Page 481 - Understanding Psychology

Figure 16.10 Paranoia
A male patient diagnosed with schizophrenia with paranoid tendencies created this painting. It displays the symbolism of watchful eyes, grasping hands, and the self as subject matter. How is the paranoid type of schizophrenia characterized?
affect, or emotions that are inappropriate for the circumstances. In addition, an indi- vidual with schizophrenia may display severe deterioration in normal movement, which may occur as slowed movement, nonmovement, or as highly agitated behavior. Another symptom is a marked decline in previous levels of functioning; for example, a sharp dropoff in productivity at work. Yet another symptom is diverted attention, perhaps brought about by cognitive flooding, as if the person is unable to focus his or her attention.
TYPES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
Psychologists classify schizophrenia
into several subtypes. One, the paranoid
type, involves hallucinations and delusions,
including grandeur: “I am the savior of my
people;” or persecution: “Someone is always
watching me” (see Figure 16.10). People
with the catatonic type may remain motion-
less for long periods, exhibiting a waxy flex-
ibility in which limbs in unusual positions
may take a long time to return to a resting,
relaxed position—exactly as if melting a
wax statue (see Figure 16.11). Symptoms of
the disorganized type include incoherent lan-
guage, inappropriate emotions, giggling for
no apparent reason, generally disorganized
motor behavior, and hallucinations and
delusions. Another form of schizophrenia is
the remission type. This diagnostic label is
applied to anyone whose symptoms are
completely gone or still exist but are not
severe enough to have earned a diagnosis of schizophrenia in the first place. The expectation is that symptoms will return, so the schizophrenia is simply viewed as in remission. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between types of schizophrenia because some symptoms are shared by all types. The undifferentiated type encompasses the basic symptoms of schizo- phrenia, such as deterioration of daily functioning, hallucinations, delu- sions, inappropriate emotions, and thought disorders.
Schizophrenia is a very complex condition, and treatment is long-term and usually requires hospitalization. Long-term institutionalization some- times leads to a patient who is burned out—one who is unlikely to function normally in society. Schizophrenia may go into remission, in which the symptoms disappear and the person seems quite normal, but according to the DSM-IV, adjustment tends to deteriorate between successive episodes of
Chapter 16 / Psychological Disorders 467