Psychology - schizophrenia

define schizophrenia

a severe, chronic psychotic disorder characterised by profound disruptions in thinking, perception, emotions and behaviour.

individuals experience a loss of contact with reality making it difficult to distinguish what’s real and what’s not.

Positive symptoms

is the added experience of unusual thoughts, behaviors, or sensory experiences that most people do not have.

examples of positive symptoms

→ hallucinations - sensory experiences without real stimulus (e.g. hearing voices)

→ delusions - firmly held false beliefs (e.g. of persecution or control)

→ disorganised thinking and speech - incoherent

negative symptoms

it’s the absence or loss of normal, healthy traits, emotions, or drives

examples of negative symptoms

→ avolition - loss of motivation

→ anhedonia - loss of pleasure

→ alogia - poverty of speech

how to diagnose schizophrenia

→ they are diagnosed against DSM-5/ICD-11

what are two qualities a diagnosis must have? and why is this hard?

1) reliability - different clinicians reach the same diagnosis for the same patient (inter-rater reliability)

2) validity - the diagnosis is accurate

this is hard because mental disorders cannot be seen, clinicians rely on reported and observed symptoms, which can overlap between disorders and are shaped by culture. also, schizophrenia symptoms are diverse, so reliable, valid diagnosis are often difficult