Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders Flashcards
What is schizophrenia?
A disorder characterised in the acute stage by hallucinations and delusions relating to disruption of ego-boundary and in the chronic stage by deficits of affect, motivation and thinking
What is psychosis characterised by?
- Thought-form disorder
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
What is characteristic of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia?
- Usually bizarre thoughts and experiences
- Often related to a breakdown in the boundary between a patient’s internal personal experience and external reality (ego-boundary)
What are Schneider’s First Rank symptoms?
- Auditory hallucinations
- Delusions of thought alienation/interference
- Delusions of control - somatic passivity, passivity phenomena
- Delusional perceptions
With reference to Schneider’s First Rank symptoms, what specific types of auditory hallucinations are experienced in schizophrenia?
- Thought echo
-
3rd person auditory hallucinations
- Running commentary on their actions
- Voices arguing about them
In terms of Schneider’s First rank symptoms of Schizophrenia, what specific delusions about thought alienation/interference occur?
- Thought withdrawal
- Thought insertion
- Thought broadcasting
In terms of Schneider’s First Rank symptoms, what are passivity phenomena?
Delusions that their thoughts, feelings, or impulses are driven by some external force or person
In terms of Schneider’s First Rank symptoms of SChizophrenia, what are somatic hallucinations?
A delusion that some external force is causing physical sensations (which may be hallucinations) in their body
In terms of Schneider’s First Rank symptoms of schizophrenia, what delusional perceptions occur?
A delusion which arises because of a completely unrelated happening in external reality
e.g. “Three letters, which is the number of the Holy Trinity, came through my letter box, and then I realized I was the son of God”
What is the deifnition of Ego-boundary?
A sense or awareness that there is a distinction between the real and unreal. In some psychoses the person does not have an ego boundary and cannot differentiate his or her personal perceptions and feelings from those of other people.
Besides Schneider’s First Rank symptoms, what are other positive/psychotic symptoms of acute schizophrenia?
- Persecutory or grandiose delusions
- Other bizarre delusions
-
Disorders of thought form
- e.g. “loosening of associations”
Besides Schneider’s First Rank symptoms of Schizophrenia, what are other non-psychotic symptoms of acute schizophrenia?
- Mood Disturbance
- Unusual behaviour
In schizophrenia, what are regarded as “positive” schizophrenic symptoms?
Symptoms of Psychosis/Schneider’s first rank symptoms
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
Profound interference with daily functioning
- Apathy and lack of motivation
- Poverty of speech (and lack of thoughts)
- “Blunted” or incongruous affect (and lack of emotions)
- Social withdrawal
- Occupational decline
What do negative symptoms of schizophrenia suggest?
Long term illness
What are the cognitive symptoms of Schizophrenia?
- Poor executive function
- Poor abstract reasoning
The deficits are subtle and are usually not evident on basic clinical tests of cognition such as the Mini-Mental State Examination.
What is the definition of executive function?
A set of cognitive processes that are necessary for the cognitive control of behavior: selecting and successfully monitoring behaviors that facilitate the attainment of chosen goals. Executive functions include basic cognitive processes such as attentional control, cognitive inhibition, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
What categories are the symptoms of schizophrenia divided into?
- Positive - psychotic
- Negative - apathy, pverty of speech etc
- Cognitive - executive, abstract reasoning
What would be your differential diagnosis for someone presenting with psychotic symptoms?
- Psychotic mania/depression
- Delirium
- Drug induced psychosis/intoxication
- Medication e.g. steroids
- Cerebral causes
- Endocrine disease
- Systemic illness
What neurological problems would be part of your ddx when assessing someone with pschosis?
- Tumour
- Infection
- Infarction
- Epilepsy
What endocrine problems would be part of your differential diagnosis when assessing someone with psychotic symptoms?
- Thyroid
- Chronic hypoglycaemia
- Cushing’s
- Addison’s
What systemic illnesses would be part of your differential diangosis when assessing someone with psychotic symptoms?
- Anaemia
- Carcinoma
- Sarcoid
What is the defintion of psychosis?
A severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality (disrupted ego-boundary)
What is the most implicated neurotransmitter in schizophrenia?
Dopamine
Of the different dopaminergic pathways implicated in schizophrenia, which is most closely associated with positive symptoms?
Meso-Limbic Dopamine pathway - DA overactivity results in positive symptoms
Of the different dopaminergic pathways implicated in schizophrenia, which is most closely associated with negative symptoms?
Meso-cortical Dopamine Pathway - DA underactivity associated with negative symptoms.
Of the different dopaminergic pathways implicated in schizophrenia, blockade of which pathway causes extrapyramidal side effects such as parkinsonism?
Nigro-striatal dopamine pathway - D2 blockade
Of the different dopaminergic pathways involved in schizophrenia, blockade of which pathway would lead to the development of hyperprolactinaemia?
Tuberoinfundibular Dopamine Pathway - D2 blockade
When assessing thought as part of the MSE, what might you notice in someone with an acute schizophrenic episode?
- Delusions
- Thought block
- Thought withdrawal
- Thought insertion
- Passivity
- Derailment
When assessing perceptions as part of the MSE, what might you find in someone with schizophrenia?
Hallucinations
When assessing speech as part of the MSE, what might you find in someone with schizophrenia?
- Neologisms
- Word Salad
When assessing mood as part of the MSE, what might you see in someone with schizophrenia?
- Blunted affect
- Incongruent mood