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Signs of a Schizophrenic

Symptoms of schizophrenia are both positive and negative. The positive signs are an exaggeration of normal functions, and the negative signs are the loss of normal functioning. Positive symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and thought processes or extremely disorganized or catatonic behavior. Negative symptoms include lack of emotional expression, a decrease in effective thought and speech and a lack of goal-directed behavior.

  1. Delusions

    • Delusions are distortions in thought. The person may believe that he is being followed, watched, tormented, tricked or ridiculed. The person may also believe that certain song lyrics, book passages, gestures or other environmental cues are specifically directed at him. These types of delusions are called referential delusions.

    Hallucinations

    • Hallucinations may involve one or all five senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling; however, auditory (hearing) hallucinations are the most common. The person with schizophrenia may hear a voice or voices outside of his own thoughts, and he may or may not recognize the voice. The voice may be speaking directly to the person with schizophrenia, two voices could be speaking with one another, or the voice could be commenting on the thoughts of the person. The person with schizophrenia may also have the sense that things are crawling on him.

    Disorganized Thinking

    • Disorganized thinking is referred to as formal thought disorder. Because it is difficult to gauge another's thoughts, the psychological community has paired this with disorganized speech. The speech patterns of someone with schizophrenia often go from one topic to another (derailment or loose associations), answers to questions may be completed unrelated to the question (tangentiality), or the speech may be completely incomprehensible.

    Disorganized Behavior

    • The behavior of a person with schizophrenia may range from that of a child to unwarranted agitation. The person may not have the ability to handle the daily activities of life such as dressing appropriately, proper hygiene and preparing meals. The inability to execute daily activities stunts the person's ability to achieve his goals.

    Catatonic Behaviors

    • Catatonic motor behavior is common in schizophrenia. The person may not react to the environment. Some examples of this lack of reactivity or environmental awareness include rigid posture, resistance to being moved, bizarre postures or excessive motor activity.

    Flat Affect

    • The person with schizophrenia may not express any emotion. There may be a lack of eye contact or appropriate body language. The range of emotional expression is greatly diminished, and the person's face may be unresponsive.

    Warning

    • Have a medical professional diagnose schizophrenia. The signs of schizophrenia must be taken within the appropriate context such as the culture, background, medications and other environmental factors.

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