What are the core positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

What are the core positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

• A. Anxiety, compulsions, phobias.
• B. Lack of motivation, flat affect, anhedonia.
• C. Memory loss, confusion, delirium.
• D. Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech/thought.

Answer: (D)

Positive symptoms are additions to normal experience that schizophrenia can produce. Delusions are fixed, false beliefs that persist despite evidence to the contrary. Hallucinations are sensory experiences, such as hearing voices, without any external stimulus. Disorganized speech or thought shows up as incoherent or tangential speech, reflecting disrupted thinking. These features are called positive symptoms because they reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions. In contrast, negative symptoms involve reductions in normal functioning—like lack of motivation, flat affect, and anhedonia—while other option choices describe cognitive or anxiety-related phenomena. So, delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech/thought are the classic positive symptoms.

Positive symptoms are additions to normal experience that schizophrenia can produce. Delusions are fixed, false beliefs that persist despite evidence to the contrary. Hallucinations are sensory experiences, such as hearing voices, without any external stimulus. Disorganized speech or thought shows up as incoherent or tangential speech, reflecting disrupted thinking. These features are called positive symptoms because they reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions. In contrast, negative symptoms involve reductions in normal functioning—like lack of motivation, flat affect, and anhedonia—while other option choices describe cognitive or anxiety-related phenomena. So, delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech/thought are the classic positive symptoms.