Mechanism of Action
This atypical antidepressant exerts its effect primarily via $\alpha_2$-adrenergic antagonism and 5-HT2/5-HT3 antagonism, often resulting in sedation and weight gain.
What is Mirtazapine (Remeron)?
The classic triad of altered mental status, autonomic instability, and neuromuscular abnormality (specifically hyperreflexia and clonus) distinguishes this syndrome from Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome.
What is Serotonin Syndrome?
Visual hallucinations, fluctuating cognition, and parkinsonism are the core clinical features of this neurocognitive disorder.
What is Lewy Body Dementia?
To diagnose Schizophrenia, continuous signs of the disturbance must persist for at least this long.
What is 6 months? (Note: <1 month is Brief Psychotic Disorder; 1-6 months is Schizophreniform).
The delusion that a friend or family member has been replaced by an identical-looking imposter.
What is Capgras Syndrome?
While most antipsychotics are D2 antagonists, Aripiprazole and Brexpiprazole are unique because they function as this at the D2 receptor.
What is a Partial Agonist?
For a patient presenting with confusion and hyperammonemia while taking Valproic Acid (despite normal LFTs), this agent is the treatment of choice.
What is L-Carnitine?
Damage to the mammillary bodies and medial thalamus due to thiamine deficiency causes this syndrome, characterized by confabulation and anterograde amnesia.
What is Korsakoff Syndrome?
A hypomanic episode is distinct from a manic episode in part because it lasts at least 4 consecutive days, whereas a manic episode must last at least this long (or require hospitalization).
What is 7 days (one week)?
A delusional belief that one is dead, does not exist, or that one's internal organs are missing or rotting; often associated with severe depression.
What is Cotard’s Syndrome?
This medication, used for psychosis in Parkinson’s Disease, is unique because it is a selective serotonin 5-HT2A inverse agonist with no appreciable dopamine antagonism.
What is Pimavanserin (Nuplazid)?
This reaction, characterized by severe muscle rigidity, fever, and elevated CK, is treated with supportive care, fluid resuscitation, and potentially Dantrolene or Bromocriptine.
What is Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS)?
This rare condition, caused by bilateral lesions of the amygdala (often HSV encephalitis), presents with hyperorality, hypersexuality, and docility.
What is Klüver-Bucy Syndrome?
To diagnose Cyclothymic Disorder in adults, numerous periods of hypomanic and depressive symptoms must occur for at least this duration.
What is 2 years?
This condition involves the formation of complex visual hallucinations in a psychologically normal person who has experienced significant vision loss (e.g., macular degeneration).
What is Charles Bonnet Syndrome?
The mood stabilizing effects of Lithium are thought to be mediated by the inhibition of this specific enzyme, as well as Inositol Monophosphatase.
What is Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (GSK-3)?
While Fomepizole is the antidote for Methanol and Ethylene Glycol poisoning, this specific intervention is required for severe Lithium toxicity (typically levels > 4.0 mEq/L or severe symptoms).
What is Hemodialysis?
Periodic Sharp Wave Complexes (PSWC) on EEG and a positive 14-3-3 protein in CSF are diagnostic hallmarks of this rapidly progressive dementia.
What is Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)?
Adjustment Disorders are characterized by emotional/behavioral symptoms in response to a stressor occurring within 3 months of the stressor, and typically do not persist for longer than this duration after the stressor has terminated.
What is 6 months?
Often called "folie à deux," this DSM-5 category describes when a delusion develops in an individual in the context of a close relationship with another person who already has an established delusion.
What is Shared Psychotic Disorder (or Induced Delusional Disorder)?
Varenicline (Chantix) aids in smoking cessation by acting as a partial agonist at this specific receptor subtype.
What is the $\alpha_4\beta_2$ nicotinic acetylcholine receptor?
Often seen in the ED, "anticholinergic delirium" is treated with this reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (though use with caution due to bradycardia/asystole risk).
What is Physostigmine?
A lesion in the arcuate fasciculus results in this type of aphasia, where fluency and comprehension are intact, but repetition is severely impaired.
What is Conduction Aphasia?
In Panic Disorder, at least one of the attacks must be followed by this duration of persistent worry about additional panic attacks or their consequences.
What is 1 month?
A syndrome of approximate answers (e.g., answering "5" when asked "how many legs does a dog have"), typically associated with dissociative disorders or malingering.
What is Ganser Syndrome?