Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is Schizophrenia
A chronic mental disorder with periods of psychosis, disturbed behavior and thought, along with declining function
How long must the features of psychosis, disturbed behavior and thought, and decline n function last in order to be classified as Schizophrenia
More than 6 mos
Associated with what pathologic findings
Rise in Dopaminergic activity
Fall in dendritic branching
Dx of schizophrenia
2 or more of the following
Positive Symptoms
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Disorganized Speech
- Catatonic behavior
Negative Symptoms
- flat affect, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, lack of speech or thought
How do you define brief psychotic disorder
Transient psychosis that lasts less than a month, usually precipitated by stres
Schizophreniform disorder
1-6 months
Schizoaffective disorder
At least 2 weeks of stable mood with psychotic symptoms plus a major depressive, manic, or mixed episode
What are the 2 subtypes of schizoaffective diosrder
Depressive and bipolar
5 subtypes of schizo
- Paranoid (delusions)
- Disorganized (speech and behavior)
- Catatonic (automatisms)
- Undifferentiated (Elements of all types)
- Residual
What are hallucinations
Perceptions in the absence of external stimuli
Delusions are what
False beliefs about oneself or others that persist despite the facts ( Believing the CIA is following you around )
Types of hallucinations and their most common causes?
- Visual: More commonly a feature of medical illness ( drug illness) than psychiatric illness
- Auditory: More commonly a feature of psychiatric illness (schizophrenia) than medical illness
- Olfactory: Often occur as an aura of psychomotor epilepsy and in brain tumors….so, hearing think psychomotor epilepsy and brain tumors
- Gustatory: Rare
- Tactile: Seen in alcohol and cocaine use (cocaine crawlies) …feels like bugs crawling on the skin
- HypnaGOgic: occurs while GOing to sleep
- HypnoPOMPic: occurs while waking from sleep…pompous upon awaking
Schizophrenia is labeled as a psychotic disorder. What defines a psychotic disorder
A distorted perception of reality characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech and movement.
Delusional Disorder
Fixed, persistent, belief system lasting more than 1 month. Functioning otherwise not impaired…..a woman gneuinely believes she is in a close relationship with someone when she is not.
Catatonia
Severe psychomotor disturbance….very serious potentially
Delirium is what
Waxing and waning level of consciousness with acute onset.
- Rapid drop in attention span and arousal
- DELIRIUM IS USUALLY SECONDARY TO SOMETHING ELSE
What types of drugs should you check for in a delirious pt?
Anticholnergic drugs
Pts with schizophrenia have areduced life expectancy of about how long
a decade
The classic thought disorder of schizophrenia (positive symptom, disorganized thought) =
Derailment…Loss of meaning due to random connections/loose associations between ideas…key word here is random
Other types of abnormal thought forms seen in schizophrenia
- Tangential: responses to questions are only partially or remotely connected to the topic
- Circumstantial: Excessively detailed
Describe the three phases of schizophrenia
1) Prodrmal- gradual change in behavior that may appear as personality or mood change lasting weeks to months
2) Active- classic findings of dellusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and thought
3) Residual: continuing oddities of speech and thought. Prominent negative and cognitive symptoms
When does schizophrenia generally appear
early adulthood. rarely presents after 4th decade….a disease of young ppl
Treatment of the positive symptoms of schizo revolves around
blocking the DA receptors
