deficits in cognitive abilities is the most common symptom of schizophrenia.
what is the most common symptom of schizophrenia?
deficits in cognitive abilities
deficits in cognitive abilities are widely recognized as a core feature of schizophrenia. the extent of the cognitive deficits someone experiences is a predictor of how functional they will be, the quality of occupational performance, and how successful they will be in maintaining treatment. the presence and degree of cognitive dysfunction in people with schizophrenia has been reported to be a better indicator of functionality than the presentation of positive or negative symptoms. the deficits impacting the cognitive function are found in a large number of areas: working memory, long-term memory, verbal declarative memory, semantic processing, episodic memory, attention, learning (particularly verbal learning). deficits in verbal memory are the most pronounced in someone with schizophrenia, and are not accounted for by deficit in attention. verbal memory impairment has been linked to a decreased ability in those with schizophrenia to semantically encode (process information relating to meaning), which is cited as a cause for another known deficit in long-term memory. when given a list of words, healthy people remember positive words more frequently (known as the pollyanna principle), but people with schizophrenia tend to remember all words equally regardless of their connotations, suggesting that the experience of anhedonia impairs the semantic encoding of the words. these deficits have been found in people before the onset of the illness to some extent. first-degree family members of those with schizophrenia and other high-risk people also show a degree of deficit in cognitive abilities, and specifically in working memory. a review of the literature on cognitive deficits in people with schizophrenia shows that the deficits may be present in early adolescence, or as early as childhood. the deficits which a person with schizophrenia presents tend to remain the same over time in most patients, or follow an identifiable course based upon environmental variables.
schizophrenia
post-schizophrenic depression is a "depressive episode arising in the aftermath of a schizophrenic illness where some low-level schizophrenic symptoms may still be present." someone that suffers from post-schizophrenic depression experiences both symptoms of depression and can also continue showing mild symptoms of schizophrenia. unfortunately, depression is a common symptom found in patients with schizophrenia and can fly under the radar for years before others become aware of its presence in a patient. however, very little research has been done on the subject, meaning there are few answers to how it should be systematically diagnosed, treated, or what course the illness will take. some scientists would entirely deny the existence of post-schizophrenic depression, insisting it is a phase in schizophrenia as a whole. as of late, post-schizophrenic depression has become officially recognized as a syndrome and is considered a sub-type of schizophrenia.
post-schizophrenic depression