A-Level 6.1: Schizophrenia

Question 1

Define schizophrenia

Answer 1

A severe and chronic mental illness characterized by disturbances in thoughts, feelings, experiences, and behavior

Question 2

Positive symptoms of SZ

Answer 2

• Delusions
• Hallucinations
• Disorganized thinking
• Disorganized behavior

Question 3

Negative symptoms of SZ

Answer 3

• Avolition (loss of motivation)
• Flattened effect (lack of emotion)
• Catatonia (lack of movement/speech)
• Impaired cognitive function (reduced memory/attention)

Question 4

What is the diagnosis of SZ

Answer 4

• Signs of disorder should last for a continuous period of 6 months
• 6 month period should include 1 month of symptoms

Question 5

Describe Aneja et al. (2018) case study 1

Answer 5

• 10 yr old boy shows decline in his academic performance and general behavior when parents divorced
• He changed schools and him and his mom moved in with his grandma
• At 12 yrs old, he started hearing voices and believed his mom and other people were communicating with the voices
• He showed signs of: erratic behavior, muttered to himself, shouting at people who aren’t there, lack of sleep, decline in self-care
• Admitted to hospital and given a range of medicines to control worsening symptoms
• He was diagnosed with early-onset SZ, released from hospital, given meds to control his aggressive behavior
• Suffered negative symptoms: social withdrawal, apathy, resistance to going to school

Question 6

Types of delusions

Answer 6

• Persecutory: the belief a person is going to be harmed by another individual
• Referential: the belief that events in the environment are related to you