Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is schizophrenia
Group of brain disorders characterised by distortion of thought, perception, behaviour and emotion
Give some signs of Schizophrenia
delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders, emotional disorders, motor and behavioural disorder
apathy, social withdrawal, cognitive impairment
what are the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia
1 of:
- thought interference
- passivity phenomena
- hallucinatory voices
- delusions
2 of: - formal thought disorder - negative symptoms - catatonic behaviour - social withdrawal / apathy FOR ONE MONTH
what are first rank symptoms?
auditory hallucinations
passivity
delusions
thought disorder
explain auditory hallucination
hearing own thoughts spoken aloud
voices talking about them in 3rd person
voices giving running commentary
voices telling them what to do
explain passivity phenomena
impulses, wishes, feelings being controlled by outside agency
explain delusions
unshakeable false belief usually concordant with mood
commonly paranoid delusions in schizophrenia like people hunting them down, or people conspiring against them
also commonly seen that patients believe they are being sent secret messages coded in TV or radio broadcasts
explain thought disorder
thought withdrawal: thoughts being taken from mind
though insertion: thoughts being inserted into mind
though broadcasting: others being aware of and understanding thoughts without thoughts being vocalised
What antipsychotic medications are used to treat schizophrenia
Risperidone
Olanzapine
Aripiprazole
Clozapine
Difference between positive and negative schizophrenia
positive: acute onset, prominent hallucinations and alterations in perception, good response to anti-psychotics and better outcome
negative: slow insidious onset with predominating features including social withdrawal, apathy, lack of motivation and poor response to antipsychotics
