Schizophrenia - Diagnosing SZ Flashcards
what are positive symptoms?
symptoms that are added and that ‘normal’ people do not have
what are negative symptoms?
symptoms that are deficits - something ‘lost’ from a ‘normal’ person
what are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
hallucinations
delusions of paranoia/grandeur
disorganized speech
disorganized / catatonic behaviour
what are hallucinations?
seeing / hearing and sometimes feeling things that are not really there
what are delusions?
false cognitions where a person believes false information
what is a delusion of paranoia?
believing that the world is out to harm a person, and that anyone/anything is a threat
what is a delusion of grandeur?
feeling overconfident (eg above the law)
what is disorganized speech?
when a person cannot produce speech properly so it sounds like they are drunk / words are mixed up and said randomly
what is disorganized / catatonic behaviour?
where a person ‘freezes’ up and cannot move, they are stuck in a state of catatonia
what are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
avolition
alogia / speech poverty
affective flattening
anhedonia
what is avolition?
reduced motivation when options are present
what is alogia / speech poverty?
loss of fluency in speech - they don’t know less just produce less over a period of time
what is affective flattening?
reduced range and intensity of emotions, including body language
what is anhedonia?
loss of interest and pleasure in things that used to be pleasurable
includes physical anhedonia
what are the criteria for diagnosing schizophrenia?
individual must show two of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behaviour for at least one month continously, or episodes that make up a month over a 6 month period.
symptoms must cause failure to function adequately and not overlap completely with symptoms of other disorders
which symptoms of schizophrenia overlap with other disorders?
anhedonia (except physical) - depression and bipolar
affective flattening - schizoaffective disorder
what are the issues with diagnosing schizophrenia?
symptoms overlap
gender and culture bias
comorbidity
what is comorbidity?
when patients have multiple disorders, eg schizophrenia and depression
what was the procedure of Rosenhan’s original study into diagnosing schizophrenia?
covert participant observation
sent volunteer students into GPs in 4 different US states and to report hearing ‘dull thud’ only - not an actual symptom of SZ
what were the results of Rosenhan’s original study into diagnosing schizophrenia?
all students diagnosed with SZ and hospitalised
given meds / treatment and not allowed to leave until university intervened after 2 months
what does Rosenhan’s original study show about the reliability and validity of the method of diagnosing schizophrenia at the time?
good inter-rater reliability as all GPs came to same conclusion
very bad internal validity
what was the procedure of Rosenhan’s follow up study on diagnosing schizophrenia?
he phoned the hospitals from the original study and said he was sending over more fake patients
he never sent any more fake patients
what were the results of Rosenhan’s follow up study into diagnosing schizophrenia?
1/5 of real patients labelled ‘pseudopatients’ and discharged over the next 2 weeks
how can cultural bias affect diagnosing schizophrenia?
some symptoms are seen as more acceptable in different cultures
eg hearing voices is more acceptable in african cultures than in english culture
how can gender bias affect diagnosing schizophrenia?
women are less likely to be diagnosed due to masking symptoms
