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Psychotic Signs and Symptoms

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Book cover Psychotic Disorders

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Psychiatry ((CCPSY))

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Abstract

Descriptive psychopathology which includes phenomenology provides language to describe a patient’s behavior and inner experiences. This chapter reviews the main symptoms of psychosis (delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking), with emphasis on how to detect them. Recognizing Schneiderian first-rank symptoms which are evidence of psychosis remains an important clinical skill for psychiatrists even though these symptoms are de-emphasized in current classification systems. Overvalued ideas are introduced as not all extreme views are psychotic. Last, disorganized behaviors and unusual motor phenomena (catatonia) are described as those often occur in psychotic patients.

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Additional Resources

    Websites

    • https://www.hearing-voices.org/. Hearing Voices Network (HVN) is an alliance of support groups that operates worldwide and provides an alternative, non-medicalized view of hallucinations. It represents an effort by the peer movement to destigmatize hearing voices and avoid aggressive, unhelpful psychiatric treatment. I consider them an important, alternative voice, hopefully collaborative and not in opposition to mainstream care, even if I do not agree with all their assumptions.

    Books

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

      Oliver Freudenreich

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    1. Oliver Freudenreich
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    Freudenreich, O. (2020). Psychotic Signs and Symptoms. In: Psychotic Disorders. Current Clinical Psychiatry. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29450-2_1

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29450-2_1

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    • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

    • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-29449-6

    • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-29450-2

    • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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