Schizophrenia

Question 1

Schizophrenia

Answer 1

a severe mental illness where contact with reality and insight are impaired, an example of psychosis

└suffered by about 1% of the population

Question 2

classification of mental disorder

Answer 2

the process of organising symptoms into categories based on which symptoms cluster together in sufferers

Question 3

Schizophrenia

The American psychiatric association’s: diagnostic and statistical manual edition 5 (DSM-5)

Answer 3

needs at least one positive symptom

Question 4

Schizophrenia

The world health organisation’s: International classification of disease edition 10 (ICD-10)

Answer 4

└needs at least two negative symptoms

└recognised subtypes
└paranoid schizophrenia: delusions + hallucinations
└hebephrenic schizophrenia: negative symptoms
└catatonic schizophrenia: disturbance of movement

Question 5

Schizophrenia
recognised subtypes (ICD-10)

Answer 5

└paranoid schizophrenia: delusions + hallucinations
└hebephrenic schizophrenia: negative symptoms
└catatonic schizophrenia: disturbance of movement

Question 6

Schizophrenia
Positive symptoms
definition

Answer 6

└Atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal hallucinations

Question 7

Schizophrenia
Positive symptoms
examples

Answer 7

Hallucinations

Delusions

Question 8

Hallucinations

Answer 8

└sensory experiences of stimuli that have no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are

Question 9

Delusions

Answer 9

└irrational beliefs that have no basis in reality

Question 10

Schizophrenia
Negative symptoms
definition

Answer 10

Atypical experiences that represent the loss of a usual experience

Question 11

Schizophrenia
Negative symptoms
examples

Answer 11

Avolition

Speech poverty

Question 12

Avolition

Answer 12

└loss of motivation to carry out tasks, results in lowered activity levels (difficult to keep up with goal-orientated activity)
└Andreason (1982)
  └poor hygiene and grooming 
  └lack of persistence in work/education
  └lack of energy

Question 13

Speech poverty

Answer 13

└reduced frequency and quality of speech

Question 14

Schizophrenia
Limitations
summary

Answer 14

Poor reliability- Cheniaux et al (2009)
Poor validity - Cheniaux et al (2009)
Co-morbidity - Buckley et al (2009)
Symptom overlap
Gender bias in diagnosis- Longenecker et al (2010), Cotton et al (2009)
Cultural bias in diagnosis- Javier Escobar (2012)

Question 15

Schizophrenia
Limitations
Poor reliability

Answer 15

└reliability= consistency
└inter-rater reliability= extent to which 2 assessors agree on their assessments
└Elie Cheniaux et al (2009)
└2 psychiatrists diagnosed 100 patients with both DSM and ICD criteria
└1) DSM= 26, ICD= 44
└2) DSM= 13, ICD= 24
└poor inter-rater reliability is weakness of diagnosis

Question 16

Schizophrenia
Limitations
Poor validity

Answer 16

└validity= the extent to which we are measuring what we intend to measure
└criterion validity= do different assessment systems arrive at same diagnosis for same patient
└Elie Cheniaux et al (2009)
└over diagnosed in ICD or under diagnosed in DSM
└=low validity of diagnosis

Question 17

Schizophrenia
Limitations
Co-morbidity

Answer 17

└morbidity= medical condition/how common it is
└co-morbidity= the occurrence of two or more illnesses together
└where two conditions are frequently diagnosed together= low validity of classifying two disorders separately
└Peter Buckley et al (2009) schizophrenia +
└depression: 50%
└substance abuse: 47%
└PTSD: 29%
└OCD: 23%
└=weakness of classification and diagnosis

Question 18

Schizophrenia
Limitations
Symptom overlap

Answer 18

└when 2 or more conditions share symptoms
└e.g. schizophrenia + bipolar disorder= positive symptoms (delusions), negative symptoms (avolition)
└low validity of classifying the disorders separately
└=weakness of classification and diagnosis

Question 19

Schizophrenia
Limitations
Gender bias in diagnosis

Answer 19

└Julia Longenecker et al (2010)
└reviewed studies of the prevalence of schizophrenia
└since 1980s men diagnosed more than women
└could be more genetically vulnerable
└could be gender bias
└Cotton et al (2009)
└females are high functioning compared to men
└=might not be diagnosed
└under diagnosis in women= low validity of diagnosis

Question 20

Schizophrenia
Limitations
Cultural bias in diagnosis

Answer 20

└African people more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia
└not high rates in Africa so not genetic vulnerability= cultural bias
└positive symptoms like hearing voices accepted in some African cultures
└Javier Escobar (2012)
└white psychiatrists may over interpret symptoms and distrust honesty of black people during diagnosis
└=low validity of diagnosis