The course aims to provide the fundamental elements related to Psychopathology, Semiology, Diagnostics and Therapy of the most prevalent psychiatric syndromes, enriched by explanatory histories. The course aims to provide knowledge concerning the organization and legislation in mental health.
D1. Knowledge and understanding. Acquire knowledge and understanding about general psychopathology, principal psychiatric disorders (clinical features, diagnostic criteria, treatment), fundamental elements related to the organization and legislation in mental health.
D2. Applying knowledge and understanding. Be able to apply the knowledge acquired about mental health by promptly and accurately recognizing signs and symptoms of a psychiatric disorder (versus generic mental distress), by identifying which psychiatric disorder is present (differential diagnosis), by identifying which setting and professional (general practitioner versus psychiatrist) will be adequate for taking charge of the patient, and by setting up a treatment program for the psychiatric disorder adapting it to the characteristics of the specific individual with the disorder.
D3. Making judgments. Know how to recognize and apply the knowledge learned independently and critically, identifying the main strategies for taking care of the patient.
D4. Communication skills. Acquire the ability to translate the narrative of the patient into signs and symptoms potentially indicating a psychiatric disorder, using the proper terminology. Acquire the ability to interact with patient with a psychiatric disorder, and to communicate appropriately to patients and colleagues diagnosis and treatment program (case formulation).
D5. Learning skills. Demonstrate that he/she has acquired and understood the fundamentals related to the course.

Prerequisite is to have acquired knowledge in the anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system; to have acquired skills in the doctor-patient relationship.
Propaedeutic. The exam Nervous System Diseases and Psychiatry must be preceded by the exams: Pathophysiology and Integrated Pathology and Pharmacology.

General Psychopathology and definition of psychiatric disorder
Clinical features, diagnostic criteria and treatment of the principal psychiatric disorders:
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
Depressive and bipolar disorders
Anxiety and trauma and stressor-related disorders
Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
Feeding and Eating disorders
Personality disorders
Substance related and addictive disorders
General elements of Psychopharmacology and Psychotherapy
History of Psychiatry and of deinstitutionalization
Mental health legislation and organization

Elementi di Psichiatria, IV Edizione. G. Maina, U. Albert, G. Rosso. Edizioni Minerva Medica Torino, 2023

General Psychopathology and definition of psychiatric disorder (pragmatic approach: specific cluster of signs/symptoms, predefined duration, functional impairment).
Clinical features (specific signs and symptoms defining the psychiatric disorder), diagnostic criteria (DSM-5 criteria), onset and course characteristics, and treatment (pharmacological, psychosocial and rehabilitative) of the principal psychiatric disorders:
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders (Schizophrenia, Delusional Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder)
Depressive (Major Depressive Disorder, Persistent Depressive Disorder/Dysthymia, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) and bipolar disorders (Bipolar Disorder type I, type II, Cyclothymia).
Anxiety (Specific Phobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, Panic, Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and trauma and stressor-related disorders (Acute Stress Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorders)
Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Hoarding Disorder, Trichotillomania, Excoriation Disorder)
Feeding and Eating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder)
Personality disorders (Cluster A, B and C personality disorders)
Substance related and addictive disorders (general definition of Substance Use Disorder, Tolerance, Abstinence, Alcohol Use Disorders)
General elements of Psychopharmacology (principal classes of drug used in Psychiatry: antidepressants, hypnotic/anxiolytics, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics) and Psychotherapy
Mental health legislation and organization (Italian Legge 180, Department of Mental Health, components of the DMH: SPDC, Community Mental Health Centers, etc.)
History of Psychiatry and of deinstitutionalization

Lectures, tutorials, case studies, video tools (simulated clinical interviews).

Course slides used in class, in pdf format, are available on the moodle@units and Microsoft Teams IT platforms.

The questions will focus on the program carried out and will be theoretical. In order to pass the exam the student will have to demonstrate to have acquired knowledge and understanding of clinical features and treatment of the principal psychiatric disorders, and of organization and legislation of mental health assistance. The exam will be carried out only in the form of an integrated exam (the only exam for the Nervous System Diseases and Psychiatry Course) with 106 multiple choice questions with four answers of which only one is correct. The task consists of 106 questions; the questions will be divided proportionally to the CFU of the individual modules as follows: Neurology N=52; Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology N=40; Child Neuropsychiatry N=14. The vote will thus be calibrated in thirtieths, transformed proportionally with respect to the maximum total of answers which are 106. The written exam will not give access to any optional oral exam: therefore the only option for the student who is not satisfied with the grade received in the written exam is to repeat the written exam in the next exam session. Duration of the written exam: 1 hour and 45 minutes.

This teaching delves into topics
closely related to one or more objectives of the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development of
United Nations