Symptoms - Schizophrenia

• Hallucinations are sensory experiences that are not based in reality, such as hearing voices or seeing things that are not there.
• Delusions are false beliefs that are not based in reality, such as believing that someone is trying to harm you or that you have special powers.
• The symptoms of schizophrenia can be broken down into two categories; positive and negative.
• Positive symptoms of schizophrenia are additional experiences that are beyond those of ordinary existence. Examples include hallucinations which can be visual or auditory, and delusions.
• Hallucinations are sensory experiences that are not based in reality, such as hearing voices or seeing things that are not there.
• Hallucinations are a positive symptom of schizophrenia and are sensory experiences that either have no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are there.
• Hallucinations are sensory experiences that patients with schizophrenia experience such as seeing distortions in objects, apparitions or hearing voices.
• Hallucinations are perceptual disturbances in schizophrenia.
• Hallucinations that are auditory involve hearing voices.
• Hallucinations that are visual involve seeing things that do not exist.
• Hallucinations can be experienced in relation to any of the five senses.
• Delusions are false beliefs that are not based in reality, such as believing that someone is trying to harm you or that you have special powers.
• Delusions are distorted or irrational beliefs that patients with schizophrenia experience about themselves or the world, such as feelings of persecution or grandeur.
• Delusions can include paranoia and irrational thought processes and these can take a range of forms.
• Delusions are cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia.
• Delusions of persecution are common in patients with schizophrenia.
• Delusions of control involve patients thinking other people are controlling them.
• Delusions of grandeur involve patients thinking they have a higher status than others, some may protest to be a king or queen.
• Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are when patients experience a loss of normal experiences and abilities. Examples are avolition, speech poverty or an inability to communicate fluently.
• Avolition which is sometimes called apathy is a negative symptom of schizophrenia. It is described as finding difficulty in goal directed activity.
• Andreasen (1982) identified three signs of avolition; poor hygiene and grooming, lack of persistence in work or education and a lack of energy.
• Avolition is a negative symptom of schizophrenia which involves a lack of motivation to carry out tasks and results in lowered activity levels.
• Avolition is a fatigue like symptom where patients show a lack of personal care and an inability to make plans.
• Affective flattening is a negative symptom of schizophrenia where patients show a lack of emotion or demonstrate inappropriate emotional responses.
• Avolition and affective flattening are emotional characteristics of schizophrenia.
• Schizophrenia is characterised by changes in patterns of speech.
• Speech poverty is a negative symptom of schizophrenia which involves reduced frequency and quality of speech.
• Speech poverty is seen as a negative symptom because the emphasis is on reduction in the amount and quality of speech in schizophrenia. This is sometimes accompanied by a delay in the person's verbal responses during a conversation.
• With schizophrenia patients can experience speech disorganisation where they become incoherent or change topic mid-sentence.
• Language impairments such as alogia and echolalia are negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
• Alogia is the lessening of speech as described in speech poverty.
• Echolalia is a negative symptom of schizophrenia where patients copy sounds from the environment around them. It can also be the meaningless repetition of words.
• Some patients with schizophrenia show behavioural disturbances which affect their psychomotor ability. They may lose control of their muscles or hold posture positions for a long period of time (catatonic behaviour).