Schizophrenia

Question 2

What is Schizophrenia?

Answer 2

-Psychotic disorder characterised by the loss of contact with reality.
-Shown as; lunacy, madness, insanity.
-Until 1908, known as dementia praecox.
-Symptoms: characteristics of disorder (emotional/behavioural/cognitive).
-Feature: the facts about schizophrenia (stats/who suffers).
-Occurs in 1% of the population.
-25% will recover fully, 25% improve with treatment, 25% relapse & 25% do not improve at all.

Question 3

How is it classified?

Answer 3

Positive symptoms: Type 1, Distortion of normal function - being added - (delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, grossly disorganised behaviour).
Negative symptoms: Type 2, Lack of normal function - taken away - (Alogia, affective flattening, avolition, anhedonia).

Question 4

Discussion of the symptoms

Answer 4

Positive:
-can be affected by cultural differences.
-tend to have greater weight when diagnosing.
-hard to measure objectively.

Negative:
-start before positive.
-less affected by cultural factors.
-more objectively measured.

Question 5

Positive symptoms: Hallucinations

Answer 5

-Bizarre sensory experiences & perceptions of the environment.
-Can be; visual, auditory, olfactory (smells), tactile (feelings).
-ie. Hearing voices criticising them.

Question 6

Positive symptoms: Delusions

Answer 6

-Irrational beliefs that seem real to the person but are not.
-Paranoia (belief of being followed/spied on etc).
-Delusions of grandeur - inflated beliefs of a person’s power & importance.
-Delusions of reference - messages directed to them.
-ie. Someone may think their phone is tapped into or they have superpowers etc.

Question 7

Positive symptoms: Disorganised speech

Answer 7

-Result of abnormal thought processes where the individual has problems organising thoughts which shows up in speech.
-Derailment - slip from one topic into another.
-Word salad - speech is incoherent & sounds like gibberish.
-ie. Replying in gibberish or jumbled words when asked a question.

Question 8

Positive symptoms: Grossly disorganised behaviour

Answer 8

-Inability or motivation to initiate a task or complete it once it’s started leading to difficulties in daily life.
-Catatonic behaviours - reduced reaction to immediate environment, rigid postures or aimless motor activity.
-Bad hygiene & decreased interest in appearance.

Question 9

Negative symptoms: Speech poverty (alogia)

Answer 9

-Lessening of speech fluency, productivity, reflecting slow/blocked thoughts.
-Producing fewer words in a given time on a task of verbal fluency.
-Less complex