Classification of schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia (SZ) is diagnosed using the DSM or the ICD, with psychiatrists looking for positive and negative symptoms
• Positive symptoms of SZ include delusions (irrational beliefs) and hallucinations (auditory or visual perceptions of things that are not present)
• Negative symptoms of SZ include avolition (lack of desire), speech poverty, and thought disorders (breaks in trains of thought and illogical jumps from one topic to another)
• Strength of SZ diagnosis: provides practitioners with a classification framework for consistent diagnosis, aiding in communication of research ideas and drug development
• Weakness of SZ diagnosis: issues with criterion validity, with SZ more likely to be diagnosed under the ICD than the DSM, indicating poor validity of diagnosis
• Weakness of SZ classification: issues with comorbidity, such as SZ often coinciding with depression, raising questions about the classification of SZ
• Another weakness of SZ diagnosis is gender bias, where diagnostic criteria may be applied differently to males and females, potentially leading to under-diagnosis in certain groups
• Cultural bias in diagnosis is another issue, with certain cultures more likely to be over-diagnosed as SZ sufferers, indicating poor validity of diagnosis due to cultural beliefs and potential racial biases