Diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder suffered by 1% of the population
• It is more commonly diagnosed in men than women
• More commonly diagnosed in cities than countryside 
• More commonly diagnosed in working class than middle class people

Classification

• The two major systems for classifying the mental disorder are:
  • The World Health organisation's international Classification of disease (ICD-10)
  • The American psychiatric association's diagnostic and statistical manuel (DSM-5)
• These differ slightly in their classification of schizophrenia
• DSM-5, one positive symptom must be present for diagnosis
• ICD-10, two negative symptoms must be present
• ICD-10 recognises a range of subtypes of schizophrenia:
  • Paranoid schizophrenia is characterised by powerful delusions and hallucinations
  • Hebephrenic schizophrenia involves primarily negative symptoms

Positive symptoms

• Positive symptoms of schizophrenia are additional experiences beyond those of ordinary existence
• Hallucinations:
  • unusual sensory experiences
  • some hallucinations are related to events in the environment, others bear no relationship to what thye senses are picking up from the environment
  • hallucinations can be experienced in relation to any sense
• Delusions:
  • delusions are irrational beliefs
  • grandeur delusions
  • persecutory delusions
  • delusions involving believing that they are under external control
  • delusions can make a sufferer behave in ways that make sense to them but seem bizarre to others

Negative symptoms

• Negative symptoms involve the loss of usual abilities and experiences
• Avolition:
  • finding it difficult to begin or keep up with goal-directed activity
  • sufferers of schizophrenia often have sharply reduced motivation to carry out a range of activities
  • poor…