Clinical features

Schizophrenia is one of the easiest psychiatric syndromes to define and describe.

Delusions and hallucinations are classified as negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Alogia, avolition, affective flattening, and anhedonia are examples of negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia are the most florid and well-known types of symptoms.

The concept of schizophrenia has remained constant and undisputed over the past century.

Formal thought disorder is considered a negative symptom of schizophrenia.

Inappropriate affect and bizarre behaviour are features of behavioural disorganization in schizophrenia.

First-rank symptoms of schizophrenia help distinguish it from other psychotic disorders.

Kurt Schneider first described first-rank symptoms.

First-rank symptoms are the primary symptoms of schizophrenia.

Thought insertion is an example of a first-rank symptom.

First-rank symptoms are included in the diagnostic criteria of DSM-5 and ICD-11.

Schneider's first-rank symptoms include delusional perception.

First-rank symptoms are often found in disorders other than schizophrenia.

Patients with schizophrenia almost always have impaired insight.

Mood alterations are uncommon in patients with schizophrenia.

'Sluggish schizophrenia' is a commonly used subtype and its use is frequently recommended.

Undifferentiated schizophrenia includes cases with equally prominent features of more than one subtype.

Residual schizophrenia indicates a state when positive symptoms are still recurring regularly.

Subsyndromes of schizophrenia are reliable and stable over time, showing clear differences in pathophysiology and prognosis.

The most reproducible finding from Liddle et al. (1992) is the link between psychomotor poverty, impaired performance on frontal lobe tasks, and decreased frontal blood flow.

Crow's Type I schizophrenia is characterized by an insidious onset, mainly negative symptoms, and poor response to antipsychotic drugs.

Contemporary studies show that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia affect all domains of learning and memory, particularly semantic memory, working memory, and attention.

Patients with chronic schizophrenia showing reality disturbance exhibit decreased blood flow in the frontal cortex.

According to Table 11.1, the anterior cingulate and right ventral frontal cortex are associated with psychomotor poverty schizophrenia symptoms.

Impaired psychological performance for disorganized schizophrenia symptoms includes impairments in tests of selective attention.

Cognitive aspects are thought to be central to schizophrenia and underlying psychotic symptoms.

Depressive symptoms in schizophrenia occur only during the acute phase of the illness.

Neurological signs called 'soft signs' in schizophrenia localize pathology to a particular tract or nucleus.

Patients with schizophrenia tend to have normal olfactory function when not on medication.

About 25% of patients with schizophrenia exhibit persistent and significant depression.

There is no relationship between low IQ and schizophrenia.

Chronic schizophrenia is primarily characterized by positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.

One of the most striking features of the chronic syndrome of schizophrenia is diminished volition.

Paranoid schizophrenia is characterized by prominent thought disorder and negative symptoms.

Positive symptoms are more prevalent than negative symptoms in acute schizophrenia.

Patients with hebephrenic schizophrenia often display a mood that appears silly and unpredictable.

Simple schizophrenia is characterized by the development of odd behavior and social withdrawal without apparent positive symptoms.

Negative symptoms are more common than cognitive deficits in acute schizophrenia.

Hallucinations and delusions are universal in chronic schizophrenia.

Formal thought disorder is a positive symptom of acute schizophrenia.

In catatonic schizophrenia, motor symptoms and changes in activity are the most striking features.

Hallucinations in acute schizophrenia are predominantly visual rather than auditory.

Cognitive impairment in chronic schizophrenia is always apparent without detailed cognitive testing.

In acute schizophrenia, patients often have difficulty dealing with abstract ideas.

Speech in chronic schizophrenia often shows evidence of thought disorder of the kinds found in the acute syndrome.

Patients with acute schizophrenia rarely experience thought withdrawal.

The symptoms and signs of chronic schizophrenia are generally stable and do not vary over time.

Patients with acute schizophrenia often exhibit unusual ways of using words, such as using neologisms.

Social withdrawal is a common behavior in patients with acute schizophrenia.

Patients with acute schizophrenia often describe the sensation of thought blocking.

Visual hallucinations are more common in patients with acute schizophrenia than tactile hallucinations.

Pain insensitivity in patients with schizophrenia can occasionally be extreme.

Religious delusions are becoming more common in schizophrenia patients now compared to a century ago.

Highly intelligent schizophrenia patients often exhibit simple clinical pictures.

Understimulation is thought to increase positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

The prodrome of schizophrenia is characterized by a clear and specific set of symptoms.

Most people considered to be in the prodromal phase will progress to overt psychosis during a 2 to 3-year follow-up.

In adolescents and young adults with schizophrenia, clinical features often include thought disorder and mood disturbance.

A longer prodrome of schizophrenia is associated with better long-term outcomes.

Untreated psychosis in schizophrenia is believed to be 'neurotoxic' and makes the illness less responsive to treatment.

The Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental State (CAARMS) is used to define, assess, and rate the prodrome of schizophrenia.