Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia

positive symptoms of schizophrenia

behaviors or experiences that are __added__ to a person's normal way of functioning

delusions

fixed, false beliefs / thoughts

erotomanic delusion

the individual believes that someone of higher status is in love with him/her

grandiose delusion

the individual has an exaggerated belief in their worth, talent, knowledge, or power

jealous delusion

the individual has the idea that his/her sexual partner is unfaithful

persecutory delusion

the individual believes that others are out to harm, hurt or kill him/her

somatic delusion

the individual believes that he/she has some form of physical defect, illness, or disease

delusions of reference

the individual believes that everything in the environment is directed towards them

thought insertion

the individual believes that someone is putting thoughts into his/her head

thought withdrawal

the individual believes that someone is taking thoughts out of his/her head

thought broadcasting

the individual believes that someone can hear his/her thoughts

religiosity

excessive obsession with religious ideas and behaviors

associative looseness

absence of the normal connectedness of thoughts, ideas or topics; sudden shifts without apparent relationship to preceding topics

neoglism

made up words that have no meaning and are not recognizable

word salad

stinging together words that are not connected in any way

circumstantiality

extremely detailed and lengthy communication, with many unnecessary details, about a topic

preservation

persistent repetition of the same word or idea in response to different questions

paranoia

guarded, suspicious, and mistrustful

magical thinking

the client believes his/her actions or thoughts can control a situation or affect others

concrete thinking

lack of abstraction in thinking; inability to understand punch lines, metaphors, and analogies

clang association

meaningless rhyming of words

tangentiality

the topic of conversation is changed to an entirely different topic that is a logical progression but causes a permanent detour from the original focus

mutism

inability or refusal to speak

illusion

misinterpretation of real external stimuli → something actually happens, but the individual misinterprets the actual event

hallucination

false sensory perception not associated with a real external stimulus

* auditory
* visual
* olfactory
* gustatory
* tactile

echolalia

the client repeats words that are heard (like an echo)

echopraxia

the client repeats movements that are observed

identification and imitation

the client adopts (takes on) the behavior he/she observes in another

depersonalization

feelings of detachment or estrangement (separateness) from oneself

derealization

the perception that the surrounding world is not real or is distorted (changed)

* perception that the ENVIRONMENT has changed