25 Overview of Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

 

Schizophrenia and the other psychotic disorders are some of the most impairing forms of psychopathology, frequently associated with a profound negative effect on the individual’s educational, occupational, and social function. Sadly, these disorders often manifest right at time of the transition from adolescence to adulthood, just as young people should be evolving into independent young adults. The spectrum of psychotic disorders includes schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, schizophreniform disorder, brief psychotic disorder, as well as psychosis associated with substance use or medical conditions. In this module, we summarize the primary clinical features of these disorders, describe the known cognitive and neurobiological changes associated with schizophrenia, describe potential risk factors and/or causes for the development of schizophrenia, and describe currently available treatments for schizophrenia.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Describe the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

Describe the most well-replicated cognitive and neurobiological changes associated with schizophrenia.

Describe the potential risk factors for the development of schizophrenia.

Describe the controversies associated with “clinical high risk” approaches to identifying individuals at risk for the development of schizophrenia.

Describe the treatments that work for some of the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Analyze the biopsychosocial model of schizophrenia

“Overview of Psychotic Disorders” is adapted from Abnormal Psychology by Coursehero, used under CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike.