Schizophrenia: Symptoms and features

Question 1

What is schizophrenia?

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Answer 1

• Psychotic disorder, characterised by + and/or - symptoms

Question 2

What are the difference’s between DSM-5 and ICD-10 when making a diagnosis of schizophrenia?
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Answer 2

• DSM-5 = requires 2/4 key symptoms, e.g. delusions
• DSM-5 = no diagnosis until 1 month of active symp, disturbance to daily functioning for 6 months
• ICD-10 = less focus on dysfunction
• ICD-10 = 6months disturbed not necessary

Question 3

What is thought insertion? (symptom)

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Answer 3

• Believes their thoughts don’t belong to them
• Implanted by external source
• Blurring of boundary between the self and others, feel this border = permeable

Question 4

What are hallucinations and what are the types of hallucinations? (symptom)
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Answer 4

• Involuntary, vivid and clear perceptual experiences that occur in absence of external stimuli
• Visual, olfactory (smell), somatosensory (under skin), auditory

Question 5

What are delusions and what are the different types of delusions? (symptom)
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Answer 5

• Fixed beliefs resistant to change in light of conflicting evidence (DSM-5)
• Relate to everyday life (believing every movement monitored by police)
• Persecutory, referential, grandiose

Question 6

What is disordered thinking? (symptom)

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Answer 6

• Inferred from a persons speech

- Hard to follow their train of thought, switch from 1 topic to another

Question 7

What is schizophrenias lifetime prevalence? (features)

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Answer 7

• 0.3-0.7%

Question 8

What does schizophrenias lifetime prevalence vary with? (features)
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Answer 8

• Ethnicity
• Nationality
• Geographic origin in immigrants

Question 9

Which gender has earlier onset and when for both genders? (features)
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Answer 9

• Males = slightly earlier (early-mid20’s)

- Females = Late 20’s

Question 10

Which gender has poorer prognosis? (features)

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Answer 10

• Males

Question 11

What happens to positive and negative symptoms? (features)

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Answer 11

• Positive = reduce over time

- Negative (debilitating) = often remain

Question 12

What do most schizophrenics experience? (features)

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Answer 12

• Chronic, episodic impairment
• Progressive deterioration
• Severe cognitive deficits

Question 13

What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

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Answer 13

• Flat affect
• Avolition
• Alogia

Question 14

What is a problem with identifying disordered thinking?

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Answer 14

Rastafarians use neologisms which are plays on English words, ‘overstand’ for ‘understand’. Clinician unaware of such norm = see as sign of disordered thinking