Schizophrenia is marked by abnormalities of thought, perception, emotion, language, attention and motor behavior.
Thought disturbances may include delusional thinking:.
C P believes that everyday events have a special significance for him (e.g., noticing a person walking behind him, he concludes that the person is following him; or, trivial conversations or words that he overhears are interpreted as "messages" for him.).
C P may believe that he is being threatened or victimized by other people, and that "they" are exerting control over his bodily or mental functions.
P may have delusions of persecution (sees himself as the target of hostile forces) and/or .
delusions of grandeur (P sees herself as having great powers and/or importance).
Other disorders of thought: .
C Thinking becomes confused and disorganized.
C Inability to stay focused on one topic.
Disorders of attention:.
C inability to concentrate; P easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli.
C P may experience difficulty focusing on a single chain of events.
Verbal behavior anomalies:.
C Incoherent strings of words ("word salad").
C Neologisms (made-up words).
Disorders of emotion:.
C Can range from apathy and total withdrawal to intense but inappropriate emotional expression (referred to as "inappropriate affect").
C Emotion (affect) may be generally "flattened" (few highs or lows) .
C Inappropriate affect may be elicited by trivial events or for no apparent reason.
Perceptual disorders:.
C Many schizophrenics report the loss of the ability to "filter out" irrelevant sensory input and to selectively focus attention.
C Most schizophrenics experience hallucinations (usually auditory-hearing voices. The voices are often critical and threatening.).
The occurrence of hallucinations and delusional thinking is the basis for the statement that the schizophrenic has suffered a "loss of contact with reality".
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3 MAJOR TYPES OF SCHIZOPHRENICS:.
1. CATATONIC: Characterized by catatonic stupor alternating with periods of catatonic excitement.