Preview

Clinical Characteristics of Schizophrenia

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
379 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Clinical Characteristics of Schizophrenia
Clinical characteristics of schizophrenia | Issues in the diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia | Delusions: which are bizarre beliefs that appear realistic to a person with schizophrenia, but they are not real. They can sometimes be paranoid delusions Experiences of control: the person with schizophrenia may believe they are under the control of different group’s e.g. alien invasion. Hallucination: are bizarre, unreal perceptions of the environment that are usually auditory (hearing voices), but may also be visual (seeing lights, objects or faces), olfactory (smelling things), or tactile (e.g. feeling that bugs are crawling on or under the skin). Disordered thinking: the feeling that thoughts have been inserted or withdrawn from the mind. In some cases the person may believe their thoughts are being broadcast so that others can hear them. Tangential, incoherent or loosely associated speech is used as an indicator of thought disorder. Affective flattening: a reduction in the range and intensity of emotional expression, including facial expression, voice tone, eye contact, and body language. Alogia: poverty of speech, characterised by the lessening of speech fluency and productivity, thought to reflect showing or blocked thoughts. | Unreliable symptoms: Klosterkötter et al. (1994) assessed 489 admissions to a psychiatric unit in Aachen, Germany, and found that positive symptoms were more useful for diagnosis than negative symptoms. Mojabi and Nicholson (1995) 50 senior psychiatrists in the US were asked to differentiate between ‘bizarre’ and ‘non-bizarre’ delusions, the inter-rata reliability was only around 0.40 showing that the central diagnostic requirement lacks sufficient reliability for it to be a reliable method of diagnosing schizophrenia. Validity: Bental (1988) did a large review of all research into aetiology, prognosis and treatment and found that schizophrenia wasn’t a useful scientific category.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The first disorder to be discussed is Schizophrenia, one of the most complex psychiatric disorders of all time. “A disorder which name defines the “splitting of psychic functions. The term was coined in the early years of the 20th century to describe what was assumed at that time to be the primary symptom of the disorder; the breakdown of integration among emotion, thought, and action.” (Pinel, 2007, p.481). Schizophrenia presents a variety of characteristic symptoms including hallucinations, or imaginary voices, incoherent speech and thoughts or illogical thinking, odd behavior patterns. (Pinel, 2007).…

    • 1826 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Faces Interactive website lets us take a look at what it really means to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, instead of the many misinterpreted beliefs that are associated with this disorder. Under the Diagnostic Overview tab, it is explained that this disorder has positive and negative symptoms. As mentioned in under the tab, the two most common positive symptoms include Delusions and Hallucinations. Often times, we might confuse the two, but they each hold very different definitions. Faces Interactive defines Delusions as, “… a firmly held believe that is not grounded in reality” (McGrawHill Higher Education, 2007, Diagnostic Overview). There are many forms of delusions including delusions of persecution, delusions of reference, and delusions of grandeur. Faces Interactive gives applicable examples that differentiate between the three, “Valerie has expressed a range of delusions including delusions of persecution – that people were plotting to hurt she and her family, delusions of…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Schizophrenia is known as a mental disorder that is categorized by confused thinking and the inability to respond, communicate, or behave appropriately. Individuals who suffer with this disease may see or hear things that are not there, but this is a form of hallucinating. They also feel like others are out to get them, which is a form of paranoia. This particular disorder is not thought to be progressive, but it is chronic and debilitating.…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    AO1 Activity 4

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behaviour, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation. There is not yet a known cause for…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Communalism Casteism

    • 4537 Words
    • 19 Pages

    * Psychotic disorders: Psychotic disorders involve distorted awareness and thinking. Two of the most common symptoms of psychotic disorders are hallucinations -- the experience of images or sounds that are not real, such as hearing voices -- and delusions, which are false beliefs that the ill person accepts as true, despite evidence to the contrary. Schizophrenia is an example of a psychotic disorder.…

    • 4537 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the mayo clinic schizophrenia is define as a group of severe brain disorder. In which some people may interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations delusions, and disordered thinking and behavior. The word schizophrenia means a disruption of the usual balance of emotions and thinking. Schizophrenia is a chronic condition which required lifelong treatment. (www.mayoclinic.com/health/schizophrenia/DS00196 Cached)…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Generally a diagnosed person with Schizophrenia in basis of the latest edition of DSM is when Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period or less if successfully treated. First are delusions, where false beliefs are strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence. Merely having such belief proves how much this type patient of is experiencing a lack proper perceptual image and view of the actual world. That’s why a person with Schizophrenia could be described as “Losing in touch with reality”, having their own improbable perception of what they are experiencing that are entirely different from a normal person. Either perceiving heightened feelings of anxiousness or beliefs in grandeur in reference to themselves or their environment.…

