Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is schizophrenia?
A mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to recognize what is real
What is the most common form of hallucination associated with schizophrenia?
Auditory
What are ‘positive’ symptoms?
Symptoms that are present in people with schizophrenia, that are not normally present in the general population
What are the positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia?
Delusions
Hallucinations
Disordered thoughts and speech
Paranoia
What are negative symptoms?
Deficits of normal emotional responses or of other thought processes
Which is more responsive to medication: positive or negative symptoms?
Positive
What are the negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia?
Flat expressions or little emotion
Poverty of speech
Inability to experience pleasure
Lack of desire to form relationships
Lack of motivation
What other mental health conditions might someone with schizophrenia suffer from?
Major depression
Substance abuse disorders
Anxiety disorders
What effects on cognition does schizophrenia have?
Difficulties in:
- working and long-term memory
- attention
- executive functioning
- speed of processing
When is the peak period of onset of schizophrenia?
Adolescence and young adulthood
What environmental factors predispose to schizophrenia?
Childhood trauma
Death of a parent
Being bullied or abused
Living in a city
Maternal invection
Social isolation
Smoking cannabis
How is schizophrenia managed?
Antipsychotic medication
What are the first rank symptoms of schizophrenia?
- auditory hallucinations
- thought withdrawal, insertion and interruption
- thought broadcasting
- somatic hallucinations
- delusional perception
- feelings or actions experienced as made or influenced by external agents
(ABCD: Auditory hallucinations, Broadcasting of thought, Controlled thought (delusions of control), Delusional perception)
What are the second rank symptoms of schizophrenia?
Sudden delusional ideas
Perplexity
Depressive and euphoric mood changes
Feelings of emotional impoverishment
What is the risk of developing schizophrenia with learning disability?
3x more likely to develop schizophrenia
Will develop earlier
