Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders Notes

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

• Schizophrenia spectrum includes schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders, and schizotypal (personality) disorder.
• Defined by abnormalities in one or more of five domains: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking (speech), grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior (including catatonia), and negative symptoms.

Key Features Defining Psychotic Disorders

• Delusions: Fixed beliefs not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence.
  • Persecutory delusions: Belief that one is going to be harmed or harassed.
  • Referential delusions: Belief that gestures, comments, or environmental cues are directed at oneself.
  • Grandiose delusions: Belief that one has exceptional abilities, wealth, or fame.
  • Erotomanic delusions: Belief that another person is in love with oneself.
  • Nihilistic delusions: Conviction that a major catastrophe will occur.
  • Somatic delusions: Preoccupations regarding health and organ function.
• Hallucinations: Perception-like experiences without external stimuli that occur in the context of a clear sensorium.
  • Auditory hallucination
  • Visual hallucination
  • Olfactory hallucination
  • Tactile hallucination
• Disorganized Thinking (Speech):
  • Inferred from an individual's speech; also known as formal thought disorder.
  • Derailment or loose associations: Switching from one topic to another.
  • Tangentiality: Answers to questions may be obliquely related or completely unrelated.
  • Incoherence or