Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is schizophrenia?
It is a thought processing disorder that causes distortions in perceptions, experiences and relationships.
It interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, make decisions, organize/share information, or “stay in touch” with reality.
When does schizophrenia usually develop?
Ages 16 - 25
Cases after 40 are rare.
Women tend to have later onset than men.
What are the three kinds of symptoms for schizophrenia?
Positive, negative, cognitive
What is a positive symptom?
What does it describe?
It is a symptom of mental illness that DOES NOT HAPPEN to healthy people and DOES HAPPEN to people with mental illness.
What are examples of positive symptoms in schizophrenia?
Delusion
Hallucination
What is a delusion?
Provide an example of a delusion.
Delusion - A strongly held belief that is not, or cannot be, changed due to mental illness. It is a symptom of the illness that this belief continues to exist, and it is very real to the person experiencing it.
Ex. “My neighbor wants to frame me for a murder I didn’t commit. He is controlling me with his mind. The FBI is after me.”
What is a hallucination?
Provide an example of a hallucination.
A physical symptom of mental illness where a person believes that what they see, hear, sense or experience is actually real and present. The experience is not present to us. Hallucinations are real to the person experiencing them.
What is the definition of a negative symptom?
Symptom that HAPPENS with healthy people and STOP HAPPENING to people with mental illness.
It is not about something “lacking” or “missing” but more that emotions/feelings, thinking and other functions/abilities ARE AFFECTED due to the illness (in ways that healthy people are not affected).
What are examples of negative symptoms for schizophrenia?
Emotional symptoms - emotional flatness (face and voice) loss of pleasure/enjoyment, withdrawing, lack of energy
Thought/Speech Symptoms - problems with thinking, distorted speech (word salad)
Executive symptoms - unable to complete goals/tasks, unable to care for oneself
What is a cognitive symptom?
Describes affected abilities (disorganized) in cognition - thinking, memory, organizing, understanding, executive functioning
What are examples of cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia?
Memory - issues with memory recall, disorganized memories
Thinking/organizing - issues with mental clarity, disorganized thinking, struggling to understand or organize information, issues with sharing information clearly, speech or content may not make sense
Executive dysfunctioning - impaired ability to start or complete action or task, impaired ability to understand steps of task or create/follow through steps of task,
How long does it take to make an accurate diagnosis of schizophrenia?
6 months or 6 weeks. It can be diagnosed instantly (much quicker)
What is anosognosia as a symptom of schizophrenia?
It is when a person doesn’t recognize their illness BECAUSE of the illness. It is a symptom of the illness itself, not a conclusion of the person it affects.
Based on symptoms, why can schizophrenia be difficult to diagnose?
The symptoms of schizophrenia are present in other mental illnesses, such as bipolar, Alzheimer’s or substance abuse.
What causes schizophrenia?
What is unbalanced or abnormal in the brain?
There is no certain answer. There are different factors - genetic, hereditary, developmental, environmental.
Brain chemistry and brain structure is unbalanced/abnormal.
