Schizophrenia Flashcards
Schizophrenia and other Psychotic Disorders
Given the insidious onset of schizophrenia and the length of time it takes to effectively treat the disorder, it is helpful to be aware of the phases of illness and recognize that treatment occurs across the continuum of care - health promotion and illness prevention, acute care, community care, and tertiary care, in the context of a multidisciplinary team
Positive Symptoms
reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions, including delusions and hallucinations
Delusions
Hallucinations
Delusions
Negative Symptoms
reflect a lessening or loss of normal functions, such as restriction or flattening in the range and intensity of emotion, reduced fluency and productivity of thought and speech, withdrawal and inability to initiate and persist in goal-directed activity, and inability to experience pleasure
- Affective disturbances
- Alogia
- Ambivalence
- Anhedonia
- Avolition
- Apathy
- Social withdrawal
Affective flattening or blunting
Restriction or flattening in the range and intensity of emotions
Alogia
reduced fluency and productivity of thought and speech. Brief. empty verbal responses; often referred to as poverty of speech.
Anhedonia
inability to experience pleasure or gain pleasure from experiences.
Ambivalence
presences of two opposing forces, leading to inaction. mixed feelings.
Avolition
- inability to complete projects, assignments, or work
- inability to initiate and persist in goal-directed activity
Apathy
Reactions to stimuli that are decreased, along wth a diminished interest and desire
Hallucinations
- perceptual experiences that occur without actual external sensory stimuli
- Can involve any of the five senses (auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and somatic, but visual and auditory are more common. auditory hallucinations are more common than visual
Delusions
fixed false beliefs that usually involve a misinterpretation of experience. ex. patients believe someone is reading their thoughts or plotting against them.
Gradiose Delusions
the belief that one has exceptional powers, wealth, skill, influence, or destiny
Nihilistic Delusions
the belief that one is dead or a calamity is impending
Persecutory Delusions
the belief that one is being watched, ridiculed, harmed or plotted against