schizophrenia

• what is schizophrenia?


  a mental disorder characterised by disorganised patterns of thinking
• what is meant by 'classification of mental disorder'?

  the process of characterising mental disorders into categories based on shared characteristics
• name the two main classification systems of mental health

  DSM-5

  ICD-10
• outline what is meant by positive symptoms of schizophrenia


  symptoms that are experienced IN ADDITION to normal experiences
• name two examples of positive symptoms of schizophrenia

  hallucinations

  delusions
• what are hallucinations?


  false SENSORY EXPERIENCES of stimuli

  they either have no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are present in their environment
• give an example of a hallucination

  hearing voices
• what are delusions?


  BELIEFS that have no basis in reality

  eg. feelings of persecution, feeling as though you are under external control
• outline what is meant by negative symptoms of schizophrenia

  symptoms that represent the LOSS of a usual experience
• name two examples of negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

  speech poverty

  avolition
• what is meant by speech poverty?

  changes in patterns of speech - reduced quality and frequency of speech
• what is meant by avolition?

  lack of motivation to begin or keep up with goal directed activities resulting in lowered activity levels

  3 identifying signs: poor hygiene, lack of energy, lack of persistence in work/education
• what is meant by reliability?

  the extent to which a test gives consistent results
• what is meant by inter-rater reliability?

  the extent to which different assessors agree on their assessments and arrive at the same diagnosis for an individual
• discuss reliability in the diagnosis of schizophrenia

  - Beck: in a review of 153 patients who had been diagnosed by multiple doctors found only a 54% concordance rate between doctors assessments

  --> this suggests there is a low inter-rater reliability in the diagnosis of sz and suggests many people may have been misdiagnosed leading to inappropriate treatment
• what is meant by validity?


  the extent to which we are measuring what we are intending to measure
• discuss validity in the diagnosis of schizophrenia

  - criterion validity - do different assessment systems arrive at the same diagnosis?

  - Cheniaux study shoes how sz is more likely to be diagnosed using ICD than DSM, suggesting the DSM is either under diagnosing or ICD is overdiagnosing --> suggests poor validity
• co-morbidity


  the occurrence of two disorders together
• in the context of schizophrenia, outline what is meant by co-morbidity

  when 2 conditions are frequently diagnosed together this questions the validity of their classification and diagnosis because they might be a single condition
• explain Buckley's (2009) research into co-morbidity

  found the following co-morbidity rates with sz:

  . depression 50%

  . drug abuse 47%

  . PTSD 29%

  . OCD 23%

  --> this suggets that the original diagnosis of sz may be in error if the disorders share symptoms --> weakness of classification and diagnosis
• symptom overlap


  occurs when 2 or more conditions share symptoms
• explain how symptom overlap may lead to problems in the classification or diagnosis of schizophrenia

  where conditions share many symptoms, this calls into question the validity of the theory

  - eg. both sz and bipolar have the same positive symptom of hallucinations and the same negative symptom of avolition --> this calls into question the validity of the classification and diagnosis of sz and may suggest sz and bipolar may be one condition not 2
• explain the issue of gender bias in the diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia

  gender bias: when men and women receive different treatment towards the same condition

  - longnecker found men are more often diagnoses with sz than women

  --> suggests that there is gender bias in the diagnosis of sz

  --> cotton et al - found women function better than men (more likely to work + have better family relationships) --> masks symptoms of sz explaining why women are under diagnosed
• explain the issue of culture bias in the diagnosis and classification of schizophrenia

  - afro-carribeans in the UK are up to 9x more likely to be diagnosed with sz - as rates aren't as high in their native countries it shows how it isn't genetic vulnerability but culture bias

  - western definitions of mental illnesses are applied to non-western cultures eg. hearing voices of ancestors may be a religious experience in the West Indies but an auditory hallucination in the uk
• what is schizophrenia?


  a mental disorder characterised by disorganised patterns of thinking
• what is meant by 'classification of mental disorder'?

  the process of characterising mental disorders into categories based on shared characteristics
• name the two main classification systems of mental health

  DSM-5

  ICD-10
• outline what is meant by positive symptoms of schizophrenia

  symptoms that are experienced IN ADDITION to normal experiences
• name two examples of positive symptoms of schizophrenia

  hallucinations

  delusions
• what are hallucinations?


  false SENSORY EXPERIENCES of stimuli

  they either have no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are present in their environment
• give an example of a hallucination

  hearing voices
• what are delusions?


  BELIEFS that have no basis in reality

  eg. feelings of persecution, feeling as though you are under external control
• outline what is meant by negative symptoms of schizophrenia

  symptoms that represent the LOSS of a usual experience
• name two examples of negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

  speech poverty

  avolition
• what is meant by speech poverty?

  changes in patterns of speech - reduced quality and frequency of speech
• what is meant by avolition?

  lack of motivation to begin or keep up with goal directed activities resulting in lowered activity levels

  3 identifying signs: poor hygiene, lack of energy, lack of persistence in work/education
• what is meant by reliability?

  the extent to which a test gives consistent results
• what is meant by inter-rater reliability?

  the extent to which different assessors agree on their assessments and arrive at the same diagnosis for an individual
• discuss reliability in the diagnosis of schizophrenia

  - Beck: in a review of 153 patients who had been diagnosed by multiple doctors found only a 54% concordance rate between doctors assessments

  --> this suggests there is a low inter-rater reliability in the diagnosis of sz and suggests many people may have been misdiagnosed leading to inappropriate treatment
• what is meant by validity?

  the extent to which we are measuring what we are intending to measure