Characteristics

• Kurt Schneider (1959)


  Suggested categorising symptoms of scz as either positive or negative.
• What are positive symptoms?


  Symptoms or behaviours person exhibiting in addition to 'normal' behaviours. If they didn't have scz they wouldn't have this symptom. Include hallucinations, delusions & disordered thinking.
• What are negative symptoms?


  Symptoms or behaviours inhibiting people with scz from demonstrating 'normal' behaviours e.g, being unable to hold conversation. Include alogia, anhedonia, flatness of affect, avolition & catatonic behaviour.
• What are hallucinations?


  Perceptions that are unreal. Many report auditory hallucinations (hearing sounds & voices). Can present themselves in any sensory modality.
• Lewandowski et al (2009)


  Estimated 20% of people with scz have tactile hallucinations, whereby they are perceiving sensations as if someone or something is touching their skin. Formication= sensation that resembles small insects crawling on or under skin. Feels so real person initially can't appreciate experience is just hallucination.
• What are delusions?


  Beliefs that are unreal- usually experienced with no evidence to offer in support of the delusion. Many possible types- commonly held delusions are of persecution & grandiosity.
• What are delusions of persecution?


  Based on idea that person, group or organisation want to harm individual.
• What are delusions of grandiosity?


  Suggests person is special in some way, believes they're powerful, have superior knowledge or may assume identity of a particular historical figure, such as Winston Churchill.
• What is disordered thinking?


  Often evident through speech. Thoughts & discourse jump from 1 topic to another, for no apparent reason & show no logical flow of discussion. Comments may be hard to follow. Speech may be muddled & incoherent. Individuals with scz may report thoughts in their heads aren't their own (thought insertion. Believes thoughts have been placed by 3rd party).
• What is alogia?


  Poverty of speech- apart from reduction in amount of speech produced, people with Scz lack meaning (even simple/short answers can be a problem).
• What is avolition?


  People seem to be indifferent to or unconcerned with what's going on in surroundings- no desire or will to participate in activities. Can include work or personal activities. Distinct lack of goal-directed behaviour (can be perceived as disinterest by people unaware of diagnosis).
• What is anhedonia?


  Doesn't react appropriately to pleasurable experiences. E.g, rugby fan may not demonstrate any pleasure at their team winning.
• What is flatness of affect?

  Appear to have no emotion. May converse without usual emotional intonation & show little or no facial emotional expression. Behaviour can be interpreted by others as apathetic, as they don't emit same signals of emotion when in a group (e.g, won't smile or laugh when hearing joke). Speech patterns monotonous, & don't rise & fall as normal speech patterns do.
• What is catatonic behaviour?


  Can range from fast, repetitive, useless movements to little or no movement at all. May move for no discernible purpose, energetically pacing, wandering in circles. May make unexpected gestures & emit loud utterances. Echopraxia may occur (mimic movements of others around them). May remain immobile for prolonged periods of time in seemingly uncomfortable positions- if anyone tries to move them, they may resist or demonstrate waxy flexibility (limbs & body can be moved, but still maintain a rigid & unnatural posture). May adopt bizarre postures & facial contortions
• What are the general issues in researching Scz?

  Diagnostic criteria, lack of insight, stigma, depression & does 'Scz' even exist?