Schizophrenia

Question 1

Define schizophrenia

Answer 1

A psychotic disorder marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions and behaviours

Question 2

What are positive symptoms ?

Answer 2

Enhance the typical experience of suffers and occur in addition to their normal experiences

Question 3

What are negative symptoms ?

Answer 3

Take way from the typical experiences of suffers, and so represents a loss of experience

Question 4

What are the two types of positive symptoms ?

Answer 4

Hallucinations = a distorted view of real stimuli. Auditory hallucinations may involve hearing the voices of deceased love ones. Thought to be caused by an excess of dopamine receptors in Broca’s area

Delusions = a set of beliefs with no real basis in reality at all. E.g. paranoid they are being stalked by spys

Question 5

What are the two types of negative symptoms ?

Answer 5

Speech poverty = occurs when there is an abnormally low level of the frequency and quality of speech

Avolition = reduction in interests and goals. Inability to cope with normal pressures and motivations that are associated with everyday living

Question 6

What are the two types of classification systems of schizophrenia ? How are they similar and different ?

Answer 6

• the diagnostic and statistical manual ( DSM-U)
• the international classification of disease (ICD-10)
• similar as both require persistence of symptoms for at least 1 month
• different as DSM-U is more specific in diagnostic criteria- at least 2 + of delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, canonic behaviour . ICD-10 more broad approach - schizophrenia is dominated by delusions and hallucinations

Question 7

What are the two different types of schizophrenia ?

Answer 7

Positive schizophrenia = having the symptoms of prominent delusions, hallucinations

Mixed schizophrenia = the prominent symptoms are either both negative and positive , or neither is prominent