Subtypes of schizophrenia (catatonic, disorganised, paranoid)

What it is

Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disordered thoughts, behavioral disturbances, and negative symptoms. A diagnosis can be established if two or more symptoms are present for at least 6 months with social or occupational dysfunction. Positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech and behaviors. Negative symptoms include flat affect, decreased emotional reactivity, poverty of speech, and lack of purposeful actions.

How it presents

It is classified by which of these leads:

• Catatonic: a psychomotor disturbance with more than two of the following symptoms: excessive motor activity, immobility, extreme negativism or mutism, posturing, peculiar mannerisms, echolalia, or echopraxia.
• Disorganized: speech and behavioral patterns are highly disorganized, and flat affect is a prominent feature.
• Paranoid: delusions, often persecuting, and/or hallucinations are present, and cognitive function is preserved.

In the disorganized type the speech itself gives the answer, as when a question about auditory hallucination is met with words such as killing, chilling and thrilling, which is clanging rather than flight of idea, loosening of associations, neologism or thought blocking. Clang association refers to using words that sound similar but are unrelated in term of meaning.