Behaviour and symptoms of schizophrenia
Behaviour and symptoms of schizophrenia
Positive symptoms
Hallucinations: Hearing voices, seeing people or feeling strange sensations that are not real. Hallucinations are sensations that emerge without real external stimulus. Depending on the sensory system they could be visual, auditory, aromatic, tasteful, and bodily. Usually hallucinations are unpleasant experiences.
Delusions: Having strange beliefs which cannot be remedied by arguments. This can be paranoid/persecutory ideas (somebody has something against the person), ideas of guilt or worthlessness, religious ideas, pathological jealousy, ideas of having some disease, ideas of grandiosity, etc.
Confused thinking or disorganised speech: The way of thinking can appear without logical structure for a bystander. The speech sounds confused and unclear, sometimes with new word constructs or saying the same words or sentences over and over again. Often the speech is monotone. Communication is usually short.
Movement disorders: This can be numbness or agitation, strange mimics or postures
Negative symptoms
Problems in decision making: Usually there is ambivalence that makes all decisions difficult and that can happen with little everyday demands as well as with important life decisions. This can block most of the activities of the person.
Troubles in interpreting emotions or motives of others: Schizophrenia patients have difficulties recognizing emotional states in other people or can misinterpret them under the influence of delusions.
Suicidal thoughts: They should be taken very seriously. Up to 15% of schizophrenics commit suicide.
Loss of interest in things or activities: They have a problem with motivation for the activities even like everyday hygiene or daily routine.
Problem with emotions: There is a lack of expressiveness, lack of eye contacts. Expressed emotions can be paradoxical, e.g. laughing when situation is sad,
Whithdrawal from others: The person seems not interested in the world and people around
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