Schizophrenia Test: (Meaning and Symptoms of Schizophrenia)

In this brief guide, we will look at a schizophrenia test, as well as some signs and symptoms of schizophrenia, and experiences of people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia Test

The following schizophrenia test is not meant for diagnostic purposes and must not be treated as such, please bear in mind that it only gives you a brief idea of what schizophrenia symptoms are.

Read the following statements and answer either yes or no to them based on whether they have been present in someone you know for the past 1 month or more (these statements are not meant for the person who has the symptoms because they cannot recognize most of these as symptoms due to the lack of touch with reality).

• Is there an unchanging facial expression, or does it happen that the person’s face appears wooden or changes less than the expected amount as the emotional content of discourse changes?
• Has there been an overall decrease in Spontaneous Movements, or does the person not shift position or move their extremities very much?
• Is there a decrease in the use of hand gestures?
• Is there poor eye contact?
• Does the person fail to laugh or smile when something that would justify such responses happens, and do it when something does not provoke them?
• Is there a lack of vocal inflections in the person’s voice or has the way they talk changed at all?
• Has there been any unresponsiveness, inappropriateness and an overall decrease in emotional intensity in the person?
• Does the person say that they hear voices, noises, or other sounds that no one else hears?
• Does the person hear any voices that make a running commentary on their behavior or thoughts?
• Does the person report hearing two or more voices conversing with each other?
• Does the person report experiencing peculiar physical sensations in the body?.
• Does the person report experiencing unusual smells which no one else notices?
• Does the person see shapes or people that are not actually present?
• Does the person believe he is being conspired against or persecuted in some way?
• Does the person believe that their spouse is having an affair with someone or just does not love them?
• Does the person believe that they have committed some terrible sin or done something
• unforgivable?
• Does the person believe that they have special powers or abilities? 
• Does the person seem preoccupied with false beliefs of a religious nature that cannot be changed regardless of what you tell them?
• Does the person believe that somehow their body is diseased, abnormal, or changed?
• Does the person believe that insignificant remarks or events refer to him or have special meaning?
• Does the person feel that their feelings or actions are controlled by some outside force?
• Does the person feel that people can read their mind or know their thoughts, or even hear them, or do they feel that their thoughts are not their own but are actually being inserted into their mind?
• Does the person often lose track of what they are saying or start talking about one thing but get lost completely?
• Does the person seem somewhat unaware of any of these problems happening to them?

If the score for these statements is more than 15 yes’s, the person may have schizophrenia and they should definitely be taken in to the clinician and checked out for schizophrenia, although some of these symptoms could also be for other things, which is why this schizophrenia test should not be treated as a diagnostic one.

Delusions and Hallucinations

When answering the questions about delusions, you need to understand properly what delusions are, because in some cases they can be simply strongly held beliefs, or in some cases, like in case of delusions of infidelity, they can actually be justified, so you need to ensure that you have that right.

Delusion is defined as a false, fixed and unshakeable belief of morbid origin. Its characteristic features include:

• Non – acceptance by the people of the same social, religious, educational and cultural background,
• The absolute incorrigibility by experience and argument, and
• Their content is often absurd or impossible.

The other common symptom of schizophrenia, particularly Paranoid Schizophrenia, is Hallucinations.

The simple definition of hallucination is – “perception without stimulation”, but it may also be defined as “Hallucination is the experience perceived through sense organs and accepted by the patient as the true one in the absence of sensory stimulus”.

The above schizophrenia test is based on the commonly used scales used for the assessment of positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia, called the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS).

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

The diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia as given by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual are given as follow:

“A. Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1 -month period (or less if successfully treated). At least one of these must be (1 ), (2), or (3):

1. Delusions.

2. Hallucinations.

3. Disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence).

4. Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior.

