Schizophrenia test. Schizophrenia test as an additional diagnostic method

Schizophrenia is presented as a mental disorder, which is characterized by inadequate emotions, actions, attitudes towards others, perception of reality, and a distorted perception of the world.

Patients have inherent problems in communication in any area, while reality is not fully perceived by them - for them there is their own invented world, and everything present can be perceived as a mixture of thoughts, images and sounds. Most often, the patient is not able to comprehend this entire set of elements.

Diagnostics with tests

Tests for schizophrenia are fundamental in diagnosing the disease in question. More often it the only way notice the disease at an early stage, since the usual medical research is ineffective due to the specificity of the disease.

Mask

One of the latest tests developed is the "Mask" - an optical illusion that allows you to instantly identify the disease. For the first time, this visual technique was proposed as the “Chaplin Mask” by a British psychologist.

The patient looks at a rotating mask with two sides: one is concave, the other is convex. To a healthy person, it will appear that the mask is actually convex, although in fact it is not, because sanity takes into account the roundness of shapes, the presence of a shadow.

A patient with schizophrenia, in turn, does not perceive optical illusion and sees everything as it really is, since he does not take into account the surrounding signal indicators and does not compare them with the image.

The key feature is that a healthy person, according to this test, is characterized by self-deception and a distorted reality. Optical illusion also may not affect a person in a state of drug or alcohol intoxication.

If you stubbornly under no circumstances see the pink convex Chaplin mask, then you should consult a doctor

Luscher test

The Luscher technique is considered to be one of the most effective and informative, since it is capable of early stages identify disease susceptibility. It was first introduced in psychiatric practice in the 1940s by the Swiss psychologist Max Luscher.

Long years of scientific activity allowed the scientist to deduce the relationship of human psycho-emotions with the perception of color. The Luscher test allows you to determine communication skills, activity, psychophysiological criteria, as well as the causes of stress.

When considering the effect of color on a schizophrenic patient, one should take into account not only the colors that he perceives, but also those that he reproduces. The reaction of a person can be different - either abstraction or irritation in relation to some shades.

Sluggish schizophrenia is characterized by indifference to color or confusion between different shades. Patients with a progressive form have a negative attitude towards black and red. The Luscher test can be presented in two versions.

1. The short version involves the use of cards of 8 colors - black, brown, red, yellow, green, gray, blue, purple. A number is assigned to each color and the patient distributes them according to preference. According to the conditions, the study is carried out in natural light in daytime. Sun glare and spots should be absent, the light should be uniform. When distributing the patient should focus only on own feelings in this moment and not on personal preference or fashion trends.
2. The full Luscher test involves the use of 73 colors. The seven tables presented show shades of gray, 8 different colors, as well as combinations of the four primary colors - red, yellow, green and blue. Tables with colors are shown to the patient in turn, and from each he chooses the color that appeals to him the most. Influencing choice external factors- usually annoying bright colours, clothing preferences. After a few minutes, the process is repeated and the patient must choose their preferred colors, regardless of the previous choice. In the first case, the result indicates the desired state, and the second - about the actual one.

The mechanics of the impact is due to the unconscious choice of color. Other tests may suggest options for action in response to the situation, in this case, the probability of false answers is quite high.

Interpretation often indicates that schizophrenics often prefer variations yellow color. It should also be taken into account what colors the patient is wearing and what shades he uses when drawing. Often the tones are either inexpressive and boring, or too bright and incompatible.

Diagnosis with a drawing

Often psychologists in their practice ask the patient to draw something, and the result is quite effective. Schizophrenics are characterized by an incorrect distribution of shadows and an inadequate combination of shades.

1. The sun may be black, the trees may be red, the grass may be blue.
2. Against the background of a faded picture, a bright flash can be seen, which indicates a one-sided and colorless perception of the world.
3. The outbreak should be taken as an attack. If there is an emotional outburst, small blotches of different shades will be displayed in the picture, while the red color on large area will indicate a manic state.
4. The use of black can be perceived as a sign of fear, hard feelings and depression.
5. The color red is used by patients to display images from hallucinations.
6. White color indicates the presence of religious delusions and corresponding thematic hallucinations.

