Psychosomatic Disorders Two overlapping classifications exist here. A PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDER (not in DSM-IV) is a physical disease partially caused or exacerbated by psychological factors, whereas the new DSM-IV category, PSYCHOLOGICAL…
Conditions That Mimic Physical Disease It is essential to differentiate organic illness from psychogenic illness in patients complaining of physical symptoms. Patients with physical complaints in whom no medical illness…
Grief and the Dying Patient Everyone endures personal losses; many suffer chronic illnesses. Everyone dies. Physicians attend at all of these events and need to recognize normal and abnormal human…
Dissociative Disorders Dissociation is the splitting off of specific mental activities from the rest of normal consciousness, such as the splitting of thoughts or feelings from behavior (e.g., to daydream…
Anxiety Disorders Anxiety is ubiquitous; anxiety disorders are not. Anxiety is an unpleasant and unjustified sense of apprehension often accompanied by physiologic symptoms, whereas anxiety disorder connotes significant distress and…
Suicidal and Assaultive Behaviors THE SUICIDAL PATIENT Epidemiology Reported suicides in the United States number 31,000 per year (12 per 100,000; 300,000 attempts annually). Suicide is underreported and often is…
Delirium and Amnestic and Other Cognitive Disorders The psychiatric conditions in this chapter are all caused by medical (organic) pathology. The most common is delirium, but several other specific presentations…
Mood Disorders Patients with disorders of mood are common (3% to 5% of the population at any one time) and are seen by all medical specialists. It is essential to…
Psychotic Disorders Psychosis describes a degree of severity, not a specific disorder. A psychotic patient has a grossly impaired sense of reality, often coupled with emotional and cognitive disabilities, which…
