Classification of SZ Flashcards
(13 cards)
what is meant by schizophrenia
Schizophrenia (SZ) is serious mental disorder characterised by a profound disruption of cognition and emotion.
Type of psychosis because thoughts and emotions are so impaired that there is a loss of contact with reality.
Affects around 1% of the population.
Term SZ does not represent one disorder but a group of disorders and the type a sufferer is diagnosed with depends on their symptoms (SZ = umbrella term)
clinical characteristics of SZ
According to Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V): two main types of symptoms (positive & negative)
• Positive symptoms: represent excess of normal functioning.
• Negative symptoms: reflect loss of normal functions.
what are the positive symptoms of SZ
excess of normal functioning
- delusions
- hallucinations
- disorganised thinking and speech
delusions
Delusions = bizarre beliefs that seem real to the person with SZ, but they are not real.
Delusions can make the sufferer behave in ways that make sense to them but seem bizarre to others.
can be:
- delusions of persecution
- delusions of grandeur
types of delusions
(1) delusions of persecution
- paranoid in nature
- eg belief that they are being followed/spied on by someone, or that people are ‘out to get them’
(2) delusions of grandeur
- inflated beliefs about one’s power/importance
- eg they think they are famous or have special powers/abilities
hallucinations
Hallucinations = Bizarre, unreal perceptions of the environment
can be:
• auditory (hearing voices)
• visual (seeing lights, objects, faces)
• olfactory (smelling things)
• tactile (e.g. the feeling that bugs are crawling on your skin)
Many SZs report hearing a voice or several voices telling them to do something (such as harm themselves or someone else) or commenting on their behaviour.
disorganised thinking and speech
Problems organising thought processes, which leads to incoherence.
May have feeling that thoughts have been inserted or withdrawn from their mind.
Disorganised thinking cannot be directly observed but it will show up in their disorganised speech, eg:
- neologisms
- word salad
- clang
types of disorganised thinking and speech
(1) neologisms
- newly created words whose meaning are unknown to others
(2) word salad
- confused or unintelligible mixture of seemingly random words/phrases
- words may/may not be grammatically correct, but are semantically confused to the point the listener can’t extract meaning from them
(3) clang
- manner of speaking in which words are chosen for their related sounds rather than logical meaning (compulsive rhyming)
what are the negative symptoms of SZ
loss of normal functioning
- poverty of speech (alogia)
- avolition
may also have psycho-motor disturbances
poverty of speech (alogia)
Alogia = reduction in amount/quality of speech.
Eg: produce fewer words in a given time on a task of verbal fluency (e.g. name as many animals as you can in 1 minute)
Not due to less verbal ability, but more a difficulty spontaneously producing them.
avolition
Avolition = reduction of interests/desires, inability to initiate and persist in goal-directed behaviour.
Eg, sitting in the house for hours every day, doing nothing.
Distinct from poor social functioning (can be result of other circumstances e.g. having no friends/family available to have social contact with).
To be classed as avolition, there must be a reduction in self-initiated involvement in activities that are available to the patient
• Apathy
• No will power
• Little or no social activity
• No interest in work
• No goals
diagnosis of SZ
Under DSM-V criteria, diagnosis of SZ requires two or more (positive or negative) symptoms to persist for at least six months.
BUT, only one symptom is required if considered to be particularly problematic.
SZ prevalence rate
1%
