Characteristics of schizophrenia

Question 1

How did Schneider suggest the symptoms of schizophrenia should be categorised?

Answer 1

Positive symptoms.
Negative symptoms.

Question 2

What are positive symptoms?

Answer 2

Symptoms or behaviours that the person is exhibiting in addition to “normal” behaviours.

Question 3

What are negative symptoms?

Answer 3

Symptoms or behaviours that are inhibiting people with schizophrenia from demonstrating “normal” behaviours.

Question 4

Are hallucinations a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 4

Positive.

Question 5

What are hallucinations?

Answer 5

Perceptions that are unreal.
Many people with schizophrenia report auditory hallucinations, such as hearing sounds or voice, bur hallucinations can present themselves in any sensory modality.

Question 6

What did Lewandowski estimate in terms of schizophrenia and hallucinations?

Answer 6

20% of people with schizophrenia have tactile hallucinations, where they are perceiving sensations as if someone or something is touching their skin.

Question 7

What is formication?

Answer 7

A sensation that resembles small insects, such as spiders crawling on the skin.
The sensation is so real to the person experiencing it, they initially do not believe that it’s just a hallucination.

Question 8

Are delusions a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 8

Positive.

Question 9

What are delusions?

Answer 9

Beliefs that are unreal.
They are usually experienced with no evidence to offer in support of the delusion.
There are many types of delusion, but commonly held delusions are of persecution and grandiosity.

Question 10

What are delusions of persecution?

Answer 10

Based on the idea that a person, group or organisation want to harm the individual.

Question 11

What’s grandiosity?

Answer 11

A sense of superiority, uniqueness, or invulnerability that is unrealistic and not based on personal capability.

Question 12

What are delusions of grandiosity?

Answer 12

Suggest that the individual is special in some way; the individual believes they are powerful, have superior knowledge or they may assume the identity of a particular historical figure,

Question 13

Is disordered thinking a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 13

Positive.

Question 14

What is disordered thinking?

Answer 14

The person’s thoughts or speech seems to jump from one topic to another, for no apparent reason and show no logical flow of discussion.

Question 15

Is alogia a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 15

Negative.

Question 16

What is alogia?

Answer 16

Poverty of speech.
Reduction in the total amount of speech produced.
Speech lacks meaning; even simple, short answers can be a problem.

Question 17

Is avolition a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 17

Negative.

Question 18

What’s avolition?

Answer 18

When people seem to be indifferent to or unconcerned with the goings on in their surroundings.
They show neither the will nor the desire to take part in activities both personal and work activities that the individual may once have enjoyed.
Lack of goal-directed behaviour.

Question 19

Is anhedonia a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 19

Negative.

Question 20

What’s anhedonia?

Answer 20

Where an individual does not react appropriately to pleasurable experiences.

Question 21

Is flatness of affect a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 21

Negative.

Question 22

What’s flatness of affect?

Answer 22

Where individuals appear to have no emotion/
They may show little or no emotional expressions.
Do not emit the same signals of emotion when in a group.
Speech patterns are monotonous, and do not rise and fall as normal speech patterns do.

Question 23

Is catatonic behaviour a positive or negative symptom?

Answer 23

Negative.

Question 24

What’s catatonic behaviour?

Answer 24

Ranges from fast, repetitive, useless movements to little or no movement at all.
The person with schizophrenia may move for no purpose, energetically pacing or wandering in circles.
Or an individual may remain immobile for prolonged periods of time in seemingly uncomfortable postures.

Question 25

What may happen when an individual tries to move someone with schizophrenia who has been immobile for a prolonged period of time?

Answer 25

They may resist or demonstrate waxy flexibility. Waxy flexibility = which is where their limbs and body can be moved, but they still maintain a rigid and unnatural posture.

Question 26

What's echopraxia?

Answer 26

Where people with schizophrenia mimic the movements of others around them.

Question 27

What are the two main classification systems for the diagnosis of mental disorders?

Answer 27

ICD-10. DSM-5.

Question 28

What criteria does an individual need to meet to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in relation to the DSM-5?

Answer 28

Two or more symptoms. Present for a significant period of time during a 1 month period. One of these symptoms must be delusions, hallucinations or disorganised speech.

Question 29

What criteria does an individual need to meet to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in relation to the ICD-10?

Answer 29

Minimum of one very clear symptom belonging to either group. Should be clearly present during a period of 1 month or more.

Question 30

What does the ICD-10 recognise that the DSM-5 does not?

Answer 30

The sub-types of schizophrenia such as catatonic schizophrenia. These sub-types were omitted from the current edition of the DSM, even though they were present in previous editions.