Classification and Diagnosis of Schizophrenia

Question 1

Define, with examples, positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Answer 1

Positive symptoms are in addition to normal functioning. For example, hallucinations and delusions.

Question 2

Define, with examples, the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Answer 2

Negative symptoms detract from normal functioning. For example, speech poverty and avolition.

Question 3

Give the four types of hallucinations.

Answer 3

1) . Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices)
2) . Visual hallucinations (seeing things)
3) . Olfactory hallucinations (perceiving a certain small)
4) . Tactile hallucinations (feeling something touch the skin)

Question 4

Name the two types of delusions with examples.

Answer 4

1) . Delusions of control - e.g. the individual is controlled by the government.
2) . Delusions of reference - events in the environment directly relate to the sufferer - e.g. special messages are broadcast, to that person, through the television.

Question 5

Describe the issue of culture bias affecting the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Answer 5

• Those of Afro-Caribbean heritage are 7 times more likely to be diagnosed with SZ.
• The DSM was created in predominantly western nations - low cultural validity of this method.
• Luhrman et al. - a researcher of the patient’s own culture is more likely to rate hallucinations as normal compared with American researchers - low inter-rater reliability.

Question 6

Outline the issue of symptom overlap in the classification and diagnosis of SZ.

Answer 6

Symptom Overlap:
- As SZ and bipolar disorder share many symptoms, the inter-rater reliability may be influenced.

• Ellason and Ross - patients with dissociative identity disorder (DID) reported more positive symptoms than schizophrenics usually report - these symptoms are more commonly associated with SZ rather than DID - low inter-rater reliability as diagnosis is subjective.
• May receive the incorrect medication - ineffective - greater cost to society.

Question 7

Outline the issue of gender bias in the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Answer 7

Gender Bias:
- Males are statistically more likely to be diagnosed with SZ than females.

• Loring and Powell - 56% of males were diagnosed compared to 20% of females when displaying the same symptoms.
• Kulkarni et al. - however, the female hormone oestradiol is effective in treating SZ when used as an antipsychotic - the female body may be innately better at coping with SZ.

Question 8

Outline the issue of co-morbidity in the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Answer 8

Co-morbidity:
- Two, or more, conditions exist simultaneously - may be difficult to separately diagnose and treat.

• Buckley et al. - 50% of SZs had co-morbid depression, 47% substance abuse and 23% OCD - hard to distinguish whether these are symptoms of a sub-type of SZ, or a completely different condition.
• Many will be excluded from research - limiting the ability to highlight, and correct, erroneous diagnosis.