Introduction to schizophrenia

Question 1

Schizophrenia

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Positive symptoms

Answer 2

Atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experiences - they include hallucinations and delusions

Question 3

Hallucinations

Answer 3

Sensory experiences that have either no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are there

Question 4

Delusions

Answer 4

Beliefs that have no basis in reality e.g a person believes they are Jesus

Question 5

Negative symptoms

Answer 5

Atypical experiences that represent the loss of a usual experience e.g a loss of motivation

Question 6

Speech poverty

Answer 6

Reduced frequency and quality of speech

Question 7

Avolition

Answer 7

A loss of motivation to carry out tasks and results in lowered activity levels

Question 8

Diagnosis + Classification - evaluation - limitation 1

Answer 8

• Co-morbidity
• The occurrence of 2 disorders together
• If conditions occur together a lot it call into question the validity of their diagnosis and classification as they might actually be one condition
• Schizophrenia is often diagnosed with other conditions - e.g 50% people diagnosed with schizophrenia are also diagnosed with depression
• Means schizophrenia may not exist as a distinct condition

Question 9

Diagnosis + Classification - evaluation - limitation 2

Answer 9

• Gender bias
• Men are more commonly diagnosed than women
• Seems likely to be because women have closer relationships and hence get support - leads to women with schizophrenia often functioning better than men
• Underdiagnosis means women may not be receiving treatment and services that might benefit them

Question 10

Diagnosis + Classification - evaluation - limitation 3

Answer 10

• Culture bias
• Symptoms like hearing voices have different meanings in different cultures - e.g in some countries they believe hearing voices are communications from ancestors
• British people of African-Caribbean origin are up to 9x as likely to receive a diagnosis as white British people - however people living in African-Caribbean countries are less likely to receive a diagnosis
• Reason most likely for culture bias ia psychiatrists coming from a different cultural background
• Means certain cultures are discriminated

Question 11

Diagnosis + Classification - evaluation - limitation 4

Answer 11

• Symptom overlap
• Both schizophrenia and bipolar involve positive and negative symptoms - this suggests they may not be separate conditions but variations of one condition
• In terms of diagnosis this means that schizophrenia is hard to distinguish from bipolar