Features and Symptoms of schizophrenia Flashcards
Features of Schizophrenia
- Schizophrenia is found in about 1% of the population (1/100).
- Its main feature is psychosis, which, unlike neurosis means mental health issues that separate the person from reality.
- Symptoms usually appear in early adulthood and it tends to be diagnosed in adolescence but can be diagnosed at any age up to around 35 years old.
- It affects men & women equally, but the symptoms usually appear earlier in men (teens) and later in women (20s or 30s).
Features - who’s affected within the population
- A quarter of people with schizophrenia suffer one episode but then recover.
- Another quarter do not recover and have the symptoms for the rest of their lives.
- Half of people with schizophrenia can, with treatment, go through periods without symptoms but the symptoms recur.
What are the positive (type 1) and negative (type 2) Symptoms of schizophrenia?
the symptoms are typically divided into positive and negative symptoms.
- Positive (type 1) adds to the experience of the patient which include delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thinking and/or speech and abnormal motor behaviour.
- Negative (type 2) subtracts from normal behaviour. the behaviours persist longer and result in a huge burden of care compared to positive symptoms. this might include a lack of energy and enthusiasm, poverty of speech, poor motivation and social withdrawal.
What is the difference between positive and negative symptoms?
POSITIVE SYMPTOMS – schizophrenia ADDS to your experience of the world.
NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS – schizophrenia TAKES AWAY from your experience of the world.
What are the positive symptoms?
Delusions, hallucinations, disordered thinking and catatonia.
Explain delusions
Bizarre beliefs held by an individual that despite not being true cannot be changed by others even when there is clear evidence that challenges the belief. e.g delusions of persecution where they believe they are being plotted against.
Explain hallucinations
Unreal perception of the environment - auditory hallucinations are the most common but individuals can have hallucinations through all 5 senses. this could be visual, olfactory, gustatory or tactile. e.g auditory hallucinations may involve a person hearing voices telling them what to do.
Explain disordered thinking/speech
Finding it hard to think in an ordered and logical way to make thoughts/speech make sense. Ideas are loosely connected and depending on how severe they can be completely unconnected. Disordered thinking means an individual will randomly skip from topic to topic during conversation and answer questions with bizarre statements that do not fit.
Explain catatonia
It is described as a significant decrease in the individuals responsiveness to the environment. they may sit completely still in odd postures, or refuse to speak to others or even show continued repetitive movements like foot-tapping or hair-twirling that has no real meaning.
What are the negative symptoms?
Affective flattening, avolition, social withdrawal and alogia.
Explain affective flattening
Diminished emotional expression is characterised by the patient showing less and less emotion in their general use of non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions, eye contact and physical gestures.
Explain avolition
It is a behavioural state characterised by a general lack of motivation to complete self-motivated activities such as work. e.g sitting for hours everyday, doing nothing - the inability to feel pleasure (anhedonia)
Explain social withdrawal
It is when you distance yourself from other by ignoring or not responding to them. A reluctance to engage in social interactions. difficulty in making or keeping friends, quitting jobs.
Explain alogia
It is poverty in speech and a considerable reduction in cognitive activity leading to limited amount of speech fluency and productivity. e.g may only answer questions with “yes”,”no” or “don’t know”.
