introduction to sz

• classification of mental disorder is the process of organising symptoms into categories based on which frequently cluster together
• schizophrenia is a mental disorder where contact with reality is impaired impacts around 1% of the population mainly men
• schizophrenia is a mental disorder where contact with reality is impaired impacts around 1% of the population mainly men
• schizophrenia both positive and negative symptoms:

  • positive symptoms inc hallucinations and delusions. these symptoms add to the experience of life
  • negative symptoms inc speech poverty and avolition. these symptoms remove from the experience of life
• co morbidity is the occurence of two disorders together
• symptom overlap is when two or more conditions share symptoms questions validity of diagnosing seperately
• + reliability. reliability=consistency. different clinicians reach same diagnosis for same person and test the person on two seperate ocassions. Previously dsm low reliability but has improved. osorio 2019 180 ppl diagnosed using dsm-5. +.97 inter rater +.92 test retest reliability. means dsm-5 can consistently be applied
• -validity. validity assessing what supposed to assess. chienaux 2009 2 psychiatrists independently assess same 100 pps using icd and dsm-4 and found 68 diagnosed icd, 39 dsm. suggests sz is either under or over diagnosed, so either way has low validity
• -co morbidity. leads to doubt over the validity over the classification and diagnosis as they may just be one condition. sz is often diagnosed alongside substance abuse and addiction. this is a problem because sz does not exist as one distinct condition.
• -gender bias. 1980s men diagnosed more than female ratio 4:1 fischer and buckner 2017. explanation women less vulnerable than men due to genetic factors. but seems more likely that women are underdiagnosed as they have a better support system therefore able to manage symptoms better cotton 2009. this means that women do not receive the correct treatment.
• -culture bias. symtoms such as hearing voices means different things in different cultures. Haiti believes its their ancestors communicating with them. British ppl of African Carribean origin 9x more likely to receive a diagnosis as white british ppl pinto and jones 2008 althoughb ppl living african- carribean countries not rule out genetic vulnerability. most likely explanation culture bias diagnosis of ppl by psychiatrists from different cultural background. means british african carribean ppl discriminated againist
• -symptom overlap other conditions. sz and bipolar often involve symptoms such as delusions and avolition. it terms of classification it suggests one seperate conditions but two different variations. in terms of diagnosis means hard to distinguish from bipolar. means that sz not a distinct condition.