Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder in which personal, social, and occupational functioning deteriorates as a result of strange perceptions, unusual emotions, and motor abnormalities.

A state in which a person loses contact with reality.

Symptoms of schizophrenia that seem to be excesses of or bizarre additions to normal thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.

A strange false belief firmly held despite evidence to the contrary.

A disturbance in the production and organization of thought.

A common thinking disturbance in schizophrenia, characterized by rapid shifts from topic of conversation to another. Also known as derailment.

The experiencing of sights, sounds, or other perceptions in the absence of external stimuli.

Display of emotions that are unsuited to the situation; a symptom of schizophrenia.

Symptoms of schizophrenia that seem to be deficits in normal thought, emotions, or behaviors.

A decrease in speech or speech content; a symptom of schizophrenia. Also known as poverty of speech.

A marked lack of expressed emotions; a symptom of schizophrenia.

A symptom of schizophrenia marked by apathy and an inability to start or complete a course of action.

A pattern of extreme psychomotor symptoms found in some forms of schizophrenia, which may include catatonic stupor, rigidity, or posturing.

Various psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, flat or inappropriate affect, and catatonia. Lasts 6 months or more. 1.0% lifetime prevalence.

Various psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, flat or inappropriate affect, and catatonia. Lasts less than 1 month.

Various psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, flat or inappropriate affect, and catatonia. Lasts 1-6 months. 0.2% lifetime prevalence.

Marked symptoms both of schizophrenia and a mood disorder. 6 months or more.

Persistent delusions that are not bizarre and not due to schizophrenia: persecutory, jealous, grandious, and somatic delusions are common. 1 month or more. 0.1% lifetime prevalence.

Person adopts delusions that are held by another individual, such as a parent or a sibling; also known as folie a deux.

Hallucinations or delusions caused by a medical illness or brain damage.

Hallucinations or delusions caused directly by a substance, such as an abused drug.

The theory that schizophrenia results from excessive activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Drugs that help correct grossly confused or distorted thinking.

A group of antihistamine drugs that became the first group of effective antipsychotic medications.

A relatively new group of antipsychotic drugs whose biological action is different from that of traditional antipsychotic drugs.

A type of mother - supposedly cold, domineering, and uninterested in the needs of others - who was once thought to cause schizophrenia in her child. (Fromm-Reichmann)

A theory that some parents repeatedly communicate pairs of messages that are mutually contradictory, helping to produce schizophrenia in their children.

Public mental health hospitals in the United States, run by the individual states.

A humanistic approach to institutional treatment based on the belief that institutions can help patients recover by creating a climate that promotes self-respect, responsible behavior, and meaningful activity.

A behavioral program in which a person's desirable behaviors are reinforced systematically throughout the day by the awarding of tokens that can be exchanged for goods or privileges.

Drugs that help correctly grossly confused or distorted thinking.

Conventional antipsychotic drugs, so called because they often produce undesired effecs similar to the symtomps of neurological disorders.

Unwanted movements, such as severe shaking, bizarre-looking grimaces, twisting of the body, and extreme restlessness, sometimes produced by conventional antipsychotic drugs.

Extrapyramidal effects that appear in some patients after they have taken conventional anitpsychotic drugs for an extended time.

A life-threatening reduction in white blood cells. This condition is sometimes produced by the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine.

The discharge of large numbers of patients from long-term institutional care so that they might be treated in community programs.

A treatment facility that provides medication, psychotherapy and emergency care for psychological problems and coordinates treatment in the community.

A program of posthopsitalization care and treatment in the community.

A program that offers hopsital-like treatment during the day only. Also known as a day hospital.

A residence for people with schizophrenia or other severe problems, often staffed by paraprofessionals. Also known as a group home or crisis house.

A supervised workplace for people who are not yet ready for competitive jobs.

A community therapist who offers a range of services for people with schizophrenia or other severe disorders, including therapy, advice, medication, guidance, and protection of patients' rights.