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Sep 09, 2013, 02:48 PM
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Here are some negative symptoms from: NIMH ยท Schizophrenia
Quote:
Negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors. These symptoms are harder to recognize as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for depression or other conditions. These symptoms include the following:
"Flat affect" (a person's face does not move or he or she talks in a dull or monotonous voice)
Lack of pleasure in everyday life
Lack of ability to begin and sustain planned activities
Speaking little, even when forced to interact.
People with negative symptoms need help with everyday tasks. They often neglect basic personal hygiene. This may make them seem lazy or unwilling to help themselves, but the problems are symptoms caused by the schizophrenia.
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I remember reading a page that listed them but I can't find it now...drat!
There's also this one that links negative symptoms with cognitive difficulties in sz:
The negative symptoms of schizophrenia
Quote:
These “negative” symptoms are so called because they are an absence as much as a presence: inexpressive faces, blank looks, monotone and monosyllabic speech, few gestures, seeming lack of interest in the world and other people, inability to feel pleasure or act spontaneously. About 25% of patients with schizophrenia have a condition called the deficit syndrome, defined by severe and persistent negative symptoms.
Positive symptoms make treatment seem more urgent, and they can often be effectively treated with antipsychotic drugs. But negative symptoms are the main reason patients with schizophrenia cannot live independently, hold jobs, establish personal relationships, and manage everyday social situations. These symptoms are also the ones that trouble them most. Surveys find that their chief concerns are difficulty in concentrating, thinking, socializing, and enjoying life. It is important to distinguish between lack of expression and lack of feeling, between lack of will and lack of activity. When questioned, patients with schizophrenia often express a full range of feelings and desires. The difference between what they may feel and what they show has to be taken into account in interpreting their facial expressions, speech, and social behavior.
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Negative symptoms are closely related to the thinking deficiencies that are attracting increasing attention from schizophrenia researchers. Patients with schizophrenia perform poorly on tests of mental fluency and flexibility, and the capacity to sustain attention and shift its focus when necessary. Studies suggest that these cognitive limitations affect real-world functioning and the outcome of the illness even more than negative symptoms do.
But cognitive failings are “negative” symptoms, too. It’s not always easy to tell the difference between a person who chooses not to talk and one who is unable to find words, or between a deficit in motivation and a deficit in social competence. The border between negative and cognitive symptoms blurs. The absences could be negative symptoms, cognitive limitations, or the result of anxious social and emotional withdrawal.
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*Willow*
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