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Illustrated Health Encyclopedia
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Ency. home > Disease > S > Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia   

Overview | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention

Symptoms

Catatonic type:

  • motor disturbances
  • stupor
  • negativism
  • rigidity
  • excitement
  • may be unable to take care of personal needs
  • decreased sensitivity to painful stimulus

Paranoid type:

  • delusional thoughts of a persecution or grandiose nature
  • anxiety
  • anger
  • violence
  • argumentative

Disorganized type:

  • incoherence (not understandable)
  • regressive behavior
  • flat affect
  • delusions
  • hallucinations
  • inappropriate laughter
  • mannerisms
  • social withdrawal

Undifferentiated type:

  • may have symptoms of more than one subtype of schizophrenia

Residual type:

  • the prominent symptoms of the illness have abated but some features, such as hallucinations and flat affect, may remain

Signs and Tests

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 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 (such as enlarged ventricles in the brain) and may rule out other neurophysiological disorders.

Ency. home > Disease > S > Schizophrenia

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