Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia: Order vs Disorder

• Schzophrenia is Internally disorganized (chaotic)

  • External structure:

    • Structured activities

    • Clear steps

    • Goal-oriented

Schizophrenia: Positive & Negative Symptoms

• Neither are good:

  • Positive: Added sensory experiences

  • Negative: Lack of affect/ motivation. A lack of something

Schizophrenia: Positive Symptoms Interventions

• Out of touch with reality

• Distracted

  • Interventions:

    • Redirect attention to reality

      • Redirect to reality based tasks

        • Board games, current event discussion

      • Sensory stimulating activities (TV, music)

      • Simple, concrete, short-term

    • Remove distractions

      • Calm, quiet, and non-distracting

Schizophrenia: Negative Symptoms Interventions

• Unmotivated

  • Interventions:

    • Encourage engagement “Give them a push”

      • Structured, concrete expectations

      • Specific skill training

      • Make activities purposeful and motivating ( BADLs, Animal assisted therapy)

      • Psychoeducation on condition

Schizophrenia: Negative symptoms

• People are lacking:

  • Lacking motivation: Apathy, poor hygiene

  • Lack affect: flat affect, social isolation

  • Lacking pleasure: Anhedonia (inability to feel happy)

Schizophrenia: Positive Symptoms

• Psychotic symptoms cause internal distraction and disorganization

  • Delusions: Distorted through to or fixed beliefs

    • Ex: “ The CIA is watching me through the television”

  • Hallucinations: Unreal sensory experiences

    • Ex: Hearing voices or seeing something that is not there

Schizophrenia: Positive symptoms-Paranoia

• Delusions and hallucinations often come with Paranoia

  • We have to have a LIGHT TOUCH when interacting with paranoia clients

    • AVOID surprises & Confrontation

      • AVOID approaching suddenly from behind

      • AVOID facing person directly (sit to side instead)

      • AVOID competitive game

  • Don’t be suspicious

    • Clear, consistent, direct communication

Schizophrenia Keyline

SchizoPHRENIA

Positive Hallucination Redirect

Engage Negative In Activities