We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Health

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is Negative Schizophrenia?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 5,627
Share

Negative schizophrenia refers to a set of normal behaviors that may be absent in some sufferers of this disease. It’s contrasted with positive symptoms of schizophrenia, which are more familiar to many, and include behaviors like delusional thinking, hallucinations, made up words, and a series of expressive activities that deviate from normal behavior. Not all sufferers of negative schizophrenia symptoms are as easy to recognize, and not all people have these negative symptoms. When a schizophrenic does have these symptoms to a significant degree, it represents extreme challenges because the symptoms tend not to respond as well to traditional drug treatments.

Suffering from any form of negative schizophrenia may mean the affected person lacks normal responses in several key areas. The most noted of these is a lack of affect (affective flattening) or average emotional and physical response in most settings. Some examples of affective flattening include monotonal voice, facial expressions that lack emotional engagement, extremely subdued body language, and absence of gesturing or meaningless gestures. Given good or bad news, the person with negative schizophrenia may seem to have little “normal” response to it.

Negative schizophrenia may also be characterized by a reduced ability to pursue goals, even small ones. This lack of goal-directed behavior, called avolition, tends to lead to full social withdrawal, where social interaction is not sought or desired. Instead, it’s not unusual for someone with this disorder to continue the same activities, such as watching television all of the time, while seeming to express no interest in anyone or in engaging in other activities.

Another thing noted is a paucity of speech or alogia. Schizophrenics of this type may gradually speak less frequently and become less fluent over time. Their replies to other people’s inquiries don’t always make sense and are usually very short.

Other features of negative schizophrenia can include catatonic body and speech reactions. The environment and people in it may be partially or totally ignored and speech or movement lessens. Self-care tends to decrease as well.

With the positive signs of schizophrenia, the gold standard treatment is typical or atypical antipsychotic meds, along with therapy. Negative schizophrenia doesn’t respond well to typical antipsychotics, though atypical psychiatric medicines are somewhat more successful. It’s hard to initiate any form of talk therapy with someone with negative schizophrenia symptoms because they may not engage at all with the therapist, though some studies suggest this is, nevertheless, a vital part of recovery.

Some doctors express concern that treating physicians might not pursue other treatments for negative schizophrenia because its behaviors are self-contained. A calm, non-reactive patient might be an improvement over someone with outward and positive manifestations of the illness. Doctors argue that flattened affect, some elements of catatonia, alogia, and avolition may be inwardly painful, and they are certainly difficult to address for anyone who is a caretaker of a negative schizophrenic. Developing new medical and therapeutic treatments are urged, and physicians are encouraged to employ every effort to help these patients.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
By bmuse — On May 25, 2011

@Eli222-Negative schizophrenia is diagnosed in much the same way as other mental illnesses-with a thorough and structured clinical assessment by a trained psychiatrist. Some symptoms are expected to be present and observable. Family histories and interviews (if the patient permits) can also lend insight into the condition.

In the end, the diagnosis is the result of the medical professional’s opinion. For that reason, it’s crucial to find a well qualified, experienced and reputable psychiatrist.

By Eli222 — On May 23, 2011

I didn't know about this type of schizophrenia but it fits the description of someone in my family. He has no motivation and flattening describes him perfectly.

If he were to be seen, how is negative schizophrenia diagnosed?

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia...
Learn more
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-negative-schizophrenia.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.