Diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia

Question 1

What is the definition of schizophrenia?

Answer 1

A severe mental disorder where contact with reality and insight are impaired, an example of psychosis.

Question 2

What is the definition of a positive symptom and name 2 examples?

Answer 2

An atypical symptom experienced in addition to normal experiences.
Examples: Hallucinations and delusions.

Question 3

What is the definition of a negative symptom and name 2 examples?

Answer 3

Atypical experiences that represent a loss of a usual experience.
Examples: Speech poverty and avolition.

Question 4

What are the 2 manuals that can diagnose SZ and what are their criteria for a diagnosis?

Answer 4

• DSM-5: need one positive symptom for diagnosis.
• ICD-10: need two or more negative symptoms for diagnosis.

Question 5

Are males or females more commonly diagnosed?

Answer 5

Males

Question 6

A strength of the diagnosis is that it has good reliability. - Explain.

Answer 6

• Psychiatrists often reach the same diagnosis for the same patient (inter-rater) and the same diagnosis for the same individual on 2 occasions (test-retest).
• Osorio et al: High reliability for individuals diagnosed using the DSM-5. I-R reliability of 0.97 and T-RT of 0.92.

Question 7

A limitation of the diagnosis is that it has low validity. - Explain.

Answer 7

• The use of 2 seperate manuals, which have different criteria for diagnosis.
• This means that some people could be diagnosed wrongly, or not diagnosed.

Question 8

A limitation of the diagnosis is its co-morbidity with other conditions. - Explain.

Answer 8

• Many MH conditions occur together, meaning that symptoms overlap.
• May be that SZ doesn’t exist as a distinct condition.

Question 9

A limitation of the diagnosis is that there is often gender bias shown. - Explain.

Answer 9

• More men have been diagnosed than women.
• This could be because men are more vulnerable - perhaps because of genetic factors.

Question 10

A limitation of the SZ diagnosis is that there is culture bias. - Explain.

Answer 10

• Some symptoms, such as hearing voices, may mean different meanings in different cultures.
• This can lead to an overinterpretation of symptoms in black British people.

Question 11

A limitation of the SZ diagnosis is the symptom overlap with other conditions. - Explain.

Answer 11

• Some MH conditions share symptoms of SZ such as bipolar which also have positive and negative symptoms.
• Means that both classification and diagnosis are flawed.