Signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorder

DISORDERS OF APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOUR

General appearance

Self-neglect

Evidence of self-neglect may include:
• A lack of cleanliness in self-care
• Unkempt hair
• Wearing clothes that have not been looked after.
Self-neglect may be consistent with the following psychiatric disorders:
• Dementia
• Psychoactive substance use disorder (of both alcohol and illicit drugs)
• Schizophrenia
• Mood disorder.

Recent weight loss

Evidence of recent weight loss may be provided by poorly fitting clothes that appear too loose. This may result from certain organic disorders, such as carcinoma, and in psychiatric disorders such as depression.

Flamboyant clothing

A patient may be dressed in a colourful, flamboyant way if under the influence of certain psychoactive substances or if suffering from mania.

Hypothyroidism

This is associated with the following signs, which may be evident from the general appearance (including from the hands on shaking hands with the patient):
• Dry, thin hair (often brittle and unmanageable)
• Facial changes – see below
• Dry skin
• Deafness
• Mild obesity
• Goitre
• Anaemia
• Cold hands.

Hyperthyroidism

This is associated with the following signs, which may be evident from the general appearance (including from the hands on shaking hands with the patient):
• Exophthalmus and other facial changes (see below)
• Goitre
• Tremor
• Weight loss
• Warm hands
• Palmar erythema.

Primary hypoadrenalism (Addison’s disease)

This may be associated with:
• Pigmentation of palmar creases and over joints of the hand
• Pigmentation of recent scars
• Dehydration
• Vitiligo
• General wasting
• Weight loss.

Facial appearance

Depression

Depressed patients often have:
• Downcast eyes
• A vertical furrow in the forehead
• Downturning of the corners of the mouth.

Mania

Manic patients may look euphoric and/or irritable.

Anxiety

Anxiety in general may be associated with:
• Raised eyebrows
• Widening of the palpebral fissures
• Mydriasis
• The presence of horizontal furrows in the forehead.

Parkinsonism

Relatively fixed unchanging facies may be caused by parkinsonism, which in turn may result from:
• Parkinsonian side effects of antidopaminergic antipsychotic treatment (used in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia and mania, for example)
• Parkinson’s disease.

Bulimia nervosa

In bulimia nervosa the face can have a chubby appearance owing to parotid gland enlargement; facial oedema may also occur as a result of purgative abuse. Both are rare.

Hirsutism

Hirsutism in female patients, particularly if accompanied by menstrual disturbances, may result from the following causes:
• Normal hair growth, e.g. in some Mediterranean and south Asian populations
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (the Stein–Leventhal syndrome is a severe form)
• Late-onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia
• Cushing’s syndrome
• Virilizing tumours of the ovaries or adrenal glands.

Hypothyroidism

This may be associated with the following signs, which may be evident from the facial (and neck) appearance:
• Dry thin hair (often brittle and unmanageable)
• Loss of eyebrows.
• Dry skin
• Goitre
• Large tongue
• Periorbital oedema
• Anaemia.

Primary hypoadrenalism (Addison’s disease)

This may be associated with:
• Buccal pigmentation
• Pigmentation of recent scars
• Dehydration
• Vitiligo.

Cushing’s syndrome

This may be associated with:
• Moon face
• Acne
• Frontal balding in females
• Hirsutism
• Thin skin
• Bruising.

Posture and movements

Schizophrenia

The following abnormal movements may occur particularly in schizophrenia and sometimes also in other disorders
Echopraxia – the automatic imitation by the patient of another person’s movements; it occurs even when the patient is asked not to do it
Mannerisms – repeated involuntary movements that appear to be goal-directed
Negativism – a motiveless resistance to commands and to attempts to be moved
Posturing – the patient adopts an inappropriate or bizarre bodily posture continuously for a long time
Stereotypies – repeated regular fixed patterns of movement (or speech) that are not goal-directed

Depression

Depressed mood may be associated with poor eye contact, the eyes often being downcast as mentioned above, and hunched shoulders.

Mania

Mania may be associated with increased movements and an inability to sit still. Note that restlessness is also a feature of anxiety and of certain organic disorders (e.g. hyperthyroidism).

Tics

These are repeated irregular movements involving a muscle group. They may be seen in a number of conditions, including Huntington’s disease, Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome, and following encephalitis.

Parkinsonism

This is associated with a festinant gait.

Social behaviour

Dementia

The patient may not act according to accepted conventions, for example by ignoring the interviewer.

Schizophrenia

The patient may act in a bizarre, aggressive or suspicious manner.

Mania

The patient may flirt with the interviewer and be sexually or otherwise disinhibited.
Jun 10, 2016 | Posted by in PSYCHIATRY | Comments Off on Signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorder

Full access? Get Clinical Tree

Get Clinical Tree app for offline access