Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

This flashcard set covers the definitions, symptoms, causes, and nursing interventions for schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders based on Chapter 15 of Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing.

Schizophrenia

An illness defined by Eugene Bleuler meaning "split mind"; it involves a split between a patient’s thoughts and feelings and between their reality and society’s reality.

Eugene Bleuler

The individual who defined the illness Schizophrenia and coined the term meaning "split mind."

Typical Age of Onset

Schizophrenia most frequently strikes people between the ages of $16$ and $35$, with a first psychotic break rarely occurring after age $40$.

Spectrum Disorder

A term describing how schizophrenia is viewed on a gradient of psychopathology from least to most severe.

Insidious Onset

A gradual development of the disorder characterized by lowering school grades, quietness, withdrawal, and changes in personality or how a person relates to others.

Delusions

Fixed, false beliefs that cannot be changed with logic.

Hallucinations

False sensory perceptions that can affect all five senses.

Illusions

Mistaken perceptions of reality.

Echolalia

The repetition of words.

Echopraxia

The repetition of actions.

Positive Symptoms

Symptoms found among people with schizophrenia that are not present in those without the disorder, such as delusions, thought disorders, and hallucinations.

Negative Symptoms

Symptoms reflecting a loss of normal functions that are missing in individuals with schizophrenia, such as lack of desire for social relationships or inappropriate social behaviors like pacing and rocking.

Causes of Schizophrenia

Known to be a brain disorder involving disruption of neurotransmitters, neuron functioning, cortical abnormalities, and genetic predisposition.

Antipsychotics

The main focus of medical treatment for schizophrenia, which a patient may need for the rest of their life.

Anticholinergics

Medications used in medical treatment to counteract extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) caused by antipsychotics.

Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS)

Common side effects associated with many antipsychotic drugs.

Supportive Milieu

A therapeutic environment used in medical treatment that is calm and structured to help manage the patient's condition.

Communication Rule for Hallucinations

Nursing intervention where the nurse should never reinforce hallucinations, but instead state they do not see the stimulus and redirect the patient to reality.