Schizophrenia Flashcards
Additional psychotic behaviors not commonly observed in adults, often causes them to lose touch with reality.
Positive Symptoms
Trouble logically connecting thoughts, leading to a garbled way of speaking.
Disorganized thinking
Brain’s natural filtering mechanism is impaired, results in an abundance of sensory info that cant be correctly processed.
Sensory Overload
Individual stops speaking in mid-sentence as if the thought disappeared from their head.
Thought Blocking
Person uses meaningless words that only have meaning to them.
Neologisms
Person rapidly switches from one topic to to another, with no apparent connection between them.
Loose association
Person repeatedly uses rhyming words without apparent meaning.
Clang
Person uses the same words or phrases over and over.
Perseveration
The most common psychotic disorder. Manifestations include psychosis, disorganized thinking, disruptive behavior, etc.
Schizophrenia
Abnormal mental state characterized by a number of features, including delusions, hallucinations, and illusions
Psychosis
False beliefs without basis in reality
Delusions
Sensory experiences of things that are not present
Hallucinations
Distorted perceptions of actual sights, sounds, and other stimuli.
Illusions
Belief that people are “out to get them,” either by following them or intending them harm.
Paranoia
Communication patterns that are distracting and confusing to listeners who are trying to share a common focus or meaning with a speaker.
Ex: parent responds to kid with off-topic answers that are confusing to a kid.
Communication deviance
Contradictory family interactions.
Ex: parent abuses kid and yet reassures kid that they are loved.
Double-bind theory
Inability to start or finish goal-oriented activities that interferes with a persons ability to lead a normal life.
Disorganized behavior
How may disorganized behavior manifest?
4
- bizarre actions
- impulse control problems
- overreactive affect
- inappropriate affect
Persons reaction is suitable but out of proportion to the circumstance.
Overreactive affect
Persons emotional response is incongruent with the situation.
Inappropriate affect
Additional body movements: may appear agitated, repetitious, purposeless.
Movement disorders
Unresponsiveness to the environment or others. May adopt bizarre postures and/or resist repositioning.
Catatonia (a movement disorder)
Absence of normal behavior and emotions.
Correlated w/ CNS white matter abnormalities & changes in dopamine function.
Negative symptoms
Impoverished thinking, resulting in nominal speech pattern, even during forced interaction.
Alogia
Due to lack of motivation, the person is progressively unable to function in daily life, at home, work or socially.
Avolition
Unable to feel pleasure and loses interest in life. May result in decreased socialization & withdrawal.
Anhedonia
Forgets to bathe or change and wash clothing.
Neglect of personal hygiene
incorrect recall of facts and events with a certainty that this recalled information is correct. Leads to impaired decision making.
Memory impairment
Focus primarily on facts & details, coupled with inability to think abstractly.
Concrete thinking
Impairments to persons cognitive skills lead to faulty reasoning, affects everyday functioning & social relationships.
Poor problem solving
High distractibility & reduced concentration r/t obstructed info processing & response mechanisms.
Lack of focus.
Ex:
“My neighbor is manipulating all of my thoughts and actions through use of a special remote control.”
Delusions of control
“Every woman on the planet want to go out with me. I’m so busy turning them down that I barely have time for all my dates with Angelina Jolie.”
Erotomanic delusions
“I am Abraham Lincoln. The country needs me at this critical time of division, and they will be calling on me any day now.”
Delusions of grandeur
“The letter carrier is really a covert government agent. he’s watching me through my vents and monitoring my communications. he’ll do whatever he can to get to me.”
Delusions of persecution
“That billboard is giving me orders for a secret mission. It’s telling me to watch the employees in the grocery store for antigovernment activity, then report back with my observations.”
Delusions of reference
“An angel contacted me through the crucifix in my bedroom. he told me I’m a new prophet and must spread God’s word in the streets to save people from eternal damnation.”
Religious delusions
“Everything I do is wrong, and everyone despises me because of it. My family hates me, my friends hate me, and even Gad hates me.”
Delusions of sin and guilt
“Green worms are slowly eating my body from the inside out. Pretty soon, all of my organs are going to stop working.”
Somatic delusions
“I know that you know what I’m thinking right now. You can hear all my thoughts. In fact, everyone can.”
Delusions involving thought broadcasting.
“My thoughts are not my own. The CIA is inserting thoughts and ideas into my head.”
Delusions involving thought insertion
“I can’t remember what I was going to tell you. Someone keeps stealing the thoughts from my head before I share them with you.”
Delusions involving thought withdrawal
Person shows minimal facial expression and movement, sometimes speaking in a monotone voice.
Flat affect.
Disorder that experiences hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought, and disorganized behavior.
- Has at least ONE manic episode
- OR ONE period of major depression
- psychotic symptoms persist 2+ weeks
Schizoaffective Disorder
Brief episode of typically positive psychotic behavior; such as: hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders, & disorganized behavior.
-Lasts between 1 day & 1 month.
Brief psychotic disorder
Presents similarly to schizophrenia - symptoms last 1 to 6 months. May not have as much difficulty function in daily life.
Schizophreniform Disorder
