Characteristics of Schizophrenia Flashcards
(20 cards)
What dysfunctions do the characteristics of schizophrenia cause?
Cognitive, behavioural and emotional
What are positive symptoms?
Additional experiences beyond those of ordinary experiences e.g. additional voices
What are hallucinations?
Usual sensory experiences that can be related to environment / situation or completely bizarre.
What are examples of hallucinations?
Most common are auditory (hearing of voices), visuals, olfactory (scents) or tactile (touch).
What was found in regards to hallucinations by Lewandoski et al (2009)?
Tactile hallucinations are present in around 20% of schizophrenic cases which many experience formication (the feeling of small insects under or on the skin).
What are delusions?
Strongly held false beliefs, persistent even when there is evidence against them.
What are the three types of delusions and give an example.
Delusions of grandiosity - believes an individual is special and powerful in some way e.g. believes they are Jesus.
Delusions of reference - believes people are trying to send a message e.g. through the radio and TV.
Delusions of persecutions - believes a group want to harm the individual e.g. the government is coming for them.
What is disordered thinking?
Abnormal thought processes where the individual has trouble organising thoughts which shows through speech.
What are examples of disordered thinking?
Derailment - schizophrenics will often switch between topics mid sentence. Word Salad - begin speaking gibberish.
Thought insertion - schizophrenics often report that their thoughts are not their own and have been inserted by a third party.
What are negative symptoms?
The loss of usual abilities or experiences.
What is alogia?
Speech poverty - a reduction in the amount of or quality of speech e.g. delayed responses
What is avolition (apathy)?
Difficulty maintaining goal-related activity and an overall loss of motivation in everyday tasks.
What did Andreason (1982) identify as three signs of abolition?
Poor hygiene
Lack of energy
Lack of persistence in school, work
What is anhedonia?
An individual does not react appropriately to pleasurable experiences that they previously found pleasure in e.g. rugby fan demonstrates no pleasure when their team win.
What is flatness of affect?
An individual appears to have no emotion and show little facial expressions e.g. as they tell a joke they will not laugh.
What is catatonic behaviour?
Irregular movements ranging from fast, uncontrollable ones to none at all e.g. echopraxia (mirroring others).
What are the two classifications of schizophrenia?
ICD - 10 (International Classification of Disease) and the DSM-5 (American Diagnostic Manual)
What symptoms do the DSM-5 identify as a diagnosis for schizophrenia?
Two or more of the following symptoms present: delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, catatonic behaviour and negative symptoms.
Symptoms must be present for at least one month.
What symptoms do the ICD-10 identify as a diagnosis for schizophrenia?
Symptoms must be present for at least one month.
Must have at least one symptom from category one (disordered thinking, delusions or hallucinations)
OR at least two symptoms from category two (Catatonic behaviour and negative symptoms).
What are the issues with having two classifications of schizophrenia?
May cause reliability issues.
Could be argued that both are culturally bias and based on western symptoms and research.
