extremely anxious at the sight of a bridge, even when a passenger in the car, and worries for days before an car trip where she knows she will have to cross a bridge.

Betts has anorexia nervosa. Chelsea has bulimia nervosa. Who will most likely have the better prognosis?

When theorists focus on media models of thinness for women, stress from abuse and sexual harassment, poor recognition of achievements, and excessive attention to beauty and body shape, they are thinking about

Human life begins as a single cell.  That cell divides and gives rise to trillions of specialized cells.  This process of cell dfferentiation is controlled by

For the vignette, please give a diagnosis and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. Samuel is a 28-year-old, final-year medical student from the south-eastern region of Nigeria. He was declared missing for 10 days and then later seen in a city in southwestern Nigeria, a distance of about 634 km from his home. Ten days before his episode, while studying in his room alone at night, Samuel suddenly saw a full human skeleton reading at the same table with him, sitting at the opposite side. At the same time, he claimed he felt uneasy and quite uncomfortable. He saw the whole room turning with everything inside becoming unstable and unreal. After this experience, Samuel had overwhelming fears and did not know when he left the room. Two days later, he discovered he was with his younger sibling in south-western Nigeria. Samuel had no knowledge of how he made the journey that takes approximately eight hours by road. He equally could not remember where he slept the night he left his room, how he raised money for the journey, or the buses and routes he took. Samuel denied all memory of events for the 2 days from when he left his room at the university to the time he suddenly realized he was at his brother’s house, hours away. The brother, however, reported that Samuel appeared unkempt, and looked exhausted but was fully conscious and alert on arrival at his house without any assistance. Prior to this episode, Samuel had been under severe economic and academic pressures and had been worried that he might fail his final qualifying examinations in 3 months. He slept poorly at night, with his sleep had been marked by early morning wakefulness and waking up not feeling refreshed.

Paul has been repeatedly cutting himself and occasionally burning himself with a lighter, but without the intent to die. He is best described as demonstrating

Researchers have found that certain aspects of somatic symptom disorders such as ____, or the difficulty understanding one’s own emotions, have a genetic basis.

Forgetfulness that is not caused by substance use or neurological or other medical disorder is characteristic of

For the vignette, please give a diagnosis and bullet point the symptoms that made you come to the diagnosis. Norma Balaban, a 37-year-old married woman was referred by her primary care physician for evaluation of depression and multiple somatic symptoms. Her problem list included: nocturnal leg spasms sleep difficulties that led to head heaviness.  intermittent cold sensations in her extremities, face Pulsating sensations in her eyes after a poor night’s sleep difficulty urinating menstrual irregularity right gluteal pain  neck stiffness The patient has been seen by a rheumatologist who diagnosed her with mechanical back pain without evidence of inflammatory arthritis. A neurologist diagnosed her with atypical migraine variant. Tests performed (all were normal): 2 EEGs, an electromyogram, 3 brain and 3 spinal MRIs, two lumbar puncture studies, and serial laboratory exams.  She spoke to the psychiatrist primarily about her physical complaints. She found it difficult to concentrate and complete her work and was spending a lot of time on the Internet researching her symptoms. She acknowledged bouts of depressed mood over the prior year with some anhedonia and occasional thoughts of suicide. She had started taking an SSRI and an anticonvulsant, prescribed by her primary care physician, and experienced partial improvement in her mood and some of her pains.