Lesson 1Medical and neurological mimics of psychiatric presentations: thyroid, B12, infection, head injury, and medication-induced symptomsLooks at common body and brain conditions that look like mental health problems, like thyroid issues, lack of B12, infections, head injuries, and effects from medicines, stressing warning signs, simple tests, and working with general 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 formulationExplains basic rules for diagnosing mental health issues, focusing on how symptoms appear, how they change over time, other problems that come with them, and cultural backgrounds, and shows how to make clear plans that put safety, treatment options, and unsure diagnoses 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 featuresExplains how to spot bipolar conditions, including mild high moods, mixed feelings, and unusual low moods, paying attention to sleep, energy, and activity shifts, patterns over time, and main differences from simple 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 statesShows how to tell real psychotic disorders from those caused by drugs or stopping them, confusion from illness, and other sudden mix-ups, using start time, progress, awareness, thinking, and body signs to make quick care 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)Introduces main tools and scales for checking patients outside hospital, like PHQ-9, GAD-7, CAGE, AUDIT, C-SSRS, and YMRS, with tips on how to use them, understand results, their limits, and fitting them into daily 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 diagnosesTeaches building full plans that mix body, mind, and social factors, including what causes, starts, keeps going, and protects from problems, and how to balance main diagnoses against added ones to order treatments and plan 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 cognitionCovers spotting alcohol, calming pill, and painkiller use problems, looking at high states, stopping effects, and long-term impacts on feelings, worry, thinking, and false beliefs, and how use habits mix up diagnoses 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 severityMakes clear the rules from DSM-5 and ICD-11 for big depression, including must-have signs, how long they last, extra details, and how bad they are, and talks about telling it apart from sadness after loss, stress adjustment, bipolar low, and body 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 prognosisLooks at how family patterns, job stress, losing loved ones, past hurts, being poor, and community ways affect when signs start, how they go, and treatment results, helping doctors fine-tune chances of diagnosis, risks, and future 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
