Symptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophrenia - 1354 Words

CHARACTERISTICS SYMPTOMS Catatonia Inappropriate responses Positive: Hallucinations Delusions Disorganised thought processes, speech and behaviour Negative: Avolition (lack of energy/interest) Lack of expression Social withdrawal Lack of motivation Alogia (reduction in speech) Anhedonia (lack of pleasure) Inattention DIAGNOSIS Based on a full psychiatric evaluation Symptoms have been present for at least 6 months, with two or more active symptoms for at least 1 month Symptoms have significantly impaired the patient’s daily functioning Symptoms are not a result of another diagnosis such as a mental illness or drug use OTHER INFORMATION 1 in 100 people will develop schizophrenia Males are more likely to suffer than females Age of onset is†¦show more content†¦rment Participants of an experiment who had a genetic predisposition had a 24% chance of developing schizophrenia, compared to those without the predisposition (6%) Increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and may cause it at an earlier age Substance abuse does not cause schizophrenia but is connected to relapse and can increase the risk CHANGES IN BRAIN ACTIVITY fMRI and PET results have shown differences in brain activity and size of the brain, commonly in the frontal lobes (particularly prefrontal cortex), hippocampus and temporal lobes, as well as enlarged ventricles Areas associated with emotions, thinking and information processing - behaviours that are disorganised in schizophrenia patients Patients with negative symptoms will have decreased cognitive functioning of processes associated with the prefrontal cortex FRONTAL LOBES: schizophrenics have a decreased ability to screen out irrelevant stimuli, a function of the frontal lobe, and thus there is decreased activity Also have impaired planning, reasoning and decision making, functions of the frontal lobe HIPPOCAMPUS AND TEMPORAL LOBES: delusions and hallucinations may be as a result of decreased activity to these areas, as they are responsible for processing sensory inputs DOPAMINE TREATMENT Hypothesis that the positive symptoms are caused by excessive dopamine in the brain or an overreaction of the dopamine receptor sites Phenothiazine drugs (block dopamine) may reduce psychotic