Schizophrenia Spectrum And Other Psychotic Disorders Flashcards
Schizophrenia
A chronic psychotic disorder chracterized by acute episodes involving break with reality, as manifested by such features as delusions, hallucinations, illogical thinking, incoherent speech and bizarre behaviour
Schizophrenia was first referred to as
Dementia praecox
3 clinical varieties if dementia praecox
- Catatonia: Motor Activities are disrupted (either excessively active or inhibited)
- Hebephrenia: inappropriate emotional reactions and behaviour
- Paranoia: Characterized by delusions of grandeur and of persecution
Four As of Eugen
- Blunted affect (diminished emotional response to stimuli)
- Associations (Loose. A disordered pattern of thought, inferring a cognitive deficit)
- Ambivalence
- Autism (a loss of awareness of external events, and a preoccupation with the self and one’s own thoughts
First Rank symptoms of schizophrenia
Hallucinations and Delusions
Schneider first order
- delusional perception
- passitivity
- third person auditory hallucinations
Schneider second order
- delusions of reference
- paranoid and persecutory delusions
- second person auditory hallucinations
Prevelance and Costs of Schizophrenia
- 80% of people with schizophrenia abuse substances at some point in their lives
- 40% to 60% of people with schizophrenia attempt suicide, and about 10% die from suicide
- People with schizophrenia are more often the victims than the perpetrators of violence
- Stigma of violence interferes with their ability to acquire housing, employment and treatment
- Disorder typically develops in the late teens or early 20s
- Men have a slightly higher risk of development schizophrenia
Prodromal phase
- First stage of Schizophrenia
- Stage in which the early features or signs of a disorder become apparent
- The period of decline in functioning that precedes the development of the first acute psychotic disorder
Acute Phase
- Second Phase
- Psychotic symptoms develop such as hallucinations, delusions and disorganized speech and behaviour
Residual Phase
- Third Stage
- Charachterized by a return to a level of functioning typical of the prodromal phase
Major features of schizophrenia
- Delusions of persecution
- Delusions of grandeur
- Delusions of reference
- Delusions of being controlled
- Thought broadcasting
- Thought insertion or withdrawal
Thought Disorder
Is recognized by a breakdown in the organization, processing, and control of thoughts
Major sensory hallucination of schizophrenia : Most common
Auditory
Visual
Tactile
Somatic
Gustatory
Olfactory
Command hallucinations
Causes of Hallucinations
- Excess levels of dopamine
- Excess numbers of dopamine receptors
- Overreactivity of dopamine receptors in the brain
- Antipsychotic drugs that block dopamine activity tend to reduce hallucinations
Catatonia
- Gross disturbances in motor activity and cognitive functioning
- a fixed or rigid state
- odd gestures
- bizarre facial expressions
- stupor
- waxy flexibility
