Key Points All antipsychotics share dopamine 2 blockade as the presumed main mechanism of action. Primary symptom targets of antipsychotics are positive symptoms (disorganization, delusions, and hallucinations) and agitation; their efficacy for negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia is…
Overview Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) are prevalent in disenfranchised populations, including substance users, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), sex workers, ethnic minorities, and the seriously mentally ill, who all have particular difficulty advocating for and accessing…
Overview Psychiatrists encounter patients with abnormal movements in various clinical settings. Recognizing and correctly labeling motor phenomena in each setting helps to create a differential diagnosis that serves as the basis for optimal treatment, since abnormal movements can be the…
Psychosis , broadly defined, is a gross impairment of reality testing. Psychosis can result from a wide range of psychiatric and medical disturbances and may take several forms. The elderly woman, who lies quietly in bed listening to Satan whisper,…
Key Points Five percent of adults in the US suffer from a serious mental illness (SMI), which is defined as a psychiatric illness that persists and is accompanied by functional disability. Modern, patient-centered treatment occurs in recovery-oriented community settings and…
Key Points Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has transformed infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from a terminal illness to a chronic, treatable condition. Psychiatric and substance use disorders are frequent concomitants of HIV infection and complicate its diagnosis…
Key Points All antipsychotics share dopamine 2 blockade as the presumed main mechanism of action. Primary symptom targets of antipsychotics are positive symptoms (disorganization, delusions, and hallucinations) and agitation; their efficacy for negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia is…
Key Points Schizophrenia is a clinical diagnosis that is based on a combination of characteristic symptoms of sufficient severity (in the absence of other factors that would account for them) that typically begins in adolescence or early adulthood. Even if…