Chapter 12: Psychiatry

The discussion of psychotic disorders covers the schizophrenia spectrum, distinguishing between brief psychotic episodes, schizophreniform presentations, and chronic schizophrenia, while categorizing symptoms into positive manifestations such as hallucinations and delusions, negative symptoms including apathy and loss of motivation, and cognitive impairments affecting memory and executive functioning. Antipsychotic medications and behavioral interventions are presented as primary treatment approaches. The chapter also addresses schizoaffective disorder, which combines psychotic and mood symptoms, and delusional disorder, characterized by non-bizarre false beliefs with preserved functioning. Mood disorders receive substantial coverage, starting with major depressive disorder and its diagnostic criteria based on symptoms affecting sleep, interest, guilt, energy, concentration, appetite, and psychomotor function, along with suicide risk assessment. Bipolar spectrum disorders are differentiated by episode severity and duration, with Bipolar I involving full manic episodes and Bipolar II characterized by hypomanic episodes paired with major depression. Treatment approaches incorporate mood stabilizers and antipsychotics tailored to disorder subtype. The chapter examines anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder with its chronic worry patterns, panic disorder with acute anxiety episodes, specific phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, emphasizing both pharmacological and behavioral therapeutic options. Personality disorders are organized into three clusters reflecting emotional and behavioral patterns, with discussion of their chronic nature and limited pharmacological interventions. Trauma-related conditions, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder, are explored as responses to significant life events with characteristic flashbacks and avoidance behaviors. The chapter concludes by addressing eating disorders with their associated body image disturbances, substance use disorders across multiple drug categories, and childhood-onset conditions including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, highlighting developmental considerations in diagnosis and management.