Home >> Psychiatry >> ForumTopic: Intense nihilism, somatization and agitation in old age
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| superbdoc Total Posts: 273 | Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:22 pm Intense nihilism, somatization and agitation in old age are the hallmark symptoms of: A) Depressive stupor B) Somatized depression C) Involutional melancholia D) Atypical depression Please discuss each option...  |
| indent Total Posts: 54 | Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 05:33 am A) Depressive stupor must be differentiated from catatonic schizophrenia, from dissociative stupor, and from organic forms of stupor. This category should be used only for single episodes of severe depression with psychotic symptoms; for further episodes a subcategory of recurrent depressive disorder should be used. |
| indent Total Posts: 54 | Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 05:38 am C) Involutional melancholia or involutional depression - traditional name for a psychiatric disorder, affects mainly elderly or late middle-aged people, usually accompanied with paranoia. It is classically defined as 'depression of gradual onset occurring during the involutional years (40-55 in women and 50-65 in men), with symptoms of marked anxiety, agitation, restlessness, somatic concerns, hypochondriasis, occasional somatic or nihilistic delusions, insomnia, anorexia, and weight loss. Emil Kraepelin (1907) was the first to describe Involutional melancholia as a distinct clinical entity separate from the manic-depressive psychosis. Characteristic symptoms * Previous illness of depressive conditions * Symptoms of fear * Despondency and hypochondriacal delusions * Late onset of the disorder * Prolonged course with poor prognosis and/or deterioration Etiology It was first thought to be of acquired conditions till as early as 1907, when Dreyfus challenged it to be of endogenous origin after studying 85 of Kraepelin's original patients. Treated with antidepressants and mood elevators. |
| indent Total Posts: 54 | Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 05:39 am Answer is C |
| indent Total Posts: 54 | Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 05:41 am D) Atypical Depression - is a subtype of dysthymia and Major Depression characterized by mood reactivity — being able to experience improved mood in response to positive events. In contrast, sufferers of "melancholic" depression generally cannot experience positive moods, even when good things happen. Additionally, atypical depression is characterized by reversed vegetative symptoms, namely over-eating and over-sleeping. |
| superbdoc Total Posts: 273 | Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 02:13 pm thanks a lot...I liked the notes in it....  |