Schizophrenia 1 | Diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia Flashcards
AO1 What is schizophrenia classified as
A severe mental disorder characterised by disturbances in thinking emotion and behaviour
AO1 What are positive symptoms of schizophrenia
Additional behaviours not usually present such as hallucinations and delusions
AO1 What are hallucinations in schizophrenia
False sensory experiences such as hearing voices that are not present in the environment
AO1 What are delusions in schizophrenia
Irrational beliefs such as believing you are being persecuted or having grandiose ideas about your identity
AO1 What are negative symptoms of schizophrenia
A loss of normal functions such as speech poverty and avolition
AO1 What is speech poverty in schizophrenia
A reduction in the amount or quality of speech often resulting in short or empty replies
AO1 What is avolition in schizophrenia
A lack of motivation or interest in goal directed behaviour making it hard for the individual to complete everyday tasks
AO1 What are behavioural symptoms of schizophrenia
Disorganised behaviour such as aimless wandering agitation or difficulty starting or completing tasks
AO1 What are social symptoms of schizophrenia
Withdrawal from relationships reduced social functioning and difficulty maintaining communication with others
AO1 What does reliability mean in the diagnosis of schizophrenia
The consistency of diagnosis across time and clinicians
AO1 What does validity mean in the diagnosis of schizophrenia
Whether schizophrenia is a distinct disorder that is being accurately identified
AO1 What is co morbidity in relation to schizophrenia
The occurrence of schizophrenia alongside other disorders such as depression which may challenge diagnosis validity
AO1 What is symptom overlap in schizophrenia diagnosis
When symptoms of schizophrenia are also found in other disorders such as bipolar disorder making diagnosis difficult
AO1 What is culture bias in schizophrenia diagnosis
When clinicians misinterpret behaviours based on their own cultural norms possibly leading to misdiagnosis in people from other backgrounds
AO1 What is gender bias in schizophrenia diagnosis
When diagnosis is influenced by the gender of the patient such as underdiagnosis in females due to differences in symptom presentation
AO3 What did Cheniaux et al find about the reliability of schizophrenia diagnosis
They found low inter rater reliability with large differences in diagnosis rates between psychiatrists using ICD and DSM showing diagnosis is inconsistent
AO3 How does symptom overlap affect the validity of schizophrenia diagnosis
It reduces validity as symptoms like delusions and avolition are also found in bipolar disorder making it unclear which disorder is present
AO3 How does co morbidity challenge the validity of schizophrenia diagnosis
High co morbidity rates such as 50 percent of patients also diagnosed with depression suggest schizophrenia may not be a separate disorder lowering validity
AO3 How does culture bias affect schizophrenia diagnosis
Afro Caribbean individuals in the UK are more likely to be diagnosed possibly due to clinician bias and misinterpretation of culturally normal behaviour
AO3 How does gender bias affect schizophrenia diagnosis
Women may be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because their symptoms are less disruptive or more likely to be attributed to other conditions like depression
AO1 What classification system is commonly used to diagnose schizophrenia in the US
The DSM which stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
AO1 What classification system is commonly used to diagnose schizophrenia in Europe
The ICD which stands for International Classification of Diseases
AO1 How is schizophrenia diagnosed according to the DSM
A diagnosis is made if two or more symptoms are present for at least one month and include at least one positive symptom such as hallucinations delusions or disorganised speech
AO3 What did Harrison et al 1984 find that suggests problems with reliability of schizophrenia diagnosis
They found that diagnosis rates of schizophrenia increased in the UK during the 20th century suggesting changes in diagnostic criteria or clinician attitudes not changes in actual prevalence
AO3 What did Copeland et al 1971 find in relation to cultural bias in diagnosing schizophrenia
He gave a description of a patient to US and UK psychiatrists and found that 69 percent of US psychiatrists diagnosed schizophrenia compared to only 2 percent of UK psychiatrists showing cultural differences in diagnosis
AO3 What did Loring and Powell 1988 find in relation to gender bias in schizophrenia diagnosis
They found that psychiatrists were more likely to diagnose schizophrenia in male patients even when the same symptoms were presented by females showing gender bias in diagnosis
AO3 What did Rosenhan 1973 demonstrate about the validity of psychiatric diagnoses
He sent pseudo patients to hospitals claiming to hear voices and found they were all admitted and diagnosed with schizophrenia showing that psychiatrists could not reliably distinguish between sane and insane
