Schizophrenic/Psychotic Disorders Flashcards
Onset of schizophrenia
Gender
Prevalence
What socio-economic levels
15-45 years old
Equal risk between men and women
- Men tend to display symptoms earlier and are more severe
- Women most likely to have onset after 45
1% of pop
Occurs at all socio-economic levels
History of schizophrenia
Lunacy in the past
- But indicated that onset could occur any age
Auditory hallucinations rare in cases before 1700s but are common today
- Industrialization and enviro changed may have caused change
Diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia
During 1 month period, 2+:
- Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behav, negative symptoms (anhedonia, apathy)
Types of schizophrenic delusions
Persecutory (Everything is against them)
Referential (Hidden meanings not actually related to them)
Somatic (About body and inner organs)
Religious (Demons, angels)
Grandiose (Belief of divine power)
Catatonia
Waxy flexibility
(Schizophrenia)
Decrease in reactivity to enviro
- Waxy flexibility: Staying in seemingly uncomfortable position for long period of time (now less frequent)
Difference between positive and negative symptoms
(Schizophrenia)
Positive symptoms: Exaggerated and distorted adaptations if normal behav
Negative symptoms: Absence of typical behavs and expression
How to tell that schizophrenia is not schizoaffective disorder, depression, or bipolar disorder?
1) No depressive or manic episodes occur at same time as active-phase symptoms
2) Mood episodes that have occurred during active-phase symptoms are present for minority of total duration
What is the differential diagnosis between:
Schizophrenia and depression w/ psychotic features
Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders
MDD only exp psychotic features during mood episodes
Schizoaffective requires min 2 weeks of only psychotic symptoms w/out mood symptoms
Both don’t meed criterion A of schizophrenia
What is the differential diagnosis between bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder?
Bipolar w/ psychotic features only exp them during manic episodes
Bipolar would have mood symptoms, which doesn’t match with schizoaffective’s 2-week requirement of only psychotic symptoms
What happens when depressive symptoms occur with manic episode? What happens if this continues?
Bipolar w/ psychotic features
If continued, becomes schizoaffective disorder
Why is subjectivity a drawback of diagnosing schizophrenia?
DSM-5 relies on person’s symptoms and history
- But symptoms are private experiences
- And a reliable diagnosis ≠ valid diagnosis
Endophenotypes
Bio or behav predispositions that make a disorder more likely
What are endophenotypes or markers of schizophrenia that can be seen on cognitive tests?
(6)
Slow processing speed
Impaired sensory gating
Impaired verbal memory
Impaired dichotic listening
Slow phonemic word fluency
Slow detection of specified letters (continuous performance test)
Visual tracking in schizophrenia
Eye movements more erratic
More saccades
- Could be what causes impairments in Continuous Performance Test
Diathesis-Stress Theories of schizophrenia
1) Inherited or fetal injury
2) Switches in the brain turned on by stress
3) Biological vulnerability that’s inherited or acquired early in life