Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is schizophrenia categorised by?
Major disturbances in thought, emotion and behaviour.
Who does schizophrenia affect?
The incidence of schizophrenia is the same across the world. 1:100 or 1%.
It appears to strike men and women equally.
The average age of onset is 15-30.
Schizophrenia appears to strike men and women equally. What does this suggest about it’s cause?
This suggests the cause of schizophrenia is not due to sex chromosomes or upbringing (dependent on gender)
What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?
There are no essential common symptoms. One schizophrenic patient differs from another far more than any one depressed patient differs from another depressed person.
The symptoms are divided into two groups. What are those groups?
Positive symptoms (Type I) and negative symptoms (Type II)
How are the positive symptoms classified? (What are positive symptoms?)
“Symptoms that non-schizophrenic people don’t have, but schizophrenic people do”.
Excesses which are rare in normal everyday experiences.
Associated with abnormalities in the lambic system.
Initially the most dramatic and disturbing symptoms, but generally respond well to drug treatment.
What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
Hallucinations
Delusions
Disorganised speech and/or thoughts
Disorganised behaviour
What are hallucinations?
Sensing something that isn’t there or doesn’t exist.
What are auditory hallucinations?
(The most common form or hallucinations in schizophrenics)
Hearing voices which are not there
What are visual hallucinations?
(Second most common)
Seeing things which are not there
Name some less common hallucinations
Taste (gustatory)
Smell (olfactory)
Touch (tactile)
Lilliputian (size)
What is a delusion?
A false belief, which is experienced without any evidence to support it. Usually a belief in something absurd or untrue which cannot be overcome by reason.
What is a delusion of persecution?
A false belief that others are plotting against or trying to harm them (paranoid)
What are delusions of grandeur?
A false belief that one has a power (e.g. flight) or is a famous person (e.g. Jesus Christ)
What is disorganised speech and/or thoughts?
Problems with the organisation of ideas and speaking - this is linked to ‘thought disturbances’ where the person may appear incoherent
What is disorganised behaviour?
Unpredictable behaviour e.g. problems organising daily routine, wild excited behaviour (catatonic excitement) or immobility (catatonic stupor)
How are negative symptoms of schizophrenia classified?
“Something non-schizophrenics have, but schizophrenics don’t”
Behavioural defects which are less dramatic and can be experienced in every day life.
Associated with abnormalities in the frontal lobes/enlarged ventricles.
Can cause serious long term consequences for the schizophrenic sufferer
More difficult to treat as less responsive to drug treatment