Schizophrenia

Question 1

Schizophrenia

Answer 1

A severe psychotic disorder. It involves abnormal thoughts and perceptions. The person loses insight, loses touch with reality and fails to realise they have a problem.

Question 2

What gender suffers more from schizophrenia?

4 points

Answer 2

• Males
• working class as opposed to middle class
• people who live in cities rather than the countryside
• Many schizophrenics end up homeless or hospitalised due to the interference of symptoms.

Question 3

What would a clinician use to diagnosis scizophrenia

Answer 3

A clinician would use a diagnostic manual to make a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is used in Europe.

Question 4

What test is used in the USA?

Answer 4

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) of Psychiatric Disorders

Question 5

What test is used to diagnose schizophrenia in Europe?

Answer 5

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11)

Question 6

7 Positive symptoms of Schizophrenia

Clinical Characteristics

Answer 6

• Delusions
• Hallucinations
• Hearing voices
• Disorganised thought and speech
• Thoughts being controlled
• Bizarre behaviour – dressing inappropriately, crying frequently.
• Catatonic behaviour – movement disorders such as rigidity or waxy flexibility.

Question 7

7 Negative symptoms of Schizophrenia

Clinical Characteristics

Answer 7

• Avolition - lack of or decline in motivation
• Alogia/Speech Poverty - lack of or decline in speech
• Apathy
• Loss of drive and spontaneity
• Stereotyped movements
• Withdrawal
• Isolation

Question 8

Paranoid Schizophrenia

Answer 8

Powerful delusions and hallucinations but relatively few other symptoms

Question 9

Hebephrenic Schizophrenia

Answer 9

Involves primarily negative symptoms

Question 10

Catatonic Schizophrenia

Answer 10

Disturbance of movement, leaving the person either immobile or overactive

Question 11

Avolition

Answer 11

The reduction, difficulty, or inability to imitate and persist in goal-directed behaviour, often mistaken for apparent disinterest.

Question 12

Delusions

Answer 12

Firmly held erroneous beliefs, that are caused by distortions of reasoning or misinterpreted of perceptions or experiences

Question 13

Hallucinations

Answer 13

Distortions or exaggerations of perception in any of the senses, mostly notably auditory hallucinations

Question 14

Negative Symptoms

Answer 14

Appear to reflect diminution or loss of normal functioning

Question 15

Postive symptoms

Answer 15

Appear to reflect an excess or distortion of normal functioning

Question 16

Speech poverty

Answer 16

The lessening of speech fluency and productivity, which reflects slowing or blocked thoughts

Question 17

Briefly explain what is meant by the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia [2 marks]

Answer 17

A positive symptom of schizophrenia is symptom to appear to reflect an excess or distortion of normal function. An example of this would be Hallucinations which involves exaggerations of perceptions in any of the senses.

A negative symptoms of schizophrenia is a symptom that appear to reflect a diminution or loss of normal functioning. An example of this would be Speech poverty, this involves the lessening of speech fluency and productivity, which reflects slowing or blocked thoughts.

Question 18

Outline the nature of hallucinations and delusions [3 marks]

Question 19

Delusions of persecution:

Answer 19

The belief that others want to harm, threaten or manipulate you. Schizophrenics may believe that they are being spied on, that nasty rumours are being spread about them or that people are plotting to kill them.

Question 20

Delusions of grandeur

Answer 20

The idea that you are an important individual, even god-like and have extraordinary powers. One of the most frequent of this type of delusion is the belief that they are Jesus Christ.

Question 21

Delusions of control

Answer 21

Individuals may believe that they are under the control of an alien force that has invaded their mind and/or body. This may be interpreted, for example, as the presence of spirits or implanted radio transmitters.

Question 22

Reliability and validity in diagnosis and classification

Question 23

Reliability

Answer 23

Refers to the consistency of classificatory system such as DSM, or a measuring instrument.

Question 24

Biological explanations of schizophrenia

Question 25

General Genetic Link

Question 26

AO3 Evaluation

Answer 26

Good reliability