Lesson 1Medical and neurological mimics of psychiatric presentations: thyroid, B12, infection, head injury, and medication-induced symptomsThis lesson reviews common medical and neurological conditions that look like psychiatric problems, such as thyroid issues, B12 deficiency, infections, head injuries, and effects from medications, highlighting warning signs, screening tests, and the need to work with primary care doctors.
Endocrine causes: thyroid, adrenal, and metabolic issuesNutritional and hematologic factors, including B12Infections, inflammation, and systemic illness effectsHead injury, seizures, and neurodegenerative diseaseMedication- and substance-induced psychiatric symptomsIndications for labs, imaging, and specialist referralLesson 2Principles of psychiatric diagnosis and differential formulationThis lesson explains the basic principles of psychiatric diagnosis, focusing on how symptoms appear, the course over time, co-existing conditions, and cultural backgrounds, and teaches a structured way to make differential diagnoses that puts safety, treatability, and uncertainty first.
Phenomenological description of symptoms and signsLongitudinal course and life-stage considerationsComorbidity and overlapping symptom clustersCultural formulation and explanatory modelsPrioritizing safety and treatable conditions firstCommunicating diagnostic uncertainty to patientsLesson 3Bipolar spectrum and bipolar depression: signs suggesting hypomania/mania, sleep and activity changes, and differential featuresThis lesson covers how to spot bipolar spectrum conditions, including mild hypomania, mixed states, and unusual depression, stressing changes in sleep, energy, and activities, patterns over time, and differences from regular depression and personality issues.
Clinical features of hypomania and maniaSleep, circadian rhythm, and activity pattern changesCourse patterns: episodicity, polarity, and seasonalityDifferentiating bipolar from unipolar depressionMixed features and rapid cycling presentationsScreening tools and collateral history for bipolarityLesson 4Primary psychotic disorders vs substance/withdrawal-induced psychosis and acute confusional statesThis lesson looks at how to tell primary psychotic disorders apart from those caused by substances, withdrawal, delirium, or other sudden confusion, using onset, timeline, awareness, thinking, and medical signs to make quick management choices.
Core features of schizophrenia spectrum disordersTemporal relationship between substance use and psychosisRecognizing delirium and fluctuating consciousnessCognitive testing and attention in acute confusionMedical workup for first-episode psychosisRisk assessment and need for urgent hospitalizationLesson 5Structured diagnostic tools and rating scales useful in outpatient assessment (PHQ-9, GAD-7, CAGE/AUDIT, C-SSRS, YMRS)This lesson introduces important structured tools and scales for outpatient checks, like PHQ-9, GAD-7, CAGE, AUDIT, C-SSRS, and YMRS, with tips on how to use them, interpret results, their limits, and fitting them into clinical decisions.
Selecting appropriate screening and rating instrumentsUsing PHQ-9 and GAD-7 in routine assessmentCAGE and AUDIT for alcohol use identificationC-SSRS for suicide risk screening and monitoringYMRS and other mania rating scalesDocumenting and tracking scores over timeLesson 6Formulating multi-factorial etiologies: biopsychosocial integration and weighing primary versus secondary diagnosesThis lesson shows how to build biopsychosocial formulations that mix factors leading to, triggering, maintaining, and protecting against illness, and how to balance main versus secondary diagnoses to plan treatment order and team care.
Predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating, protective modelBiological factors: genetics, neurobiology, medical illnessPsychological factors: traits, coping, trauma, beliefsSocial factors: relationships, work, culture, resourcesWeighing primary versus secondary diagnosesLinking formulation to treatment and prognosisLesson 7Substance use disorders and pattern recognition: alcohol, benzodiazepines, and opioids effects on mood and cognitionThis lesson discusses spotting alcohol, benzodiazepine, and opioid use disorders, looking at intoxication, withdrawal, and long-term effects on mood, worry, thinking, and psychosis, and how use patterns make diagnosis harder and hide main issues.
Screening for alcohol, benzodiazepine, and opioid useIntoxication syndromes and acute behavioral changesWithdrawal states and rebound anxiety or agitationSubstance-induced mood and cognitive symptomsDistinguishing primary from substance-induced disordersAssessing severity, tolerance, and functional impactLesson 8Diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (DSM-5 / ICD-11): core symptoms, specifiers, duration, and severityThis lesson makes clear the DSM-5 and ICD-11 rules for Major Depressive Disorder, covering needed symptoms, length, types, and severity levels, and talks about telling it apart from grief, adjustment issues, bipolar depression, and medical causes.
Core mood, cognitive, and somatic symptomsDuration, impairment, and exclusion criteriaSpecifiers: melancholic, atypical, psychotic, anxiousSeverity assessment: mild, moderate, severeDifferentiating MDD from grief and adjustment disorderDistinguishing MDD from bipolar and medical causesLesson 9How family history, occupational stressors, relationship loss, and social determinants modify diagnostic probability and prognosisThis lesson explores how family history, job stress, loss of relationships, trauma, poverty, and cultural settings affect symptom start, progress, and treatment response, helping doctors fine-tune diagnosis chances, risk levels, and long-term outlooks.
Eliciting detailed family psychiatric and substance historyAssessing occupational stress, burnout, and job insecurityImpact of bereavement, separation, and attachment lossSocial determinants: housing, income, discrimination, migrationCultural and religious factors in symptom expressionIntegrating contextual risks into prognosis and planning
