Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are mental abnormalities (disruption in behavior) due to positive and negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. Schizophrenia spectrum are group of psychological disorders which are chronic and are due to neurological conditions. These are called schizophrenia as these are group of disorders with symptoms overlapping to each other.

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders include

Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Delusional Disorder
Brief Psychotic Disorder
Schizophreniform Disorder
Schizophrenia
Schizoaffective Disorder
Substance Medication Induce Psychotic Disorder
Catatonia

Some key features of Psychotic Disorders

There are some main features and symptoms that are present in every psychotic disorder to some extent.

Delusions

Hallucinations

Disorganized Thinking

Disorganized Motor Behavior

What are Delusions?

Delusions are fixed false beliefs that are opposite to the reality. These false beliefs are person’s conflict with reality and these are so rigid that person cannot let them go despite opposing evidences. Delusions are due to misinterpreting factual events.

There are different types of delusions some of them are mentioned below

  1. Grandiose Delusion

This is a type of delusion in which a person despite lack of evidences beliefs that he or she have extraordinary wealth, talent or fame. For example if a person belief that god have given him power and duty to save this world.

  1. Referential Delusion

Individual beliefs that certain gestures, comments or environmental cues are pointed toward him or herself.

  1. Religious Delusion

There are some delusions in women of being a saint or very pious religious personality. In men there are some delusions of being god are also diagnosed.

  1. Persecutory Delusion

Delusion in which person belief that he is in harm, followed by someone to harass or going to be killed by someone even without any reason.

  1. Erotomanic Delusion

In this type of delusion person thinks that any famous or known person or celebrity is in love with him or her. Person believes that he is in contact with that known person via some gestures (which that celebrity is using in show) which are their secret and he or she only know the meaning of these gestures.

  1. Nihilistic Delusion

Individual belief that he or she has some exceptional powers to of conviction. It involves convictions that a disastrous catastrophe will occur and everything will be vanished.

  1. Somatic Delusion

In this person feels sensation inside the body or the skin. He or she feels that some worms are on her or his skin.

Delusions which express loss of control on mind and body are called bizarre delusions. Bizarre delusions are not understandable by the peers or same group of people for example some people belief that anyone have removed their body organ even without leaving any wound or scar.

What are Hallucinations?

Hallucinations are false perceptions without any external stimuli. These are clear and are not under the voluntary control of person.

Types of Hallucinations

Hallucination have many types some types of hallucinations are described below.

  1. Visual Hallucinations

Visual hallucinations are seeing things, persons or objects that are not physically there. These can be either familiar or un familiar.

  1. Auditory Hallucinations

Auditory hallucinations are hearing voices of any familiar person, or hearing sounds like noises or music that are not real.

  1. Gustatory Hallucinations

Gustatory hallucinations are tasting flavors that are not physically present in food like tasting unpleasant flavor in food.

  1. Tactile Hallucination

These are unreal sensations on skin like feeling that something is crawling on the skin while touched no one is there.

  1. Olfactory Hallucinations

It is smelling odors, any strong perfume smell or any bad odor that is not actually there.

  1. Hypnogogic Hallucinations

These are hallucinations that occur during sleep.

  1. Hypnopompic Hallucinations

These occur while person is waking up and these are within normal experiences range.

Disorganized Thinking (Speech)

Disorganized thinking is normally concluded due to disorganized speech of the person. During normal conversations such type of person switch from one topic to another. Person have difficulty in coherent thoughts due to which speech is mixed-up and illogical.

Types of Disorganized speech

  1. Derailment

This a loose association between topics and person switch from one topic to another.

  1. Tangentially

In this type of hallucination persons answers are not related to the questions.

  1. Word Salad

The speech is severely disorganized, very incomprehensible and with severe disorganized speech.

  1. Echolalia

Echolalia is speaking another’s words or phrases.

  1. Alogia

This is disorganized thinking and speech disorder in which person have lack of speech and speak briefly with lack of details.

Grossly Disorganized or Abnormal Motor Behavior

Grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behaviors which including Catatonia. These include abnormal motor behaviors which are childlike and unpredictable. These behaviors are with decrease reactivity to the environment.

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