Chapter 14: Schizophrenia Flashcards
What are the truths behind the common misconceptions of schizophrenia?
- Not a “split personality” as in two identities, but a “split mind” and shattered personality
- Not a violent disorder per se
What is the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia?
1% of the world’s population
When is the onset of schizophrenia?
Usually late teens to mid 20s
Acute onset vs. chronic onset of schizophrenia. Which has better prognosis?
- Acute = suddenly appearing psychotic symptoms w/ good premorbid adjustment
- Chronic = slow process of steady deterioration without periods of remission and poor premorbid adjustment
- Better prognosis = acute
What course does schizophrenia take?
- Deterioration w/ each episode
- Treatable, but no cure
What is the gender ratio of schizophrenia? Exceptions?
1: 1
- More younger males (under 25) first diagnosed than younger females
- More older women (40+) first diagnosed than older men
When are the majority of males and females diagnosed with schizophrenia?
When under 25 years old
List the main symptoms of schizophrenia.
- Perception = hallucinations
- Thought content = delusions
- Thought processes = formal thought disorder
- Emotion
- Motivation
- Relating to others
- Motor behavior
Describe the hallucinations symptom of schizophrenia.
- Involuntary sensory experiences w/o sensory stimulation and not related to external stimuli
- Mostly auditory (hearing voices), but sometimes also visual, olfactory, tactile
- Voices are realistic and heard outside of one’s head
- Voices may be commenting, critical, commanding, whispering
Describe the delusions symptom of schizophrenia.
-False belief systems that are fixed and not open to change even when evidence contradicts them —> called “bizarre” if not derived from ordinary experience
What are the most common delusions of schizophrenia?
- Persecution = paranoia
- Grandeur = grandiosity
- Reference = belief that random events are directed at oneself
- Thought broadcasting = belief that others can hear/read one’s thoughts
- Delusions of mind reading = belief that one is able to read others’ thoughts
Describe Formal Thought Disorder as a symptom of schizophrenia.
Disordered thinking manifested by:
- loosely connected thoughts
- digressive, associative speech (doesn’t seem to make sense)
- impaired logic (cause and effect are reversed or inconsequential)
- concreteness (inability to abstract of understand figurative speech)
- neologisms (making up new words that don’t exist in one’s language)
- probs w/ selective attention (inability to distinguish important from unimportant)
Describe the emotional symptoms of schizophrenia.
- Agitated manic affect
- Inappropriate affect
- Flat, blunt affect
Describe the motivational symptoms of schizophrenia.
- Loss of interest
- Loss of enjoyment (anhedonia)
- Loss of goals (avolition)
- Loss of drive
Describe the relational symptoms of schizophrenia.
- Social withdrawal
- Loss of social skills
List the motor behavior symptoms of schizophrenia.
- Purposeless motor acts, tics, mannerisms
- Agitation, pacing
- Catatonia (motionless, frozen state, strange postures)
- Loss of complex coordination, left-right confusion
What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Agitation
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
- Loss of logical thinking (formal thought disorder)
- Loss of coherent speech)
- Flat, blunt affect
- Anhedonia
- Avolition
- Alogia (having nothing to say in convos)
- Social withdrawal
What makes positive symptoms better than negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
Positive symptoms are easier to treat w/ meds and generally suggest a better prognosis
What is the DSM-V criteria for schizophrenia?
- At least 2/5 of the following symptoms must be present, whereby at least one needs to be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized thinking
1. Delusions
2. Hallucinations
3. Disorganized thinking (speech)
4. Grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior
5. Negative symptoms - Significant deterioration of functioning in one or several areas (work, relations, self care)
- Continuous signs of disturbance persist for at least 6 months
- Symptoms not caused by substance use or a medical condition
What are the types of schizophrenia?
- Paranoid
- Disorganized
What is the main difference between paranoid and disorganized schizophrenia?
- Paranoid = prominent symptoms are mostly positive
- Disorganized = prominent symptoms are mostly negative
Describe paranoid schizophrenia.
- Delusions of persecution or grandeur
- Auditory hallucinations
- Paranoia-related fear, anger, hostility
- Cognitive skills remain relatively intact (no formal thought disorder)
- Responds relatively well to antipsychotic medications
- Likely to refuse meds and other treatment
Describe disorganized schizophrenia.
- Formal thought disorder
- Social withdrawal
- Flat or inappropriate affect
- Anhedonia, avolition, alogia
- Bizarre mannerisms
- Regressed behavior (childlike, immature)
- Inappropriate social behaviors (peeing, masturbating in public)
- Disintegration of personality
- May experience hallucinations
- No organized delusional system
- Early onset
- Poor premorbid adjustment
- Chronic course with likely brain damage
- Poor prognosis
What are the phases of schizophrenic illness?
- Prodromal phase
- Psychotic phase
- Resitual state
Define the prodromal phase of schizophrenic illness.
Approaching psychotic phase
Define the psychotic phase of schizophrenic illness
Full symptoms
Define the residual state of schizophrenic illness
- Remaining symptoms after episode
- No active delusions or hallucinations
- Similar to schizotypal personality disorder
What is brief psychotic disorder? Symptoms?
- Same symptoms as schizophrenia
- Symptoms last less than a month
What is schizoaffective disorder?
- Criteria met for both major mood disorder (bipolar I or II, or MDD) and schizophrenia
- Psychosis for at least 2 weeks w/o simultaneous mood symptoms
What is delusional disorder?
- Delusions are only psychotic symptom
- No mood symptoms, no hallucinations, no negative symptoms
Is schizophrenia one disorder or a group of disorders? Explain.
- A group of disorders –> schizophrenia spectrum
- Overlap w/ other disorders
- Differing degrees along spectrum