schizophrenia - Diagnosis And Classification

Question 1

what do the DSM and ICD diagnose schizophrenia as

Answer 1

DSM - one positive symptom must be present

ICD 10 - two or more symptoms are present

Question 2

what does the ICD do that is different to the DSM

Answer 2

it recognises a range of subtypes of schizophrenia - not in the DSM - 5

Question 3

what are positive symptoms of schizophrenia ?

Answer 3

atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experience

Question 4

what are examples of positive symptoms

Answer 4

hallucinations

delusions

Question 5

explain hallucinations ?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

explain delusions

Answer 6

involve beliefs that have no basis in reality.
they are irrational.
eg delusions of persecution - believing the government is after them

Question 7

what are negative experiences of schizophrenia ?

Answer 7

atypical experiences that represent the loss of usual such as clear thinking or normal levels of motivation

Question 8

what are the examples of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia ?

Answer 8

avolition

speech poverty

Question 9

explain avolition ?

Answer 9

loss of goal directed behaviour
loss of motivation
eg poor hygiene , lowered energy levels , lack of persistence in work or education

Question 10

explain speech poverty

Answer 10

reduced frequency and quality of speech

delay in persons verbal responses

Question 11

what is a limitation of the reliability of schizophrenia diagnosis and classification
(low reliability)

Answer 11

poor reliability
eg Cheniaux et al (2009)
two psychiatrists independently diagose 100 people using both DSM and ICD criteria.
interrater reliability was poor
1 diagnosed 26 with schizophrenia according DSM and 44 according to ICD, other diagnosed 13 according to DSM and 24 according to ICD.
shows lack of two or more mental health professionals arriving at same conclusion.

Question 12

what is a limitation of schizophrenia (low validity

Answer 12

diagnosis of schizophrenia had low criterion validity.

eg cheniaux et al showed that schizophrenia is more likely to be diagnosed using ICD than DSM.

schizophrenia suffers from under or over diagnosis according to the assessment tool used.

different assessment tools don’t arrive at same conclusion

Question 13

what is a limitation

of schizophrenia diagnosis (co morbidity)

Answer 13

schizophrenia suffers from comorbidity therefore it may not exist as a distinct condition.

buckley found that 50% people diagnosed with schizophrenia also had diagnosis of depression and substance abuse.

high rate of cormorbidity limits the validity of schizophrenia diagnosis
people may be wrongly diagnosed

Question 14

what is limitation of schizophrenia (symptom overlap)

Answer 14

symptom overlap with bipolar disorder
both have delusions and avolition
hard to differentiate medically from each other

diagnosis difficult and flawed

Question 15

what is another limitation of diagnosis (culture bias

Answer 15

people of afrocaribbean origin are more likely to be diagnosed than white people

certain african cultural beliefs that interpret schizophrenia symptoms as normal

black people likely to have symptoms over interpreted and honesty distrusted (escobar)

validity -> reduced
all people not treated the same in diagnosis