schizophrenia spectrum

• Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions, and behaviors.
• Schizophrenic patients are typically unable to filter sensory stimuli and may have enhanced perceptions of sounds, colors, and other features of their environment.
• Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders include schizophrenia, other psychotic disorders, and schizotypal (personality) disorder.
• The five domains of abnormalities in schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking/speech, grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior (including catatonia), and negative symptoms.
• A leading neurobiological hypothesis looks at the connection between the disease and excessive levels of dopamine, a chemical that transmits signals in the brain (neurotransmitter).
• Agitation, not influenced by external stimuli is defined as a state of constant motor activity with no apparent goal.
• Grimacing is defined as a facial expression characterized by tightening of the muscles around the eyes and mouth.
• Posturing is defined as spontaneous and active maintenance of a posture against gravity.
• Echolalia is defined as mimicking another’s speech.
• Negativism is defined as opposition or no response to instructions or external stimuli.
• Stereotypy is defined as repetitive, abnormally frequent, non-goal-directed movements.
• Mannerism is defined as an odd, circumstantial caricature of normal actions.
• Mutism is defined as no, or very little, verbal response, excluding aphasia.
• Echopraxia is defined as mimicking another’s movements.
• The genetic factor in schizophrenia has been underscored by recent findings that first-degree biological relatives of schizophrenics are ten times as likely to develop the disorder as are members of the general population.
• Several generations of psychotherapists advanced a number of psychoanalytic and sociological theories about the origins of schizophrenia.
• Psychosocial factors are now thought to influence the expression or severity of schizophrenia rather than cause it directly.
• Migration is a social factor that is known to influence people's susceptibility to psychosis.
• Apart from the impact of the delusion(s) or its ramifications, functioning is not markedly impaired, and behavior is not obviously bizarre or odd.
• Somatic type of Delusional Disorder involves bodily functions or sensations, such as the belief that one emits a foul odor from the body, or that the skin is infested with insects.
• Diagnostic Criteria (DSM 5) for Delusional Disorder include the presence of one (or more) delusions with a duration of 1 month or longer, and the criterion for schizophrenia has never been met.
• Hallucinations, if present, are not prominent and are related to the delusional theme, such as the sensation of being infested with insects associated with delusions of infestation.
• Jealous type of Delusional Disorder involves the belief that your spouse or lover is unfaithful, based on incorrect inferences based on small bits of “evidence” which are used to justify the delusion.
• Grandiose type of Delusional Disorder involves the belief that you have some great (but unrecognized) talent, insight, or discovery, or a special relationship with a prominent person, and some grandiose delusions are religious, such as “God gave me a special message”.
• The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or an other medical condition and is not better explained by another mental disorder, such as body dysmorphic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• If manic or major depressive episodes have occurred, these have been brief relative to the duration of the delusional periods.
• Persecutory type of Delusional Disorder involves the belief that you are being conspired against, cheated, spied on, followed, poisoned, or harassed, and the person may file legal actions or appeal to courts or government agencies.
• Erotomanic type of Delusional Disorder involves the belief that someone else is in love with you, usually of higher status but may be a complete stranger, and efforts to contact the person (and even stalking) are common.
• Schizophrenia is characterized by two or more of the following: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms.
• Substance/Medication-Induced Psychotic Disorder is not better explained by a psychotic disorder that is not substance/medication-induced.
• Substance/Medication-Induced Psychotic Disorder is also characterized by symptoms that meet criteria for a major mood episode being present for the majority of the total duration of the active and residual portions of the illness.
• Catatonia Associated With Another Mental Disorder (Catatonia Specifier) is characterized by stupor, catalepsy, waxy flexibility, or a combination of these.
• Schizoaffective Disorder is characterized by an uninterrupted period of illness during which there is a major mood episode (major depressive or manic) concurrent with Criterion A of schizophrenia.
• Substance/Medication-Induced Psychotic Disorder is characterized by the presence of delusions or hallucinations for 2 or more weeks in the absence of a major mood episode (depressive or manic) during the lifetime duration of the illness.
• Schizophrenia is a disorder where continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months.
• Schizophreniform Disorder is an episode of the disorder that lasts at least 1 month but less than 6 months.
• Psychiatrists in Europe have noted the increasing rate of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders among immigrants to almost all Western European countries.
• Black immigrants from Africa or the Caribbean appear to be especially vulnerable to schizophrenia.
• Rarely, speech may be so severely disorganized that it is nearly incomprehensible and linguistic disorganization (incoherence or "word salad") may occur.
• Hallucinations are perception-like experiences that occur without an external stimulus.