Fun Facts
This famous psychiatric manual first appeared in 1952 and is now in its fifth edition.
What is the DSM?
A 26-year-old man repeatedly washes his hands in scalding water because of intrusive fears of contamination. His hands are severely chapped. He knows his fears are unrealistic but becomes extremely anxious if he cannot wash them.
What is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
Intoxication with this classically produces pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression, CNS depression, and decreased GI motility.
What are opioids?
OCD is simply a preference for being clean and organized.
Myth. OCD involves obsessions—recurrent, intrusive, unwanted thoughts, urges, or images—and/or compulsions, repetitive behaviors or mental rituals often performed to reduce anxiety.
This neurotransmitter helps regulate mood, sleep, digestion, and even wound healing.
What is serotonin?
A person wakes up fully conscious but temporarily unable to move or speak, sometimes with vivid hallucinations or the feeling that someone is in the room. This phenomenon is called...
What is sleep paralysis?
A 25-year-old military veteran witnessed a friend die in an explosion. Three months later, he has recurrent nightmares and intrusive memories of the event. He avoids driving and is unusually sensitive to loud noises.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
This opioid antagonist can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose by restoring breathing.
What is naloxone (Narcan)?
A person can have a serious eating disorder while at a normal body weight.
Fact! Eating disorders can occur across body weights.
A child receives a sticker for cleaning their room and begins cleaning more often. This type of reinforcement adds a reward to increase a behavior.
What is positive reinforcement?
This brain structure involved in fear and emotion gets its name from the Greek word for “almond.”
What is the amygdala?
A 26-year-old man constantly worries about his job and his partner's health. For years he has had difficulty concentrating, fatigue, insomnia, muscle tension, nausea, and sweating. His TSH and toxicology screen are normal.
What is generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?
A teenager's grades suddenly decline and he quits his basketball team. He has recurrent nosebleeds, hypertension, tachycardia, dilated pupils, and psychomotor agitation.
What is cocaine use disorder/intoxication?
Hallucinations and delusions can occur during severe depression.
Fact! Severe depression can include psychotic features.
After buying an expensive textbook, you pay more attention to reviews that say it was a great purchase. This tendency is called what?
What is confirmation bias?
Before becoming a physician, this founder of psychoanalysis originally studied the nervous systems of animals, including eels.
Who is Sigmund Freud?
A 24-year-old man sleeps only 2 hours a night while “training” to become a professional poker champion. He claims God chose him for this role, has lost all his earnings gambling, and is pacing, hyperverbal, and distractible. A urine drug screen is negative.
What is bipolar I disorder?
A clubgoer develops hyperthermia, hypertension, tachycardia, bruxism, and severe hyponatremia after taking a drug that increases monoamine release, particularly serotonin.
What is MDMA (ecstasy)?
Psychiatrists are not trained in providing psychotherapy.
Myth. Psychiatry residency programs are required to provide training in evidence-based psychotherapies. Psychiatrists can provide both psychotherapy and medication management, though the balance varies by practice.
During this process, a previously neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a specific response; eventually, the neutral stimulus comes to trigger that same response on its own.
What is classical conditioning?
This treatment for severe depression was first performed in 1938 and remains one of psychiatry’s most effective treatments today.
What is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)?
A 28-year-old man has months of persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations. He later develops persistent depression and suicidal thoughts. Careful history shows that his psychotic symptoms were present even when significant mood symptoms were absent.
What is schizoaffective disorder?
Four days after an elective surgery, a patient develops tremor, visual hallucinations, fever, tachycardia, hypertension, and delirium. His family reports a history of heavy daily alcohol use. What is the diagnosis?
What is delirium tremens?
A person must have experienced a major depressive episode to be diagnosed with bipolar I disorder.
Myth. Bipolar I requires at least one manic episode. Major depressive episodes are common but are not required for diagnosis.
This chemical element is similar to sodium in its charge and size and is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder.
What is Lithium?