schizophrenia
schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects around 1% of the population
positive symptoms: atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experiences
hallucinations - unusual sensory experiences that either have no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are there, e.g. hearing voices talking, or being able to smell something that is not really there
delusions - irrational beliefs that have no basis in reality, e.g. being that they are the victim of a conspiracy or under a form of external control
negative symptoms: atypical experiences that represent the loss of a usual experience
speech poverty - reduced frequency and quality of speech
avolition - loss of motivation and goal oriented behaviour and results in lowered activity levels
comorbidity: the occurrence of two disorders or conditions together, e.g. a person with both Sz and a personality disorder. where two conditions are frequently diagnosed together it calls into question the validity of classifying the two disorders separately.
Buckley et al. found that about half of those diagnosed with Sz also had a diagnosis of depression or substance abuse
this means that Sz may not exist as a distinct condition, it may also mean that people are diagnosed with one condition alone, e.g. depression, and are not diagnosed with Sz, meaning they do not receive enough treatment
symptom overlap: occurs when two or more conditions share symptoms. where conditions share many symptoms this calls into question the validity of classifying the two disorders separately
there is considerable overlap between the symptoms of Sz and bipolar disorder, which both involve positive symptoms e.g. delusions and negative symptoms e.g. avolition.
Sz and bipolar may not be two distinct conditions but variations of the same condition. this means they are difficult to distinguish and may result in people being incorrectly diagnosed and thus receiving the wrong treatment
gender bias:
men are diagnosed with Sz more commonly than women
women may be less genetically vulnerable to Sz but it is more likely that women go underdiagnosed as they may receive more support and so function better than men
this means that women may not be able to access treatment and services to help their Sz
culture bias:
some symptoms of Sz, e.g. hearing voices, have different meanings in different cultures
in some African cultures, some people believe that voices are actually communications from ancestors
British people of African-Caribbean origin are around nine times more likely to receive a diagnosis of Sz as white British people, although people living in African-Caribbean countries are not, ruling out a genetic vulnerability
this means that symptoms may be incorrectly interpreted in black British people