P aranoi d

Schizophrenia v s De lusional Dis order

Analysis of the common psychopathological features in the various psychotic disorders suggest that synptoms con be clustered intofive main categories: (Os & Kapur, 2009, p.

6is)
1) Psychosis, encompassingpositive symptoms of delusions andhallucinations.

andvolition, encompassing negative symptoms including lack motivation, reduction in spontaneous speech, and social withdrowal.
2) Alterations in drive 3) Alterations in neurocognition, encompassing cognitive symptoms including memory, attention, and executive functioning. 4) Affective dysregulation giving rise to depressive symptoms

of

dfficulties in

or

5) Manic (bipolar) symptoms.

The term schizophrenia is typically applied to a syndrome that is characterized by a long

duration, bizarre delusions, negative symptoms, andfew ffictive symptoms (non-affective psychosis). (Os & Kapur, 2009) Formerly called dementia praecox, same of its associated features include inappropriate ffict, anhedonia, $tsphoric mood, lack of insight, depersonalization, and derealisation. (Colman, 2009, p. 67Q Schizophrenio affects approximately 0.7% of the world's population, with prevalence greater in men throughout adulthood, but equal by the end of the riskperiod. Schizophrenia is highly heritable, with onset being rare before adolescence or afier middle age (although men become ill earlier in life thanwomen). (MacDonald & Schulz, 2009, p. a95) Schizophrenia subtypes include paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undffirentiated, and residual types. This article will focus on paranoid schizophrenia, which tends to be the leost severe subtype of schizophrenia.
"The essentialfeature of the Paranoid Type of Schizophrenia is the presence ofprominent delusions or auditory hallucinations" where no disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behwiours, or/lat or inappropriate ffict is present. (American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 2000, p. 313) Differential diagnosis is an exclusionary process since of all the other subtypes must be eliminated before diagnosing the paranoid subtype. Paranoid schizophrenia sufferers typically have delusions that are persecutory and/or grandiose; they also typically have a recurrent theme. Hallucinations are usually related to the same content theme as the delusions, and may include the associate features of araiety, anger, aloofness, and/or argumentotiveness. Onset tends to be later in life when comparedwith other subtypes of schizophrenia, and the distinguishing characteristics are ofien more stable over time. The prognosis is considerably better when comparedwith other schizophrenia subtypes, especially regarding occupationalfunctioning and independent living. (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 31a) "The essentialfeature of Delusional Disorder is the presence of one or more non-bizarre delusions that persistfor at least I month." (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 323) Bizarreness is mostly subjective since it is contingent on socio-cultural norms and expectations. Bizarre delusions (as in schizophrenia) are "clearly implausible, not understandable, and not derivedfrom ordinary life