    • 1282 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Psychology 240

    • 1972 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Schizophrenia one of the more common psychological disorders, also called mental illnesses. Schizophrenia affects behavior as well as thoughts, and encompasses many different things, including auditory hallucinations and mood swings. At some point this disorder may even manifest itself into a psychotic phase that involves delusions and disorganized speech along with bizarre behavior. People who have schizophrenia believe that the hallucinations are real, and even if they don’t believe that the hallucination is real, it seems real. The way that schizophrenia manifests itself is different from person to person. Some people can manage to live life fully independently with schizophrenia, and with medication can keep it under control. However, other people may never be able to function fully, and will not be able to live on their own due to the delusions and hallucinations. In severe progressions of this disorder, people lose the ability to keep in touch with reality, and become paranoid and anti-social, while often being petrified of the hallucinations that they live with.…

    • 1972 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which a persons personal, social, and occupational functioning in normal life deteriorates to unusual perceptions, odd thoughts, disturbed emotions, and motor abnormalities. A person struggling with schizophrenia will lose contact with reality and begin to lose the ability to function at home, school, or work. Individuals may also suffer from hallucinations and or delusions. There are three main categories of symptoms for schizophrenia: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and psychomotor symptoms. Positive symptoms consist of multiple additions to a persons behavior such as: delusions, disorganized thinking and speech, heightened perceptions and hallucinations, and inappropriate affect” (Comer 387).…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Delusions - The patient has false beliefs of persecution, guilt of grandeur. He/she may feel things are being controlled from outside. It is not uncommon for people with schizophrenia to describe plots against them. They may think they have extraordinary powers and gifts…

    • 1357 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Final

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When it comes to Schizophrenia it is defined as “a group of severe brain disorders in which people interpret reality abnormally” ("Mayo Clinic", 1998-2012). Some symptoms of schizophrenia contain delusions, hallucinations, incoherent speech or difficulty performing everyday tasks. Other symptoms include lack of emotion, inability to experience pleasure, and last but not least social withdrawal. It is not exactly known what actually causes schizophrenia, but it is believed by some researchers that genetics and the individuals’ environment may play a major role in developing the Schizophrenia disease. There are certain events that can trigger schizophrenia in individuals who are in danger for the disorder just based off of their genes. The neural basis of schizophrenia also includes structural malformations of the hindbrain, forebrain and last but not least the limbic system.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Schizophrenia Outline

    • 2544 Words
    • 11 Pages

    “Schizophrenia is characterized by a constellation of distinctive and predictable symptoms. The symptoms that are most commonly associated with the disease are called positive symptoms, which denote the presence of grossly abnormal behavior. These include thought disorder, delusions, and hallucinations. Thought disorder is the diminished ability to think clearly and logically. Often it is manifested by disconnected and nonsensical language that renders the person with schizophrenia incapable of participating in conversation, contributing to his alienation from his family, friends, and society. Delusions are common among individuals with schizophrenia. An affected person may believe that he is being conspired against. Hallucinations can be heard, seen, or even felt; most often they take the form of voices heard only by the afflicted person,” (http://www.schizophrenia.com). While these symptoms are obvious, consistent, and usually expected from those affected by schizophrenia, there are also “quieter indications” known as “negative symptoms,” that may contribute to the gravity of the illness. The quieter symptoms are responsible for the absence of “normal” behavior. In other words, people might have a dull or flattened reaction to things, people, and situations; they often show lack of emotions and other physical expressions. They might also act and feel indifferent, becoming more and more socially…

    • 2544 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    which there is no cure. It is a disorder that affects approximately 1% of the…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    schizophrenia

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it difficult to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses, and to behave normally in social situations. Schizophrenia is one of the most disturbing mental illnesses, marked by delusions and hallucinations. It is a psychotic disorder or group of disorders marked by disturbances in thinking, emotional responsiveness, and behavior. Schizophrenia is the most chronic and disabling of the severe mental disorders, connected to abnormalities of brain structure and function, disorganized behavior, delusions, and hallucinations.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A beautiful mind

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Schizophrenia includes several symptoms. One common symptom is delusions, which are false beliefs that the person holds and that tend to remain fixed and unshakable even in the face of evidence that disproves the delusions (Cicarelli, p. 557).…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics