'Diagnosis of Schizophrenia'

Schizophrenia

is a

severe, chronic mental

illness where contact

with reality and insight

are impaired.

ICD-11

you need to have at least

two symptoms – these can both be

negative symptoms.

DSM-5

if you have just one

positive symptom, this is sufficient

for diagnosis.

Positive symptoms:

Atypical symptoms experienced in

addition to normal experiences.

They include hallucinations and

delusions.

Hallucinations

are sensory

experiences that have no basis in

reality, (or are distorted perceptions

of reality).

Delusions

are irrational beliefs that

have no basis in reality.

Negative symptoms:

Atypical symptoms that represent

a loss of usual experience.

They include speech poverty and

avolition.

Speech poverty

is a reduced

frequency and quality of speech.

Avolition

involves a loss of

motivation to carry out tasks,

resulting in lowered activity levels.

P

Issue = co-morbidity

E

Buckley et al. (2009): 50% of people

with SZ also had depression, 23% OCD

E

If disorders frequently co-occur, they

may be a single condition, meaning

one clinician could diagnose one

disorder while another diagnoses two

L

So, SZ maybe not a distinct condition →

leads to inconsistencies in diagnosis

P

Issue = culture bias

E

Pinto et al. (2008): African-Caribbean

British people were 9 x more likely

diagnosed than white British people

E

Not genetic: African-Caribbean men in

African-Caribbean countries did not

receive such high levels of diagnosis

L

, African-Caribbean British men may

be discriminated against by a

culturally biassed diagnostic system

P

Issue = gender bias

E

Fischer and Buchanan (2017) found

men are more commonly diagnosed

than women, in a ratio of 1.4 to 1

E

Could be genetic but Cotton et al.

(2009) argue women have enough

social support to manage without

intervention

L

So, women with SZ may not be

receiving treatment that could help

P

Issue = symptom overlap

E

SZ and bipolar disorder both involve

positive symptoms such as delusions

E

Patients with the same symptoms may

be diagnosed with either

schizophrenia or bipolar disorder

L

So, this could lead to misdiagnosis,

affecting the efficacy of treatment