PGIMER Sangrur NO - 2023
Mental Health Nursing
Easy
Which of the following are positive signs and symptoms of schizophrenia?
Appeared in: PGIMER Sangrur NO - 2023
Explanation
- Positive symptoms of schizophrenia are psychotic behaviors not generally seen in healthy people; they represent an excess or distortion of normal functions.
- Hallucinations, which are sensory experiences that occur in the absence of an external stimulus, are a hallmark positive symptom.
- Examples include hearing voices (auditory), seeing things (visual), or feeling sensations on the skin (tactile).
- Unlike negative symptoms which involve a loss of function, positive symptoms are 'added' experiences.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: Flat affect is a classic negative symptom of schizophrenia, characterized by a significant reduction in the intensity of emotional expression.
- Option C: Apathy, or a lack of interest, motivation, or concern, is a negative symptom. It is part of the broader symptom of avolition (lack of goal-directed behavior).
- Option D: Alogia, also known as poverty of speech, is a negative symptom involving reduced speech output or content.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Classification of Schizophrenia Symptoms (Positive vs. Negative) as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
- Recognizing the difference between positive and negative symptoms is crucial for nurses as it guides treatment planning. Positive symptoms often respond well to antipsychotic medication, while negative symptoms are more challenging to treat and can cause more long-term disability.
- A patient presenting with acute positive symptoms like command hallucinations is a safety risk and requires immediate intervention to prevent harm to self or others.
- What if? If a patient's primary symptoms were apathy and alogia, the nursing care plan would focus less on immediate safety from psychosis and more on promoting social interaction, structured activities, and managing self-care deficits.
How to Approach the Question
- First, understand the question's core task: identify a 'positive' symptom of schizophrenia.
- Recall the definition of positive vs. negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are 'added' experiences (like hallucinations), while negative symptoms are 'deficits' or losses of normal function (like lack of emotion).
- Evaluate each option against this definition.
- Option A, 'Flat affect,' is a lack of emotion, a deficit, so it's a negative symptom.
- Option B, 'Hallucinations,' is an added sensory experience, so it's a positive symptom.
- Options C, 'Apathy' (lack of interest), and D, 'Alogia' (poverty of speech), are also deficits, making them negative symptoms.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Classification of Schizophrenia Symptoms (Positive vs. Negative)
- Stem keywords: positive signs, symptoms, schizophrenia
- Lead-in keywords: Which of the following
Question ID
QzLfxDaI34M4ugi49-oci8
Reference Book
E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) p. 1091-1093
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 4730-4732, 4731-4733
Practise the full PGIMER Sangrur NO - 2023
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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