 Hi Psych2Goers, and welcome back to another video. Thank you so much for your love and support, enabling us to make yet another exploration into everyday psychology and mental health. So let's begin. When you think of schizophrenia, what comes to mind? Does having multiple or split personalities make it schizophrenic? The Diagnostic and Sysciscal Manual of Psychiatric Disorders, also known as DSM-5, defines schizophrenia as a mental disorder consisting of a constellation of symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and abnormal behaviors. No single symptom alone is characteristic of the disorder, and people exhibit different symptoms. Today, we will be discussing six signs of schizophrenia. But before we begin, please remember this video is for educational purposes only. Do not use this information to self-diagnose. We encourage you to seek professional help from a psychiatrist or other health professionals. 1. Delusions Do you know of someone who believes they will be harmed by an individual or group, even though without evidence? This is an example of a persecutory delusion. What about someone who believes they are the richest person in the world? Grandiose delusions are exactly that. Delusions are beliefs that do not change even when there is clear, conflicting evidence present. Other types of delusions are referential delusions, such as, the trees are telling me something, or nihilistic delusions such as, the world is ending, and somatic delusions such as, there is something wrong with my body even when my doctor disagreed. 2. Hallucinations Have you ever heard someone hearing voices that seem so very real to them, occurring outside their own thoughts? These are auditory hallucinations, which are the most common in schizophrenia. Hallucinations are experiences that happen when there is no external stimulus. Hallucinations can also be visual, which is the case if you see something that is not actually there. However, hallucinations can be a normal part of religious experiences, and having hallucinations without other symptoms does not mean that you have schizophrenia. 3. Disorganized speech Have you seen someone constantly switching from one topic to another, especially when there is no obvious connection between the topics? Such is the identity of disorganized speech. Sometimes it can be so incomprehensible that others cannot understand what is going on. Another case of disorganized speech is tangentiality, which is when someone just goes off in tangents. 4. Abnormal movements or motor behaviors Catatonic behavior is a marked decrease in environmental reactivity. In catatonia is a group of symptoms that usually involve a lack of movement and communication, and can also include agitation, confusion, and restlessness. Common catatonic behaviors include showing reduced responsiveness to the environment that lasts for hours or even days, performing strange movements, and staying in uncomfortable positions without shifting. They may echo their speech, have difficulty speaking, or erratic and extreme movements. The opposite can also occur. Someone can move so much without a clear goal, which is called catatonic excitement. However, catatonia, like hallucinations, can be a symptom of other mental disorders like bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder with catatonia. 5. Decreased emotional expression Do you know of someone who shows diminished emotional expression? Do they sound very monotone, like a robot, and appear very stiff when they stand compared to a relaxed position that we usually expect? When we speak, it's typical that we display facial expressions that show how we feel. A sign of schizophrenia is a lack of emotional expression that is typically expected. Other symptoms that are signs of schizophrenia include abolition, which means a lack of motivation to do anything, aloja, which means less speech output, and asociality when someone shows no interest in social interactions. 6. Memory problems According to J. Daniel Ragland, professor of psychiatry in the UC Davis School of Medicine, people with schizophrenia have difficulty retrieving associations within a context. This creates a pervasive loss of memory that makes everyday life a challenge. For example, you can't work if you can't remember the steps in what your boss told you to do. Memory troubles are caused by the dysfunctional frontal and temporal lobe regions in the brain. We hope we were able to give you some insight into the different signs of schizophrenia. Do you now understand the six signs of schizophrenia? Do you know someone who may exhibit some of these symptoms of schizophrenia? Let us know in the comments below. If you find this video helpful, be sure to hit the like and subscribe button, and share it with someone who might benefit from it. Don't forget to hit the notification bell icon to get notified whenever Psych2Go posts a new video. As always, thanks for watching.