Schizophrenia, which is the chosen disorder for NURS 6501 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS MODULE 6,

NURS 6501 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS MODULE 6

Schizophrenia, which is the chosen disorder for NURS 6501 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS MODULE 6, is one of the mental health problems that affect the health, wellbeing, and functioning of the patients and their significant others. Patients affected by schizophrenia present the hospital with a range of symptoms that characterize the disorder. One of the symptoms as stated in DSM5 is delusions. Patients with schizophrenia have false conviction about things, others, and themselves. Patients also hallucinate. They can be either be auditory, visual, or tactile hallucinations. They report hearing, feeling, or seeing things that are real to them and unreal to others. Patients also have problems with speech. They experience disorganized speech in forms such as speech incoherence or frequent derailment. 

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Patients also have negative symptoms that include avolition and reduced or diminished emotional expression. A patient must have two or more of these symptoms for them to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. The symptoms should be present during a one-month period. Patients with schizophrenia report that the symptoms affect their social and occupational functioning. This includes affecting their functioning in areas that include interpersonal relations, studies, work, or family roles(McCutcheon et al., 2020). The disturbance by the symptoms should also persist for at least six months with one month of the core symptoms of schizophrenia. 

Justification for Schizophrenia Diagnosis

            The patient in the case study has most of the above symptoms, which justify her diagnosis with schizophrenia. The patient has delusions and hallucinations. She has been hearing things voices and seeing things that are not there. She also thinks that there are people that want to harm her. She told her family she cannot finish college since the voice told her she is dumb. She also has negative symptoms such as episodes of unexpected crying and rage(McCutcheon et al., 2020). These symptoms align with the above criteria of diagnosing schizophrenia, hence, the diagnosis. 

 NURS 6501 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS MODULE 6 References 

McCutcheon, R. A., Reis Marques, T., & Howes, O. D. (2020). Schizophrenia—An Overview. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.3360