Volume 7 Issue 5 May, 2017
❌ If a patient has delusions, schizophrenia can be diagnosed.
✅ Delusions are not an essential criteria in any manuals for diagnosis of schizophrenia but commonly present in schizophrenia.
❌ Schizophrenia has two types of symptoms namely positive and negative symptoms.
✅ This view has been broadened and now it includes affective, cognitive and disorganized symptom domains in addition to above each of which respond variedly to medication and other interventions.
❌ Schizophrenia patients are normal before the onset of disease.
✅ There are evidences of subtle abnormalities in various domains of language, social interaction patterns, executive functioning and other cognitive functions and minor physical anomalies commonly present before the onset of disease which has to be carefully observed with index of suspicion especially when family history for any psychiatric disorder is present.
❌ Pharmacotherapy is the only mode of effective treatment for schizophrenia.
✅ Though pharmacotherapy is the main stay of treatment, other biological therapies like ECT, rTMS, TDCS, Deep brain stimulation have been effectively used and many psychosocial interventions and rehabilitation when combined, offers holistic management.
❌ Patients with schizophrenia cannot be held guilty in criminal trials.
✅ Even though patient is diagnosed with schizophrenia, he or she can still be tried and held guilty if they were able to judge the consequences at the time of committing the act.