Rorschach test

The essence of this test reveals the ink technique. The author is Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychologist. The patient is alternately shown 10 cards with color and black-and-white images in the form of ink blots without a clearly marked shape of a particular object.

The test subject must describe what he sees - an image, a complete picture, the movement of objects and their interaction. The popularity of this technique is due not only to the definition of the full picture mental pathologies but also getting answers to many personal questions.

Experimental visual techniques

Schizophrenics tend to significant violations visual function in particular eye movements

Scientists from the University of Aberdeen conducted an experiment using a series of tests to confirm this theory. As it turns out, visual impairment can indeed be used as a biological marker for mental disorder.

Efficiency and reliability correspond to 98.3%. Several tests should be used for testing. simple techniques with exercises for fixing the gaze, looking at an object at a free pace and smoothly following the image.

For schizophrenics, the ability to smoothly follow an object that moves slowly is not typical - the gaze is ahead of the movement and then again sharply returns to the object of observation. This phenomenon called a saccade. Frequent jumping and lack of concentration is also determined with a free visual study of the subject.

Mention should be made of rather individual manifestations of schizophrenia, which is characterized by seizure phenomena of different frequency and strength. Some patients may suffer from them once, others often and episodically, suffering terribly during periods of calm. In some cases, during periods of calm, the patient seems to be completely healthy.

People who are not connected with medicine in any way use the word "schizophrenia" to evaluate some oddities in the behavior of other people, but such a wide use of it is far from always correct from the point of view of psychiatry. This mental illness first makes itself felt in young age, and over the years, its symptoms worsen and it becomes difficult for a person to live in the society around him. In schizophrenia, there is a mismatch mental processes and motility, and over time, such changes affect the personality of the patient.

As part of this article, we will introduce you to the first signs of this disease and two simple and fairly reliable video tests that can be used by psychiatrists to identify a predisposition to schizophrenia. This information will be useful for you, and perhaps you will be able to notice the first signs of this mental illness in your family and friends in time.

The disease can long years not manifest itself in any way, and even the patient's relatives do not always notice the appearance of the initial signs of schizophrenia. This interesting feature disease even became a reason for using such a diagnosis when placing politically objectionable persons in psychiatric clinics, because, on orders from "above", the doctor could easily correct the patient's symptoms to issue a verdict of "schizophrenia". There was another extreme - untimely recognition of the disease led to the destruction of a career, family, or the lives of those around them.

How does schizophrenia develop?

The development of schizophrenia occurs for a long time and is imperceptible both for the patient himself (after all, he loses the ability to critically perceive changes in his personality), and for his environment. The first warning signs of this disease are usually the following symptoms:

• social isolation;
• isolation from society;
• indifference to close people;
• ignoring the rules of personal hygiene and lack of criticism of their appearance;
• loss of interest in events and things that were important to the patient before.

The first signs of the disease

Despite the fact that the first manifestations of the disease in question can be very variable and diverse, experts identify a certain set of symptoms that could be noticed by the close environment of the patient:

• unreasonable anger towards relatives and friends;
• loss of interest in previous hobbies;
• the emergence of illogical decisions and ideas;
• , manifested in obsessive actions, self-perception disorders or obsessive fears;
• auditory hallucinations in the form of voices giving orders.

A timely appeal to a psychiatrist when the above symptoms appear helps to start treatment and slow down the progression of schizophrenia. Subsequently early start therapy improves the patient's ability to social adaptation and prevents the occurrence of some complications of this mental illness.

First video test

This simple test, dubbed the Chaplin mask, can be used to detect susceptibility to schizophrenia. Every person has seen a mask at least once in their life and imagines how it looks and how to use it - for this we put it on the concave side of the face.

