Schizophrenia

Cards (19)

  • Schizophrenia in the Population
    • Affects about 1% of the population.
    • Symptoms first show in mid to late adolescence.
  • Psychological Classification of SZ
    • ICD-10 needs 2 or more negative symptoms.
    • DSK-5 needs only 1 positive symptom and 1 negative symptom.
  • Types of SZ
    • Paranoid SZ is characterised by powerful delusions and hallucinations
    • Hebephrenic SZ involves mainly negative symptoms.
    • Catatonic SZ involves disturbances in movement, leaving the sufferer immobile.
  • Positive Symptoms of SZ
    • Symptoms that are not present in non-schizophrenic individuals and include hallucinations and delusions.
  • Negative Symptoms
    • The loss of usual abilities and experiences, such as a volition and speech poverty.
  • Cheniaux et al. (2009)
    • 100 patients were diagnosed by independent psychiatrists using both ICD-11 and DMS-5.
    • Results showed poor reliability,
  • Validity of SZ Diagnosis
    • Diagnosis suffers form a number of validity issues, including : Co-morbidity ; Symptom overlap ; Gender Bias ; Cultural Bias.
  • Co-Morbidity
    • The extent which two or more conditions occur together, calling into question the validity of diagnosis.
    • It could be that very severe depression can present as schizophrenia because the signs look a lot like it.
  • Buckley et al. (2009)
    • Found that around half of all patients diagnosed with SZ also had a diagnosis of depression. This factor is called into question the ability to tell the difference between the two conditions and diagnose accurately.
  • Symptom Overlap
    • Refers to the extent to which the symptoms of one disorder are also present in a different disorder.
    • E.G: SZ and Bipolar both include symptoms such as delusions and avolition.
  • Gender Bias SZ
    • A disproportionate number of men are diagnosed with SZ in comparison to women.
  • Cotton et al. (2009)
    • While it could be that men are more commonly diagnosed as they are genetically vulnerable, it may be that women are able to function better with the disorder than men.
  • Cultural Bias SZ
    • A higher number of African American and Afro-Caribbean descent are diagnosed with SZ compared to in Africa and the West Indies.
    • Some African cultures have different attitudes to some positive symptoms, such as hearing voices, which may be acceptable due to their believes with communicating to ancestors.
  • Escobar (2012)
    • Because the psychiatric profession is dominated by white people, psychiatrists might be over-interpreting symptoms and distrusting the honesty of black people for diagnosis.
  • Māori Culture
    • Some symptoms of schizophrenia are seen as acceptable in some cultures. For example, a study of 80 Māori people showed they deemed hearing voices to be completely normal.
  • Pinto et al (2017).
    • Investigate the risk of schizophrenia in Black Caribbean people and their descendants, as a meta-analysis of databases from 1950-2013.
    • Elevated incidence rates in Black Caribbean groups were found, present across all major psychotic disorders.
  • Copeland et al (1971).
    • An investigation into cultural variations in the diagnosis of schizophrenia.
    • In an experiment, Copeland (1971) gave 134 US and 194 British psychiatrists a description of a patient.
    • 69% of the US psychiatrists diagnosed SZ but only 2% of the British ones gave the same diagnosis.
    • Diagnosis of SZ in not reliable between cultures.
  • Family Dysfunction
    • Family relations, communication patterns and though processes that do not support upbringing.
  • Theory of Expressed Emotion SZ
    • If family of high levels of negative expressed emotion cause greta deals of stress, this can be an initial onset factor for schizophrenia.
    • This is also correlated to relapses in SZ patients.