Schizoprehnia Flashcards
What is schizophrenia?
A chronic or relapsing form of psychosis. Involves altered perceptions of reality, disordered thinking, and social dysfunction that can affect various aspects of the individual’s life.
What age is schizophrenia typically diagnosed?
15-35
What socioeconomic class is schizophrenia more common in?
Higher incidence in lower socioeconomic classes (but this may be a consequence, not cause)
Is there a genetic aspect to schizophrenia?
Yes - risk significantly increased in those with positive FH, with risk being proportional to degree of genetic relationship
What is the % of risk of schizophrenia if both parents affected or identical twin is affected?
50%
What is the % of risk of schizophrenia with one affected parent or sibling
10%
Give some environmental for schizophrenia
o Childhood trauma e.g. poverty, poor maternal boning, exposure to natural disasters
o Heavy cannabis use in childhood
o Maternal health issues e.g. malnutrition, infections such as rubella/CMV
o Birth trauma e.g. blood loss, hypoxia
o Urban living, immigration to more developed countries
What are the 6 subtypes of schizophrenia?
- Paranoid
- Hebephrenic
- Catatonic
- Undifferentiated
- Residual
- Simple
What is the most common type of schizophrenia?
Paranoid
What 2 features characterise PARANOID schizophrenia?
- Paranoid delusions
- Auditory hallucinations
What type of schizophrenia is typically diagnosed in adolescents/younger adults?
Hebephrenic
What type of schizophrenia is characterised by auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions?
Paranoid schizophrenia
Why is the outlook for hebephrenic schizophrenia poor?
as negative symptoms may develop rapidly
What 4 characteristics are seen in hebephrenic schizophrenia?
- Mood changes
- Shallow affect
- Unpredictable behaviour
- Fragmentary hallucinations
What is shallow affect?
A similar meaning to blunted affect, but it is often used to describe the emotional experience of persons with psychopathy. A person with shallow affect will feel little emotion about situations that would expect to elicit specific feelings.
Which type of schizophrenia is characterised by psychomotor features?
Catatonic
What psychomotor features are seen in catatonic schizophrenia?
Posturing –> This is when a person holds a specific position, which would often be uncomfortable to people who aren’t experiencing catatonia
Rigidity
Stupor –> a state close to unconsciousness
What is undifferentiated schizophrenia?
When patients’ symptoms do not fit neatly into one of the other categories
What is residual schizophrenia?
The individual has suffered an episode of schizophrenia but there are no longer any delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior
- Characterised by negative symptoms
- Positive symptoms have ‘burnt out’
What type of schizophrenia is characterised by negative symptoms and patients have never experienced positive symptoms?
Simple schizophrenia
What are positive symptoms in schizophrenia? Give some examples
Reflect an excess or distortion of normal function
- Thought echo (hearing own thoughts out loud)
- Thought insertion or withdrawal
- Thought broadcasting
- 3rd person auditory hallucinations
- Delusional perception
- Passivity and somatic passivity
- Odd behaviour
- Thought disorder
- Lack of insight
What is thought echo?
The person hears his or her own thoughts as if they were being spoken aloud.
What is thought insertion?
Experiencing one’s own thoughts as someone else’s (one still experiences oneself as the owner of an inserted thought but attributes it to another agency)
Example:
Thoughts are put into my mind like “Kill God.” It is just like my mind working, but it isn’t. They come from this chap, Chris. They are his thoughts.
What is thought withdrawal?
The delusion that thoughts have been taken out of the patient’s mind.
The patient may experience a break in the flow of their thoughts believing that the missing thoughts have been withdrawn from their mind by some outside agency.
What is thought broadcasting?
Delusion that one’s thought is projected and perceived by others (i.e. belief that others can hear your thoughts)
What is an auditory hallucination?
Auditory hallucinations happen when you hear voices or noises that don’t exist in reality.
What is delusional perception?
A true perception to which a patient attributes a false meaning.
For example, a perfectly normal event such as the traffic lights turning red may be interpreted by the patient as meaning that the martians are about to land.
What is passivity and somatic passivity?
