WHAT IS IT?
The video above provides a short and accurate explanation of the disorder.
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Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is characterized by its inclusion of a variety of dysfunctions – both cognitive and emotional – such as hallucinations, erratic behavior and speech, delusions, among many others. According to the American Psychiatric Organization, approximately one percent of the population is affected by this disorder. Although the percentage of people that suffer from this condition is not very high, this disorder causes clinically significant distress on the afflicted and it has impactful effects on the people that surround them (family, friends, loved ones, etc.).
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Historically, this disorder has been difficult to identify, treat, and even define. Not only are the exact causes of this disorder unknown, but each patient diagnosed with Schizophrenia displays very different symptoms. Usually, for other disorders, specific behaviors, thought patterns, or emotions define and/or characterize the disorder. Contrarily, Schizophrenia does not have a specific "indicator" that gives away the presence of this disorder. Because of this, the disorder criteria for Schizophrenia is a number of behaviors/symptoms that are not shared by all people diagnosed with this disorder.
To simplify the categorization of these symptoms, clinicians and researchers have clustered symptoms into a few distinct categories:
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1. Positive Symptoms: Overt symptoms that "add" experiences, behaviors, or thoughts
- Delusions: Delusions are belief systems or thought patterns that are common in patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia. There are a few common delusions in patients with this disorder: delusions of grandeur (belief that one is famous, powerful, or highly influential), delusions of persecution (belief that others are "out to get them"), Capgras syndrome (belief that a known person has been replaced with a double), and even Cotard's Syndrome (belief that one is dead).
- Hallucinations: Hallucinations are sensory experiences such as sounds, sights, and even smells when in reality there is no environmental stimuli that can account for those experiences. Common hallucinations in patients with Schizophrenia are auditory hallucinations (hearing voices or sounds that are not there) of people close to them or even their own voice saying spiteful things, inciting violence, or maybe just saying the person's thoughts aloud. Researchers suspect that the reason for this is that patients with Schizophrenia cannot differentiate between their own thoughts and their own voices, and they therefore attribute voices to their thoughts. Visual hallucinations are also present in people with the disorder. For instance, in the TEDx video on the homepage, Cecilia McGough shares her experiences with seeing a clown wherever she goes.
2. Negative Symptoms: Characteristics that are "missing" from the person (covert)
- Avolition, Alogia, Anhedonia, and Flat affect
(see bottom for definitions)
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3. Disorganized Symptoms: Erratic behaviors that affect speech, motor affinity, and emotion
- Disorganized Speech: Communication problems that many patients with Schizophrenia demonstrate. These speech patterns are characterized by jumping from topic to topic, talking illogically, going off on a tangent instead of answering questions, or loosely associating topics when conversing.
- Inappropriate Affect: Displaying emotions that are incongruent or inappropriate. An example would be laughing uncontrollably at a funeral.
- Catatonic Symptoms: Motor dysfunctions that can range from excessive agitation to immobility (such as cataplexy: when patients keep their bodies and limbs in the position they are put in by someone else).
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*** It is important not to confuse this disorder with psychosis; psychosis is the collection of symptoms that result in detachment from reality. Psychosis is not diagnosed; it is, however, related to psychotic disorders.
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Important Terminology:
Hallucinations: sensory experiences where there is an absence of environmental stimuli
Delusions: belief system that would be seen by most people as a misrepresentation of reality
Catatonia: Disorganized movement; immobility or excessive agitation
Avolition: Little-to-no interest in performing self-driven activities
Alogia: Relative absence of speech
Anhedonia: A lack of pleasure from activities that would usually bring about pleasure (eating, sex, etc.)
Flat affect: A lack of physical response upon emotional cues
Inappropriate affect: Displaying emotional responses that are inappropriate for the situation
- Green, Hank. (2014). Schizophrenia & Dissociative Disorders. CrashCourse. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/uxktavpRdzU
- Barlow, David H., & Durand, V. Mark. (2015). Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders. In T. Klonoski (Ed.), Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. Seventh Edition (477). Stamford, U.S.A.: Cengage Learning.
- Parekh, Ranna. (2017). What is Schizophrenia? American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved from: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/schizophrenia/what-is-schizophrenia