Schizophrenia- characteristics of behaviour

Question 1

What is schizophrenia?

Answer 1

-Profound disruption of cognitive and emotional affecting a persons language, thoughts, perceptions and sense of self
-Includes cognitive, behavioural and emotional dysfunctions
-Can have cluster of signs and symptoms associated with impaired occupational or social functioning
-Life long illness but those affected aren’t coherent nor do they display psychosis all the time

Question 2

What are positive symptoms?

Answer 2

Atypical additional experiences beyond those ordinary existence

Question 3

Examples of positive symptoms?

Answer 3

Hallucinations
Delusions
Disordered thinking

Question 4

Pos- what are hallucinations?

Answer 4

Unusual sensory experiences
Can be related to environment or completely unrelated
Can be visual, auditory, olfactory (smell) and/or tactile (touch)
Auditory are most common

Question 5

Pos- hallucinations Lewandowski et al?

Answer 5

Treat hallucinations are present in approximately 20% of the SZ cases and individuals can experience formication which is sensations under the skin resembling small insects e.g. spiders, sensations so real that the persons experiencing it initially can’t appreciate the feeling is just hallucinations

Question 6

Pos- what are delusions?

Answer 6

Delusions are strongly held false beliefs
Delusions persist even when there is evidence against their beliefs

Question 7

Pos- what are the different types of delusions?

Answer 7

Delusions of grandiosity
Delusions of reference
Delusions of persecution

Question 8

Pos- what are delusions of grandiosity?

Answer 8

Believing they are important/historical political figure (jesus/neapolitan)

Question 9

Pos- what are delusions of reference?

Answer 9

Believing people are trying to send messages or make contact via TV/Radio

Question 10

Pos- what are delusions of persecution?

Answer 10

Paranoid delusions were they believe others are trying to harm them/plotting against them

Question 11

Positive- disordered thinking?

Answer 11

Result of abnormal thought process
The patient has trouble organising thought processes which then manifests in speech
This can be quickly switching between topics (perailment) sometimes mid sentence or speaking gibberish
People with SZ often report that their thoughts are not their own (thought insertion) and are believed to have been inserted by a third party)

Question 12

What are negative symptoms?

Answer 12

Negative symptoms SZ involve the loss of unusual abilities or experiences

Question 13

What are the 5 negative symptoms?

Answer 13

Alogia
Avolition
Anhedonia
Flatness of affect
Catatonic behaviour

Question 14

Negative- what is alogia?

Answer 14

The focus is on the reduction in the amount and the quality of speech sometimes called poverty of speach

Question 15

Negative- what is avolition?

Answer 15

Difficulty beginning or keeping up with goal directed activity
Loss of motivation to carry out daily tasks (apathy)

Question 16

Negative- Avolition Andreason?

Answer 16

3 signs
-Poor hygiene
-Lack of energy
-Lack of persistence in work and education

Question 17

Negative- what is anhedonia?

Answer 17

An individual does not react appropriately to pleasurable experiences
They experience loss of pleasure from activities
This can include eating, social contact or activates patient used to find pleasure on

Question 18

Negative- what is flatness of effect?

Answer 18

Individuals appears to have no emotion they show little to no facial expression
Monitone speech e.g. no intonations rise and fall in speech

Question 19

Negative- what is catatonic behaviour?

Answer 19

Can range from fast, repetitive movements to no movement at all
e.g. echopraxia mimicking movement
of these around them
Immobile for long periods

Question 20

What are prodromal symptoms?

Answer 20

-A loss of interest in usual activity’s
-Avoiding the company of others
-Staying away from work
-Irritable and oversensitive
-Lack of interest in personal hygiene
-Generalised anxiety
-Mild degrees of depression

Question 21

Can you get diagnosed with prodromal symptoms?

Answer 21

No
only in retrospect once schizophrenia been diagnosed, symptoms may cost the disorder
Symptoms may be the cost of disorder

Question 22

What are the 2 classification of schizophrenia?

Answer 22

ICD-10-WHO (International Classification of Disease edition 10)
DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual edition 5)

Question 23

What is the classification of ICD-10?

Answer 23

Have at least 1 month of symptoms
At least 1 symptom that positive
Or 2 negative symptoms

Question 24

What is DSM-5 classification?

Answer 24

Occur at least 1 month
6 months of delusions of function
Two or more of
-Delusions
-Hallucinations
-Diagnostic thinking
-Catatonic behaviour
-Negative symptoms

Question 25

Critic of the classifications of schizophrenia?

Answer 25

Lacks reliability as there is 2