SCHIZOPHRENIA - introduction: classification and diagnosis

Question 1

what is schizophrenia ?

Answer 1

• A severe mental disorder where contact with reality and insight are impaired
• an example of psychosis = severe mental health problems

Question 2

How is schizophrenia classified?

Answer 2

• Identifying clusters of symptoms that occur together = schizophrenia doesn’t have a single defining characteristics

Question 3

How is schizophrenia diagnosed?

Answer 3

• often diagnosed between 15 and 35
• commonly diagnosed in male
• DSM-5 + ICD-10 used to diagnose

Question 4

what are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 4

• Hallucinations = sensory experiences that have no basis in reality
  -Delusions - irrational beliefs that seem real to a person but they aren’t real.

Question 5

what are negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 5

• ALOGIA (speech poverty) = lessening of speech fluency and productivity
• AVOLITION (apathy) = finding it difficult to accomplish a goal. reduced motivation
  eg Anderson (1982) = 3 signs = poor hygiene and grooming, lack of perseverance, and lack of energy.

Question 6

give strengths of diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia?

Answer 6

+ GOOD RELIABILITY = Osorio et al. (2019) = reported excellent reliability for the diagnosis of schizophrenia in 180 individuals using DSM-5. Pairs of interviewers achieved inter-rater reliability.

+ GOOD VALIDITY = Osorio et al = excellent agreement between clinicians when they used two measures to diagnose schizophrenia both derived from the DSM system. = good criterion validity

Question 7

give limitations of diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia?

Answer 7

• LOW VALIDITY = Cheniaux et al (2009) = used both ICD and DSM to assess the same 100 people for schizophrenia. 68 diagnosed under ICD system and 39 under DSM = low criterion validity

-CO MORBIDITY = if conditions occur together, this questions the validity of diagnosis and classification. eg Schizophrenia is commonly diagnosed with depression = problem as schizophrenia may not exist as a distinct condition.

• GENDER BIAS = diagnostic criteria applied differently to males and females. Fisher + Buchanan (2017) = me diagnosed more than women
  Cotton et al. (2009) = women may be underdiagnosed because they receive more support = women with schizophrenia function better than men. gender bias = women may not receive services that might benefit them.

-CULTURE BIAS = hearing voices have different meanings in different cultures. In some Afro-Caribbean cultures, hearing voices may be attributed to communication from ancestors. Afro Caribbean living in the UK are more likely to receive a diagnosis = discriminated against by a culturally biased diagnostic system.

• SYMPTOM OVERLAP = both schizophrenia and BPD have overlap eg delusions and avolition
  = suggests that schizophrenia and bpd may not be two different conditions = schizophrenia is hard to distinguish from BPD.