diagnosis and classification Flashcards
what is schizophrenia
directly translates to split mind but is not the same as split personality
how is schizophrenia diagnosed
by identifying a cluster of symptoms using DSM-5 and ICD-11 where symptoms persist for over a month
what are the types of symptoms experienced
positive symptoms and negative symptoms
what are positive symptoms
additional experiences beyond those of ordinary existence
examples of positive symptoms
hallucinations, delusions, psychomotor disturbances and catatonia
what are hallucinations
unusual sensory experiences such as hearing voices or seeing people that arent there
what are delusions
irrational beliefs that are resistant to confrontation with the truth
what are the three types of delusion
delusions of persecution, grandeur and control
what are delusions of persecution
the belief that others want to harm, threaten or manipulate you
what are delusions of grandeur
the idea that youre an important individual, even god-like and have extraordinary powers
what are delusions of control
individuals may believe that they are under control of an alien force that has invaded their mind and or body
what are examples of negative symptoms
avolition and speech poverty
define negative symptoms
a loss of usual abilities
avolition
finding it difficult to keep up with goal directed activity and reduced motivation to carry out a range of activities such as poor hygiene
speech poverty
reduction in the amount and quality of speech such as a delay in the sufferers verbal responses during conversations
psychomotor disturbances
rocking backwards and forwards, twitches and repetitive behaviour
catatonia
staying in position for hours/days on end, cut off from the rest of the world
reliability
good consistency between the individuals who are using the system to rate patients
validity
that a diagnostic system assesses what it claims to be assessing
co morbidity
occurrence of two illnesses together which confuses diagnosis and treatment
symptom overlap
when two or more conditions share symptoms questioning the validity of the classification
a limitation of the DSM/ICD is rosenhans study
rosenhan had 8 confederates act as pseudopatients at 12 different hospitals complaining of hearing voices saying ‘thud’ and hollow’. 11/12 received a schizophrenia diagnosis and 1 received a manic depression diagnosis, they stopped pretending symptoms once at the ward and on average stayed for 13 days, staff never detected their sanity. this is a limitation as it demonstrates a lack of validity in using ICD and DSM to diagnose schizophrenia as 100% of pseudopatients were given an incorrect diagnosis, limiting the validity of the psychiatric diagnostic methods in accurately diagnosing schizophrenia
a limitation of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is that it has low reliability
there is evidence to suggest inter rater reliability in schizophrenia diagnosis is poor
chenauix- asked 2 psychiatrists to independently diagnose 100 patients using both ICD and DSM
interrater reliability was poor, one psychiatrist diagnosed 23 with schizophrenia using DSM and 44 using ICD, the other psychiatrist diagnosed 13 according to DSM and 24 according to ICD
this is a limitation as the inconsistency between mental health professionals indicates poor reliability in the diagnosis of schizophrenia as different professionals arent arriving at the same diagnosis for each patient
a limitation of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is a lack of validity
criterion validity is a way of assessing if differing assessment systems arrive at the same diagnosis which is found to be poor in schizophrenia.
for example cheniauxs study also demonstrates that schizophrenia is more likely to be diagnosed when using the ICD than the DSM.
this suggests that schizophrenia is either overdiagnosed in ICD or underdiagnosed in DSM. which indicates poor validity and weakness of diagnosis
