Schizophrenia - Overview

Question 0

What is acute onset?

Answer 0

Obvious signs such as hallucinations appear quite suddenly

Usually occurs a few days after a stressful event

Question 1

What is chronic onset?

Answer 1

Often a slow change in an apparently normal young person
Gradually lose drive and motivation and start to drift away from friends
More obvious signs of disturbance including delusions and hallucinations appear after a few months or years of deterioration

Question 2

What is required to acquire a diagnosis from the ICD-10?

Answer 2

At least 1 symptom from group 1 or 2 symptoms from group 2 for at least a month

Question 3

List group 1 symptoms

Answer 3

Thought control
Delusions of control, influence, and passivity
Hallucinatory voices
Other persistent delusions

Question 4

List group 2 symptoms

Answer 4

Persistent hallucinations
Incoherent or irrelevant speech
Catatonic behaviour
Negative symptoms

Question 5

What is thought control?

Answer 5

Thought withdrawal
Thought insertion
Thought broadcast

Question 6

What are delusions of control, influence, or passivity?

Answer 6

Delusions are distorted beliefs

Individual does not feel in control of their own thoughts, feelings, or will

Question 7

What are hallucinatory voices?

Answer 7

Voices that do not exist but feel real to the person experiencing them
Content is very variable
Often takes the form of a running commentary of the individual’s behaviour

Question 8

What are other persistent delusions?

Answer 8

Distorted beliefs that are culturally inappropriate or involve impossible powers and capabilities

Question 9

What are persistent delusions?

Answer 9

Distorted perceptions arising from any of the senses
May be accompanied by delusions
Occur in the absence of any external stimuli

Question 10

What is incoherent or irrelevant speech?

Answer 10

Arises when train of thought is disrupted
Person’s speech is so jumbled that it becomes meaningless
Neologisms are often inserted into conversation

Question 11

What is catatonic behaviour?

Answer 11

Unusual body language or movements

Includes odd postures, uncontrolled limb movements, and sometimes complete immobility

Question 12

What are negative symptoms?

Answer 12

Apathy
General lack of drive and motivation
Speech often conveys little meaning and is often repetitive
Flat affect

Question 13

Issues surrounding the reliability of the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia

Answer 13

Inter-rather reliability
Retrospective information
Different criteria and sub-types
Co-morbidity with depression

Question 14

Issues surrounding the validity of the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia

Answer 14

Co-morbidity and symptom overlap
Schizophrenia-like disorders
Dimensional vs categorical systems
Cultural relativism