Schizophrenia - symptoms and features (AO1) Flashcards
What is schizophrenia (Sz)? (4 points)
A psychotic disorder involving the loss of contact with reality
Characterised by episodes of hallucinations and delusions
Can cause disturbances in everyday life like family relationships, jobs and education
No single cause - epigenetic process caused by the interaction between genes and a range of environmental factors like drugs, social deprivation and poverty
What are the 4 features (WHO facts) of schizophrenia?
Affects approximately 24 million people worldwide
Onset of psychotic episodes appear between the ages of late adolescence to mid-30’s with males having symptoms at an earlier age than females
Patients are 2 to 3 more times likely to die early than the general population due to physical illness like cardiovascular or infectious disease
Patients experience stigma including discrimination, limiting access to jobs, housing and education
What are positive, negative and cognitive symptoms?
Positive symptoms - the addition of a behaviour which is not ‘normally’ present
Negative symptoms -the absence of a behaviour which is normally present
Cognitive symptoms - deficits in working memory, attention span, and executive functioning
What are the 4 positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
Hallucinations
Delusions
Thought insertion
Disordered thinking
Define the term ‘hallucinations’. (2 points)
False perceptions that affect our senses, causing patients to hear voices, see imagery, taste, touch or smell others which in reality do not exist
Person is in the wakeful state - not ‘dreaming’
Define the term ‘delusions’. (3 points)
False beliefs or misinterpretations of events and their significance
Patients may be paranoid that someone is trying to manipulate, harm, or kill them
Can also have grandiose gestures whereby the person believes they are famous, wealthy, powerful, or relate to religion and supernatural themes like having powers
Define the term ‘thought insertion’. (2 points)
A patient believing their own thoughts have been implanted by another person
Can lead to paranoia about those around them and rejection of one’s own real thoughts, beliefs and behaviours
Define the term ‘disordered thinking’. (2 points)
A patient finding it difficult to organise their thoughts in a logical order which makes sense
This can interrupt daily routines e.g. going to work or school
What are the 4 negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
Flatness of emotions
Social withdrawal
Avolition
Poverty of speech/alogia
Define ‘flatness of emotion’. (2 points)
Emotionless facial expressions and a flat tone of voice
A limited range of emotions is shown even when you would expect someone to be happy or sad
Define ‘social withdrawal’. (2 points)
Avoiding family & friends - not socialising
Losing interest in life and not starting conversations with people
Define ‘avolition’.
A lack of motivation and no energy to do daily activities - no pleasure in everyday life
Define ‘poverty of speech/alogia’. (2 points)
When a person’s responses use as few words as possible
No detail in their responses - the person may pause for thought for a long time between words
What are the 5 cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia?
Poor:
Working memory
Decision making
Learning and retention of verbal information
Difficulty concentrating
Executive functioning deficits
