Symptoms and characteristics Flashcards
What is schizophrenia?
A mental illness characterised by an extreme disruption of cognition and emotion, which affects language, thought, perception and sense of self
What are the 2 categories of symptoms of schizophrenia?
Positive symptoms and negative symptoms
What are positive symptoms?
Those that appear to reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions
What are negative symptoms?
Those that appear to reflect a diminution or loss of normal functions
What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
Delusions, hallucinations, thought disorder and catatonic behaviour
What are the types of delusions?
Delusions of persecution, delusions of grandeur, thought broadcasting and thought insertion
What are delusions?
A belief that is held with complete conviction, even though it is based on a mistaken, strange or unrealistic view
What are delusions of grandeur?
The belief that they are someone important
What are delusions of persecution?
The belief that someone is out to get them
What is thought broadcasting?
The belief that an external force is broadcasting what the individual is thinking to others
What is thought insertion?
An external force makes the individual think something that is not appropriate
What is catatonic behaviour?
Repetitive or purposeless movements
What is thought disorder?
trouble keeping track of thoughts, trouble concentrating, thoughts and speech become jumbled or confused
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
Alogia, avolition, anhedonia and flat affect
What is alogia?
Characterised by lack of speech, often caused by disruption of thought processes, brief and empty replied to questions
What is avolition?
A lack of motivation or reduced drive to complete goal-directed activities
What is anhedonia?
An inability to experience pleasure from typically pleasurable activities, also lack of motivation and desire to engage in normal activities
What is the flat affect?
An inability to display appropriate emotional responses, typically no verbal or non-verbal emotion is displayed at all
