Chapter 15 Flashcards
Symptoms of schizophrenia
◦ Hallucinations: seeing or hearing things that
others do not
◦ Delusions: having beliefs that are unrealistic,
bizarre, and not shared by others in the same
culture
Schizophrenia: The
“Negative” Symptom Cluster“
Avolition, Alogia, Anhedonia, Affective flattening
Avolition (or apathy)
– refers to the
inability to initiate and persist in activities
Alogia
– refers to the relative absence of
speech
Anhedonia
– lack of pleasure, or
indifference to pleasurable activities
Affective flattening
– show little
expressed emotion, but may still feel
emotion
Psychomotor symptoms of schizophrenia
-Awkward movements,
repeated grimaces, odd
gestures
-The movements seem to
have a magical quality
- catatonia
catatonia
Includes stupor, rigidity,
posturing, and excitement
Type I schizophrenia is dominated by
positive
symptoms
Type II schizophrenia
negative
symptoms (absence of normal behaviours)
Schizophrenia risk factors for violence
◦ Being male
◦ Comorbid substance abuse
◦ Not taking medication
◦ Having engaged in criminal
behavior or a history of
psychopathic tendencies before
schizophrenia developed
Those with schizophrenia are
more likely to be
victims of
violence rather than
perpetrators
Cultural variations to treatment of schizophrenia
Treatment outcomes are better in poorer
countries
Factors Associated With a Better
Prognosis for Person With
Schizophrenia
-sudden onset of symptoms
-family history of mood disorders
-women (symptoms also respond better to medication)
diathesis-stress relationship
People with a biological predisposition will
develop schizophrenia only if certain kinds
of stressors or events are also present
Biological abnormalities in people with schizophrenia
-large number of dopamine receptors
-brain structure abnormalities: enlarged
ventricles, smaller temporal and frontal
lobes
Community care
Programs that allow mental health care providers to
visit patient in their homes at any time
◦ Also known as assertive community treatment
