basics

Schizophrenia

Mental Health

Hey! The first week and half has been super busy for me. BUT I’M BACK! And it’s May, Mental Health Awareness Month. I wanted to talk about Schizophrenia this week. I will be using some of the information from my paper.

The feature picture is a series of paintings of cats by Louis Wain showing varying levels of the painter episodes.

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder. Psychotic disorders are mental illnesses that cause atypical perceptions and thinking that make one lose touch with reality. The DSM-5 characterizes schizophrenia by symptoms of hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior, and other symptoms that cause social and occupational dysfunction.

Signs and Symptoms

Hallucinations

An hallucination is an illusion that a person perceives that is not present to others. There are five types of hallucinations: auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, and taste. The subtypes are based on your senses. People with schizophrenia are often associated with having auditory hallucinations.

Delusions

Delusion is an unrealistic belief that a person considers true. Delusions can be characterized as either bizarre and non-bizarre delusions.

1. 1. Bizarre delusions are things that can never happen in reality.
  2. Non-bizarre delusions are circumstances that could happen.

The subtypes of delusions involve a particular theme: persecutory, erotomanic, grandiose, somatic, and referential (Hickman, 2019).

1. 1. Persecutory delusion is when there is no evidence to support others are trying to harm them. It includes the belief that he or she is being spied on by their neighbors or might be drugged by their government.
  2. The next delusion is the erotomanic delusion. Erotomanic delusion is when the person believes that a celebrity or prominent figure is in love with them.
  3. Grandiose originates from the Italian word “grandioso,” meaning large or big. People with grandiose delusion exaggerate their abilities and qualities are better than others despite any proof and treat them as second-rate (Smith, 2019).
  4. Somatic delusions perceive that they have a physical injury or medical problem.
  5. A delusion of reference is a misguided belief, gestures, or behavioral cues that have a latent meaning directed to the person.

Disorganized Speech, Thoughts and Behavior

Disorganized speech (Tellian, 2015) characterized by a collection of speech abnormalities that it is difficult for another person to comprehend. Disorganized speech comes from disorganized thoughts. A person with schizophrenia can have several types of disorganized thoughts: derailment, circumstantial, tangential, clang, and incoherence (Preda, 2019).

1. 1. Derailment thoughts are also known as loose associations; the individual thoughts jump from topic to topic with almost no connection to each other.
  2. Circumstantial thinking is the individual takes a long time getting to the point by giving unnecessary and excessive details.
  3. Tangential thinking is responding to a question in an irrelevant way.
  4. Clang associations are words chosen based on how they sound than what the meaning is.
  5. Incoherence, known as word salad, makes it hard for anyone to understand the person with schizophrenia thought process. These thoughts could impair their ability to interact with others, work, and take care of themselves (Smith, 2019).

Disorganized behavior could be inappropriate responses like laughing during a funeral.

Negative Symptoms

Negative does not mean “bad,” but it refers to the absence or lack of normal functioning. Though the DSM-5 describes negative symptoms as “restricted emotional expression and avolition.” However, the National Institute of Mental Health Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia consensus panel has recently defined schizophrenia with five negative symptoms: flattened affect, alogia, avolition, anhedonia, and asociality (Mitria et al., 2016).

1. 1. Alogia is the poverty of speech and the decrease in verbal output (trouble speaking) or verbal expression.
  2. The absence of emotional expression is called flattened affect.
    - Some signs of flat affects include dull voice, neutral facial expression, and many other symptoms.
  3. Avolition is losing the drive to execute goal-oriented tasks like feeling drained to not tend to their hygiene.
  4. The inability to experience pleasure in things they once enjoyed is called anhedonia.
  5. The last negative symptom is asociality, lacking involvement in any social relationship (Mitria et al., 2016).

Next post will be on measuring the Positive and Negative Symptoms.

References

Mitra, S., Mahintamani, T., Kavoor, A. R., & Mizamie, S. H. (2016). Negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 25(2), 135-144. doi:10.4103/ipj.ipj_30_15

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, May). Schizophrenia. Retrieved November 04, 2019, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia.shtml

Preda, A., & Gans, S. (2019, September 07). The difference between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Retrieved November 03, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/schizophrenia-versus-schizoaffective-disorder-2953129

Preda, A., MD, & Gans, S., MD. (2019, July 23). What are the positive symptoms in schizophrenia? Retrieved November 02, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/positive-symptoms-in-schizophrenia-2953124

Smith, K. (2019, July 17). Schizophrenia: Understanding hallucinations and delusions. Retrieved November 03, 2019, from https://www.psycom.net/schizophrenia-hallucinations-delusions/

Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, J. (2019, June 11). Schizophrenia symptoms and coping tips. Retrieved November 02, 2019, from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/schizophrenia-signs-and-symptoms.htm

Telloian, C., & Swaim, E. (Eds.). (2015, August 06). Disorganized speech. Retrieved October 31, 2019, from https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/disorganized-speech

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