Submit a 500- to 900-word paper in which you:
Briefly explain the key clinical criteria needed for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Describe how one clinical criterion was demonstrated by the individual in the video
Schizophrenia: Early Signs & Treatment Options
v=0-fAqgTYmKs) or
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?
I Am Not A Monster: Schizophrenia
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbagFzcyNiM) and provide an example.
Explain one misconception related to schizophrenia and why you think it exists.
Explain one environmental factor that is generally believed to influence the development of
schizophrenia in an individual.
Explain one reason why schizophrenia is challenging to treat and one factor that can help
improve treatment success.
Delusions: Fixed false beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence.
Hallucinations: Sensory perceptions (most commonly auditory) that occur in the absence of an external stimulus.
Disorganized Thinking (Speech): Inferred from speech that may include derailment (shifting topics abruptly), tangentiality (answering questions indirectly), or incoherence ("word salad").
Grossly Disorganized or Abnormal Motor Behavior (including Catatonia): Ranging from childlike silliness to unpredictable agitation, or catatonic stupor.
Negative Symptoms: Diminished emotional expression or avolition (decrease in motivated, self-initiated purposeful activities).
Demonstrated Clinical Criterion
The most prominently demonstrated clinical criterion by Cecilia McGough in the TEDx Talk, "I Am Not A Monster: Schizophrenia", is Hallucinations.
Description and Example: A hallucination is a sensory experience that seems real but is created by the mind. Cecilia McGough describes vivid, distressing, and persistent hallucinations that significantly impaired her life, stating that her life "had become a waking nightmare" [02:22].
Specific Example: She describes being followed by a clown similar to Stephen King's "It," who would be "giggling, taunting me, poking me, and sometimes even biting me" [02:56]. She also details auditory and visual hallucinations of spiders, and a girl who would "continue on conversations with herself" and would "stab me sometimes in the face" [04:21]. This demonstrates the severity and sensory nature of her hallucinations.
Schizophrenia Misconception
One of the most pervasive misconceptions about schizophrenia is that individuals with the disorder have a "split personality" or multiple personalities.
Reason for Existence: This misconception primarily stems from a misunderstanding of the name itself, which comes from the Greek words skhizein (to split) and phren (mind). The term, coined by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908, was intended to describe the "splitting" or fragmentation of thought processes and emotional function (e.g., a disconnect between thought, emotion, and behavior), not a splitting of the personality into different identities. The media's frequent and inaccurate conflation of schizophrenia with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), where multiple distinct identities exist, perpetuates this harmful myth.
Sample Answer
Schizophrenia: Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Treatment Challenges
This paper briefly explains the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, describes a criterion demonstrated in the video, addresses a common misconception, discusses an environmental influence, and highlights a treatment challenge and success factor.
Key Clinical Criteria for Schizophrenia Diagnosis
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), the key clinical criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia require that an individual experience two or more of the following symptoms for a significant portion of time during a one-month period, with at least one symptom being a core "Criterion A" symptom (delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech):