Schizophrenia

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Schizophrenia

Overview Symptoms Treatment Prevention

Schizophrenia

Catatonic type:

• Motor disturbances
• Stupor
• Negativism
• Rigidity
• Agitation
• Inability to take care of personal needs
• Decreased sensitivity to painful stimulus

Paranoid type:

• Delusional thoughts of persecution or of a grandiose nature
• Anxiety
• Anger
• Violence
• Argumentativeness

Disorganized type:

• Incoherence (not understandable)
• Regressive behavior
• Flat affect
• Delusions
• Hallucinations
• Inappropriate laughter
• Repetitive mannerisms
• Social withdrawal

Undifferentiated type: Patient may have symptoms of more than one subtype of schizophrenia.

Residual type: Prominent symptoms of the illness have abated, but some features - such as hallucinations and flat affect - may remain.

Because other diseases can also cause symptoms of psychosis, psychiatrists should make the final diagnosis. The diagnosis is made based on a thorough psychiatric interview of the person and family members. As yet, there are no defining medical tests for schizophrenia. The following factors may suggest a schizophrenia diagnosis, but do not confirm it:

• Developmental background
• Genetic and family history
• Changes from level of functioning prior to illness
• Course of illness and duration of symptoms
• Response to pharmacological therapy

CT scans of the head and other imaging techniques may identify some changes associated with schizophrenia in the research literature and may rule out other neurophysiological disorders.

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