Clinical Characteristics of schizophrenia

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  • Created by: rianna
  • Created on: 04-12-12 18:42
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  • Clinical   characteristics of Schizophrenia
    • Negative Symptoms
      • Alogia- Poverty of speech, characterised by the lessening of speech, fluency and productivity, thought to reflect flowing or blocked thoughts
      • Affective flattening- A reducttion in the range of intensity of emotional expression, including factual expression, voice eye contact and body
      • Avolition- the reduction of or inability to initiate and persist in goal directed behaviour often mistaken for apparent disinterest
    • Prognosis
      • Some symptoms in early adulthood 20% fully recover  40% potentially recover 40% continue psychotic episodeds
    • Positive Symptoms- Presence of abnormal behaviours
      • Hallucinations Hearing voices commenting on what you are doing
      • Disorganized thinking and speech- Patients experience thoughts coming into there minds from and extended source
      • Delusions-  Patients experience their actions as being controlled by outside forces
    • Diagnostic Criteria
      • DSM Diagnosis and statistical manual, this is a classification system
      • At least 2 symptoms must have been experienced for 1 month
      • Continuous signs of disturbance must have been present for 6 months
      • Before the onset of the symptoms there must have been a marked drop in interpersonal relations and out care
      • Possibility of Schizoaffective Disorder and Mood Disorder must have been ruled out
      • Disturbance must not be due to direct  physiological effects of a substance
      • If there is a history of a persuasive developmental disorder schizophrenia is only diagnosed if prominent delusions or hallucinations are present for a month
    • Subtypes
      • DSM AND ICD recognise that there are different subtypes
      • An individual may show a specific combination of symptoms and be diagnosed with a particular subtype
      • Particular subtypes are paranoid, simple, catatonic, hebephremic, residual, post schizophrenic  depression, undifferentiated schizophreniai
    • Incidence & Prevelance
      • 100,000 to 500,000 people in the uk likely to be diagnosed with the disorder,
      • Disadvantaged backgrounds especially young men are at greatest risk
      • Psychotic experiences may happen to anyone in circumstances of extreme stress
    • Other Symptoms
      • Inappropriateness of affect- refers to emotional expressions which are inappropriate  to the situation eg laughing at bad news
      • Catatonic Behaviour- refers to motor  abnormalities involves wild flailing of the limbs and random energetic movements or unusual postures eg standing on one leg for a long period of time
    • Definition schizophrenia is a sevvere mental illnes characterised by a disruption of thought and emotion that affects the persons language, perception, affect and sense of self

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