schizophrenia Flashcards
schizophrenia
A severe mental disorder involving a loss of contact with reality, affecting thoughts, perceptions, and behaviour
Positive Symptoms
Hallucinations: False sensory experiences (e.g. hearing voices).
Delusions: Strong false beliefs (e.g. paranoia, grandeur).
Disorganised speech: Incoherent or illogical conversation
Negative Symptoms
Avolition: Lack of motivation to begin or continue tasks.
Alogia: Poverty of speech or reduced verbal fluency.
Flat affect: Lack of emotional expression
ICD-10 vs DSM-5
ICD-10: Requires 2+ negative symptoms, includes subtypes (paranoid, catatonic).
DSM-5: Requires at least 1 positive symptom, no subtypes
Reliability in Diagnosis
Inter-rater reliability: Agreement between clinicians.
Cheniaux et al.: ICD diagnosed 68/100 patients, DSM only 39/100 — poor reliability
Validity in Diagnosis
Symptom overlap: Schizophrenia shares symptoms with bipolar and depression.
Comorbidity: Patients often have additional disorders, complicating diagnosis
Strengths (Classification)
Clear symptom categories → Positive and negative symptoms help guide appropriate treatment (e.g. antipsychotics for hallucinations).
Standardised diagnostic manuals (DSM-5, ICD-10) improve clinical communication and consistency
Limitations (Classification)
Comorbidity issues → Many schizophrenic patients also have depression or substance abuse, making diagnosis and treatment less clear.
Cultural bias → Afro-Caribbean individuals are more likely to be diagnosed in the UK due to misinterpretation of cultural beliefs
Strengths of Reliability (Schizophrenia)
Standardised diagnostic criteria → DSM-5 and ICD-10 provide clear guidelines, making diagnosis more consistent.
Example: Both ICD-10 and DSM-5 provide criteria for diagnosing schizophrenia, improving inter-rater reliability between clinicians.
Research shows moderate agreement → Studies such as Cheniaux et al. (2009) found moderate concordance between diagnoses using ICD-10 and DSM-5.
This suggests that, despite some issues, the systems used in diagnosis are relatively reliable
Limitations of Reliability (Schizophrenia)
Symptom overlap with other disorders → Schizophrenia shares symptoms with other disorders (e.g. bipolar disorder, depression), complicating diagnosis.
Cultural bias → African-Caribbean individuals are more likely to be diagnosed in the UK due to misinterpretation of culturally influenced behaviours (e.g. religious or spiritual experiences)
Strengths of Validity (Schizophrenia)
Objective diagnostic criteria → The use of diagnostic manuals (DSM-5, ICD-10) improves the validity of schizophrenia diagnosis by providing clear, structured guidelines for clinicians.
Example: Criteria like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganised speech directly help distinguish schizophrenia from other mental illnesses.
Validity improved by biological evidence → Brain scans and genetic findings (e.g. Gottesman’s twin studies) support the authenticity of schizophrenia diagnosis
Limitations of Validity (Schizophrenia)
Cultural bias → Different cultural norms can influence how symptoms are perceived, affecting the validity of diagnosis.
Example: What is considered a delusion in one culture may be seen as a religious belief in another.
Symptom overlap with other disorders → Symptoms of schizophrenia overlap with those of bipolar disorder and depression, reducing diagnostic specificity.
Example: A person with bipolar disorder may experience hallucinations during manic episodes, complicating the differentiation from schizophrenia