5. Negative symptoms (i.e., diminished emotional expression or avolition).

B. For a significant portion of the time since the onset of the disturbance, level of functioning in one or more major areas, such as work, interpersonal relations, or self-care, is markedly below the level achieved prior to the onset (or when the onset is in childhood or adolescence, there is failure to achieve expected level of interpersonal, academic, or occupational functioning).

C. Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months. This 6-month period must include at least 1 month of symptoms (or less if successfully treated) that meet Criterion A (i.e., active-phase symptoms) and may include periods of prodromal or residual symptoms. During these prodromal or residual periods, the signs of the disturbance may be manifested by only negative symptoms or by two or more symptoms listed in Criterion A present in an attenuated form (e.g., odd beliefs, unusual perceptual experiences).

D. Schizoaffective disorder and depressive or bipolar disorder with psychotic features have been ruled out because either 1 ) no major depressive or manic episodes have occurred concurrently with the active-phase symptoms, or 2) if mood episodes have occurred during active-phase symptoms, they have been present for a minority of the total duration of the active and residual periods of the illness.

E. The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition.

F. If there is a history of autism spectrum disorder or a communication disorder of childhood onset, the additional diagnosis of schizophrenia is made only if prominent delusions or hallucinations, in addition to the other required symptoms of schizophrenia,are also present for at least 1 month (or less if successfully treated).”

There are various types of schizophrenia in the DSM 5 which all have different criteria.

If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.

Medication for Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia needs to be treated with medication for the psychotic symptoms before any therapy can be explored, and this is done primarily with antipsychotics, particularly with third generation antipsychotics.

Common antipsychotics include:

• Clozapine
• Olanzapine
• Quetiapine
• Risperidone
• Ziprasidone
• Sertindole

Schizophrenia: Reddit Experiences

Given below are some people from Reddit describing what their experience of schizophrenia was like:

“As someone who has schizophrenia, reading all the comments on this thread made me feel about 5000 times less alone than usual. That being said, for me, it was thinking that all my friends were plotting against me. So much so that I started digging as hard as I could to find as much dirt on everyone as possible. Auditory hallucinations followed that pretty quickly. At its worst, I began misremembering important life events, only to find out years later that what I felt I so vividly remembered to be true, was actually not. But I guess that’s psychosis for you. Meds, therapy, and a fiancee and friends who have your back all work wonders though. They dont judge me when things get rough.”

“On Friday night I heard voices coming from other rooms, even though I was the only on there. I was locking up, checking and making sure no one was left.

I heard yelling and guttural sounds coming from the gym. As I walked the outside perimeter checking each door to make sure it was locked, I was sure that an evil figure was watching me from inside. When I was inside, I heard the ceiling cracking above me.”

“I thought I was an alien descended to earth to assist in saving humanity cus a picture fell out of a book.

I thought if I took my life myself I could escape this realm and be back with my extra terrestrial family, the only place I belonged

In silence, it was like I could hear 1000 different tv* news broadcasts at once

I was always being followed by a dark force

I’m OK now”

“Reading this nearly has me in tears honestly. I’m 17 and I recently started hearing crowds cheering, people chatting, and jumbled radio broadcasts in silence. Always hear my name being called, or random phrases like “come on!” but no ones around.”

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we looked at a schizophrenia test, as well as some signs and symptoms of schizophrenia, and experiences of people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating illness that can change many parts of the person’s life, and it requires treatment almost right away as well, because it is not something that goes away with time or on its own.

Schizophrenia can be incredibly difficult on both the person as well as their family, so it is incredibly important to get the necessary help for the family members as well.

Schizophrenia can also be of many different types, which is why it is important to understand what type it is, so that adequate help may be given based on the symptoms.

If you have any questions or comments about our schizophrenia test or any other information about schizophrenia, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Schizophrenia Test

Citations

https://www.psychiatry.org/home/search-results?k=schizophrenia

https://counsellingresource.com/quizzes/misc-tests/schizophrenia-test/

https://www.mind-diagnostics.org/schizophrenia-test

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM 5)