WJEC Psychology: Schizophrenia

Loss of contact with reality = difficulty distinguishing thoughts & perceptions from reality.

1 in 100 people in England & Wales experience schizophrenia.

15-35 years.

Both are affected; the notes describe equal rates & later diagnosis in women. These are simplified background claims, not universal rules.

Around 10-15 years later than men. Treat this as the figure quoted in your notes, not a fixed difference for everyone.

Periods of more severe symptoms can alternate with periods of fewer or no symptoms.

1-6 months. Actual duration varies & full recovery between episodes is not guaranteed.

Positive & negative symptoms.

Experiences or behaviours added to usual functioning, e.g. hallucinations & delusions. Positive does not mean beneficial.

Hallucinations, delusions & disordered thinking.

Reduction or loss of usual functioning, e.g. reduced speech, motivation or emotional expression.

Alogia, avolition, anhedonia & flatness of affect. The notes also group catatonic behaviour here, but catatonia is a separate psychomotor feature.

A sensory perception without a corresponding external stimulus, experienced as real.

Auditory = hearing; visual = seeing; tactile = touch sensations.

Feeling a touch or bodily sensation without a corresponding external stimulus.

20% of individuals with schizophrenia experience tactile hallucinations.

A crawling sensation, such as bugs on or under the skin; given as an example of a tactile hallucination.

A firmly held false belief maintained despite contradictory evidence, considered in the person's cultural context.

Delusions of persecution & delusions of grandiosity.

Belief that others intend to harm, threaten or persecute the individual.

Believing others are plotting to harm you despite no supporting evidence.

Belief that one has exceptional importance, power or a special identity.

Believing you are 'the chosen one'.

Hallucinations = sensory perceptions; delusions = beliefs.

Disorganised thought patterns, with ideas jumping between topics without clear logical connections.

Speech becomes difficult to follow, so the intended message may be unclear.

The individual may struggle to express themselves & others may struggle to understand them.

Belief that thoughts have been placed in one's mind by an outside source & are not one's own.

It involves attributing thoughts to an outside source; unwanted thoughts alone do not establish thought insertion.

Poverty of speech = reduced amount or content of speech.

Brief, limited replies with little elaboration.

Reduced motivation to begin or maintain purposeful, goal-directed activities.

Little drive to participate in activities or work towards goals; the person may appear indifferent.

Reduced ability to experience pleasure from normally enjoyable activities.

Avolition = reduced motivation; anhedonia = reduced pleasure.

Reduced outward expression of emotion.

Limited facial expressions & monotonous speech.

They show little emotion outwardly. This does not necessarily mean they feel no emotion internally.

Marked disturbance of movement or responsiveness, ranging from excessive, purposeless activity to immobility.

Repetitive pacing in circles without a clear purpose.

Remaining immobile for an extended period.

Imitation of another person's movements.

DSM-5 & ICD-10. These are the editions discussed in this PDF.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Classification & diagnosis of mental disorders; primarily associated with the USA.

International Classification of Diseases.

ICD covers physical & mental health conditions; DSM focuses on mental disorders.

Internationally, including the UK.

Continuous signs of disturbance for at least 6 months, including an active symptom period. This does not mean every symptom must persist for 6 months.

Characteristic symptoms present for most of the time for at least 1 month.

At least 1 very clear symptom from groups (a)-(d), or symptoms from at least 2 groups (e)-(h), for the required duration.

The two lists contain specified symptom groups. The second includes hallucinations, thought disorder, catatonia & negative symptoms; it is not exclusively negative symptoms.

Thought echo & certain persistent delusions or characteristic auditory hallucinations. Not every hallucination or delusion automatically fulfils this grouping.

Experiencing one's own thoughts as repeated or echoed aloud.

Newly invented words with an idiosyncratic meaning, often difficult for others to understand.

No. They are associated with disorganised speech/thought disorder; the PDF's grouping is misleading.

They may indicate a mood disorder or schizoaffective disorder; the timing of psychotic & mood symptoms matters.

Bipolar disorder & schizoaffective disorder.

Diagnostic criteria; lack of insight; stigma; depression/comorbidity; whether schizophrenia is a single valid diagnostic category.

Criteria differ between classification systems & can change over time, so studies may recruit different types of participants.

The notes contrast ICD use in the UK with DSM use in the USA.

Findings from one diagnostic system or setting may not apply to people diagnosed using different criteria, limiting external validity.

Difficulty recognising that one's experiences may be symptoms of a disorder.

The experiences or beliefs feel real to the individual, so they may not recognise them as symptoms.

Some participants may struggle to explain their experiences, making it harder for researchers to understand them accurately.

It may affect understanding of the study & informed consent. A schizophrenia diagnosis does not automatically mean someone cannot consent.

Understanding & willingness may change as symptoms fluctuate; researchers must check continued informed, voluntary participation.

Misleading portrayals can reinforce misunderstanding, stereotypes & prejudice about schizophrenia.

Prejudice & devaluation of mental health may reduce support for research funding.

Cultural or social stereotypes may influence how symptoms, behaviour or findings are interpreted.

Behaviour in minority or non-Western groups may be wrongly labelled pathological when cultural context is overlooked.

Two or more distinct conditions occurring in the same individual.

Clinical depression.

50% of patients with schizophrenia also have a diagnosis of clinical depression.

Features such as reduced motivation & pleasure can overlap, making their cause difficult to distinguish.

No. Overlap = shared features; comorbidity = both distinct conditions are present.

Improvement may reflect changes in depression, schizophrenia or both, making the treatment's specific effect harder to identify.

It may group diverse symptom patterns together rather than identify one clearly unified disorder.

R. D. Laing.

They associate him with the view that schizophrenia is socially constructed rather than a single physical disease. This is a critical perspective, not an established fact.

People sharing the diagnosis may have very different difficulties, so findings may not describe one common underlying condition.

Study & address specific symptoms rather than assuming everyone with the same label has identical problems.

No. The criticism concerns classification & whether it represents one unified disorder, not whether people experience real distress.