Experience of bodily sensations (including actions, thoughts, or emotions) imposed by external agency.
What is thought disorder?
A thought disorder involves a disturbance in how thoughts are organized and expressed. It causes disorganized thinking and leads to people expressing themselves in unusual ways when speaking or writing.
What is lack of insight?
A symptom of severe mental illness experienced by some that impairs a person’s ability to understand
and perceive his or her illness (reason why they don’t seek treatment)
What are Schneider’s first-rank symptoms?
Schneider’s first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia are symptoms which, if present, are strongly suggestive of schizophrenia.
- Thought echo
- Thought insertion or withdrawal
- Thought broadcasting
- Auditory hallucinations
- Delusional perception
- Passivity/somatic passivity
What are negative symptoms in schizophrenia? Give examples
Refer to a diminution or absence of normal behaviours related to motivation and interest (N.B. overlap with depressive disorders)
- Blunted affect (affect is a person’s expression of their emotional state)
- Apathy
- Social isolation / anhedonia (lack of interest/enjoyment from life’s experiences)
- Poverty of speech (alogia)
- Poor self-care
- Avolition (severe lack of motivation/inability to complete purposeful tasks)
What investigations can be done in schizophrenia?
Rule out any potential other causes of altered mental state
Labs:
o Baseline bloods e.g. FBC, FTFs, U&Es, LFTs, CRP, fasting glucose
o Urine culture (to rule out UTI causing delirium)
o Urine drug screen (to rule out intoxication)
o HIV if applicable
o Syphilis serology (if applicable)
o Serum lipids (before starting antipsychotics)
Imaging:
o CT head (if organic cause is suspected)
How long must symptoms be present for before diagnosis of schizophrenia?
Requires a first rank symptom or persistent delusion to be present for at least one month AND no other cause for psychosis (e.g. drug intoxication).
What is the care programme approach (CPA)?
The Care Programme Approach (CPA) is a package of care for people with mental health problems.
What are the 4 stages of the CPA?
1) Assessing health and social needs
2) Creating a care plan
3) Appointment a key worker to be the first point of contact
4) Reviewing treatment
What class of drug is used in schizophrenia?
D2 (dopamine) receptor antagonists
What are the 2 subtypes of D2 (dopamine) receptor antagonists used in schizophrenia?
Typical and atypical
Wht is the effect of ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonists?
Older and cause generalised dopamine receptor blockade
Give 3 examples of ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonists
- Haloperidol
- Chlorpromazine
- Flupentixol decanoate (depot injection)
Give 5 side effects of ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonists
- Extrapyramidal side effects (EPSE’s)
- Hyperprolactinaemia
- Metabolic side effects
- Anticholinergic side effects
- Neurological side effects
What extrapyramidal side effects are seen with ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonist use?
Parkinsonism, akathisia, dystonia, dyskinesia
What can hyperprolactinaemia due to ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonist use cause?
Sexual dysfunction, risk of osteoporosis, amenorrhoea in women, galactorrhoea, gynaecomastia and hypogonadism in men
What are the metabolic side effects of ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonist use?
Weight gain, increased risk of T2D, hyperlipidaemia, increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome
What are the anticholinergic side effects of ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonist use?
Tachycardia, blurred vision, dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention
What are the neurological side effects of ‘typical’ D2 receptor antagonist use?
Seizures, neuroleptic malignant syndrome (potentially life-threatening)
Wht is the effect of ‘atypical’ D2 receptor antagonists?
More selective in their dopamine blockade and also block serotonin 5-HT2 receptors
Give some examples of ‘atypical’ D2 receptor antagonists
- Olanzapine
- Risperidone (depot injection)
- Clozapine
- Amisulpride
- Quetiapine
- Aripiprazole
Which antipsychotic is used when schizophrenia is resistant to other antipsychotics?
Clozapine
Which antipsychotic is less likely to cause EPSEs than others? Why?
Aripiprazole - a partial dopamine agonist and so is less likely to cause EPSEs than others
What are the side effects of atypical D2 receptor antagonists?
Less likely to cause EPSEs and hyperprolactinaemia, but still cause the other debilitating side effects as typical ones