Diagnosis and classification Flashcards
(22 cards)
What are the classifications of Schizophrenia?
there is no defining characteristic its a cluster of symptoms
- two main systems for classification if mental disorders
IDC-11 and DSM-5
What is schizophrenia?
‘split mind’ and affects 1% of population
- occurs mid to late adelocence and rages thru early adulthood (16-25)
- more common in men than women
- symptoms interfere with everyday tasks
What is the criteria for DSM-5 diagnosis?
two or more of these conditions must be present for a significant period over 1 month:
- delusions
- hallucinations
- disorganised speech
- disorganised behaviour
- negative symptoms
What is the criteria for DSM-5 diagnosis?
symptoms must persist first at least 1 month:
- persistent delusions
- persistent hallucinations
- thought disorders
- experiences of influence, passivity or control
- psychomotor disturbances
What are positive symptoms
additional experiences beyond those of ordinary existence
What are some positive symptoms?
- hallucinations
- delusions
What are hallucinations?
unusual sensory experiences
- some are related to events in the environment but some have no relationship
What are delusions?
irrational beliefs that are resistant to confrontation with the truth
What are the forms of delusions?
Delusions of:
- persecution
- grandeur
- control
What are examples of hallucinations?
- hearing voices
- may see distorted facial expressions or people/animals that aren’t there
What are delusions of persecution?
belief that others want to harm, threaten or manipulate you
- may believe they’re being spied on and nasty rumours are being spred
What are delusions of grandeur?
idea that you’re an important individual even god like and have extraordinary powers
What are delusions of control?
belief that you’re under control of an alien force that has invaded tour mind/body
What is a negative symptom?
the loss of usual abilities and experiences
What are some negative symptoms?
- Avolition
- Speech poverty
What is avolition?
finding it difficult to begin of keep up with goal directed activity
- ppl have a reduced motivation to carry out a range if activities
What are the 3 signs of avolition
poor hygiene
lack of persistence in work/education
lack of energy
What is speech poverty?
changing patterns in speech
- reduction in the amount and quality of speech
- this can be manifested as a delay in verbal responses during conversations, incoherent and changing topic mid sentence
What is needed for a diagnosis system to work to work efficiently?
reliability and validity
What is a limitation of diagnosis and classification
Rosenhans study
Low population validity
Evaluate Rosenhans study into diagnosis and classification
P: A limitation of the diagnostic tools of the DSM/ICD is the study from Rosenhan
E: Rosenhan arranged for 8 confederates to act as pseudopatients, going to 12 different hospitals. The real
participants were the hospital staff who did not know about the experiment. The pseudopatient called the hospital for an appointment. When they arrived they complained of hearing voices saying “empty”, “hollow” and
“thud”. They said that the voices were unclear, unfamiliar and of the same sex as the pseudopatient.
Pseudopatients gave false names, occupations and symptoms, but gave real life histories. Once on the ward, the
pseudopatients stopped pretending symptoms, behaved normally and wrote observations. Pseudopatients were
discharged only when they convinced staff that they were sane.
On admission, staff diagnosed 11 pseudopatients with schizophrenia, and one with manic-depression. Staff never
detected their sanity.
E: This demonstrates that due to symptom overlap staff are unable to correctly diagnose patients and the ICD/DSM and thus the measure is not reliable, as doctors are unable to differentiate between schizophrenia and
depression as well as sane and insane using the same measure. The reliability of a diagnosis is whether two or
more psychiatrists using the same classification system make the same diagnosis.
In addition, with the behaviour being misinterpreted this puts into questions the validity of the measure for Schizophrenia and that staff are not comfortable using the diagnostic tools due to symptom overlap.
The validity of a diagnosis is whether the diagnosis is correct and leads to a successful treatment and thus maybe
there is an argument for validity.
L: You could argue however the diagnosis was reliable as all confederates were diagnosed with the same condition
(minus one patient diagnosed with depression). It could be just that better training is needed
Evaluate low population validity as a limitation of Rosenhans study
P: Low population validity
E: Sample consists of 8 ppts and only 12 hospital staff which is a very small sample size and therefore it is unlikely that such a small sample provides a good representation of the population. It could be that other hospitals in other states, or even countries may be better atadministering the ICD/DSM diagnostic tools.
E: This is a limitation because the results about the validity of the DMS/ICD may not be able to be generalised to other patients or hospitals.
