Introduction to Schizophrenia

Question 1

Schizophrenia

Answer 1

Severe mental disorder where contact with reality and insight are impaired, an example of psychosis

Question 2

Stafford and Clarke research

Answer 2

Schizophrenia is a generic name for a group of disorders, characterised by a progressive disintegration of emotional stability, judgement, contact with and appreciation of reality, which produces considerable secondary impairment of the personality, relationships and intellectual functioning’.’

Question 3

Classification systems for diagnosis

Answer 3

• SZ doesn’t have a single defining characteristic
• 2 major systems for the classification for mental disorders

Question 4

What are the two major systems for the classification of mental disorders

Answer 4

• DSM-5
• ICD-10

Question 5

DSM-5

Answer 5

DSM patients must have a 1 ‘positive’ symptom
Used in USA and UK

Question 6

ICD-10

Answer 6

Under the ICD 2 or more ‘negative’ symptoms are sufficient for diagnosis
Used by WHO

Question 7

Positive symptoms

Answer 7

Atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experiences

Question 8

Examples of positive symptoms

Answer 8

• Hallucinations
• Delusions

Question 9

Hallucinations

Answer 9

A positive symptoms of schizophrenia they are sensory experiences that have even no basis in reality or a distorted perceptions of things that are there

Question 10

Delusions

Answer 10

A positive symptoms of schizophrenia they involve beliefs that have no basis in reality

Question 11

Negative symptoms

Answer 11

Atypical experiences that represent at the loss of a usual experience

Question 12

Examples of negative symptoms

Answer 12

• Speech poverty
• Avolition

Question 13

Speech poverty

Answer 13

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia it involves reduced frequency and quality of speech

Question 14

Avolition

Answer 14

Negative symptoms schizophrenia involves loss of motivation to carry out task and result in lower activity levels

Question 15

What are the three Subtypes of schizophrenia

Answer 15

• Paranoid SZ
• Hebephrenic SZ
• Catatonic SZ

Question 16

Paranoid SZ

Answer 16

Powerful delusions and hallucinations.

Question 17

Hebephrenic SZ

Answer 17

Involves negative symptoms.

Question 18

Catatonic SZ

Answer 18

Disturbances in movement, leaving the sufferer immobile or alternatively over active.

Question 19

Prevalence

Answer 19

• Overall just less than 1% of world suffer from SZ
• However prevalence rates vary from 0.33% to 15%, therefore any valid explanation must be able to explain these facts.
• Most commonly occurs between 15 and 45 years old

Question 20

Who develops schizophrenia

Answer 20

• There are higher prevalence rates amongst males than females.
• Males tend to show onset at an earlier age than females.
• More commonly diagnosed in cities than in the countryside
• More diagnosed in working class rather than middle class.

Question 21

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- Good reliability

Answer 21

STRENGTH

DSM-5 reliability has improved- inter rater reliability = + .97 and test-retest reliability = + .92
(Osorio)

Question 22

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- Low validity

Answer 22

LIMITATION

100 clients assessed, 68 diagnosed with SZ using ICD-10 and 39 with DSM-5, low criterion validity

Question 23

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- Low validity counterpoint

Answer 23

STRENGTH

Alternative diagnostic procedures within DSM-5 show good agreement (Osorio)

Question 24

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- Comorbidity

Answer 24

LIMITATION

Around half of clients also have another diagnosis, e.g. depression, substance abuse (Buckley)

Question 25

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- Gender bias in diagnosis

Answer 25

LIMITATION Since 1980s more men than women have received a diagnosis of SZ, suggests there is bias in diagnosis, with women being under diagnosed due to better interpersonal functioning

Question 26

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- Culture bias in diagnosis

Answer 26

LIMITATION African-Caribbean British 9 times more likely to be diagnosed than white British, maybe because norms in African-Caribbean communities misinterpreted by white clinicians

Question 27

Issues with diagnosis and classification evaluation points- System overlap

Answer 27

LIMITATION Symptoms of SZ and e.g bipolar disorder overlap, both conditions involve delusions and avolition. Makes diagnosis and classification difficult.