To conduct the test earlier, before the appearance of video recordings, the doctor invited a patient with suspected schizophrenia to watch an animated performance (as in a shadow theater). After that, he was asked to evaluate what he saw and answer the question: “What did he see: a mask or a face?” However, with the advent of the video test with the Chaplin mask has become more perfect, as it allows you to identify signs of a predisposition to schizophrenia already at the most initial stages its possible development.

Video 1

After watching the test video, the patient is asked to mark every minute those parts of the video where the mask is visible to him with the concave side. And if he can do this with ease, then the question of his mental health remains open and he is recommended to perform other methods of examination.

• Such a fact may seem strange to a mentally healthy person, because watching the video and not knowing that this is just a specially created video illusion, we sincerely believe in an optical illusion. After reporting the fact of such a substitution, an adequate person will admire the skill of the stager of the illusion or be surprised at his inattention. This is how a healthy brain works, because life experience tells us that the face cannot be concave and “brain navigation” automatically adjusts the visualization so that even when the concave side flickers, a person sees the face in 3D image.
• In patients with schizophrenia, the brain works differently and contacts with neurons are broken. The state of memory and cognitive functions (including the ability to learn) is directly related to the quality of the relationship between the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. Studies conducted by scientists have shown that any deviation from the norm between these parts of the brain is detrimental to the state of the psyche and sooner or later causes the development mental disorders or diseases.

Despite this fact established by scientific research, the reasons for the development of schizophrenia have not yet been fully elucidated by scientists. Now all the leading experts in psychiatry openly declare that it is impossible to give a lifetime guarantee that a person will not get schizophrenia. And score it mental health should be carried out only after a face-to-face consultation and identification of all the details about his life history, illnesses and a comprehensive examination.

To identify the causes and mechanisms of the development of schizophrenia, scientists from the University of Bristol conducted research on the study of neurotransmitters (dopamine and glutamate) involved in the transmission of signals between those parts of the brain that are involved in the development and activity of cognitive functions and memory. They managed to find out that even the most minor violations they completely change the flow of information coming from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex.

Scientists commented on their research and reported that with hyperactivation of dopamine receptors, the activity of glutamate receptors decreases. As a result, the relationship between the above-described parts of the brain, necessary for normal mental activity, changes. That is why patients with a confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia notice the concave surface of the mask.

Second video test

For many people who have not studied psychology or psychiatry, it will be interesting that when we see with our eyes, our brain captures far from the picture that exists in reality, but, as it were, "adjusts" it to the context of the situation in which which we are. In order to understand this dogma in practice, you should watch the following video test.

Video 2

When watching this video, the brain perceives information based on its “memory and knowledge map” about such a field of physics as optics (in this case, light and shadows).

• It perceives a cube made by the author of the video in 3D and hovering over a white background until the wrong side of the focus appears in the video. Such a visualization is possible for us, since we see that the cube is voluminous and cannot be immersed in flat shape(in the video it is a white background). This is how this video test is perceived by a person with a healthy brain.
• A patient who has the prerequisites for the development of this disease, or who is already suffering from it, loses a holistic perception of the world and his attention is focused only on separate parts that appear before his eyes. That is why he visualizes the cube as an object "concave" into the white background with black and white squares on the surface.

According to Jacqui de Belleroche, a professor at Imperial College London, the value of such test items is that the prerequisites for the development of schizophrenia can develop as early as the age of 20 years. And according to statistics, it is at this age that this mental illness is first detected. This means that early diagnosis helps to start treatment of the disease at the very initial stages and improve the life of patients in the future.

Which doctor to contact

If, while watching a video, a person has atypical healthy people visualization and his relatives note a number of symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia, he should seek the advice of a psychiatrist. Such a visit will help the doctor to conduct a more detailed diagnosis and make the correct diagnosis.

Schizophrenia is one of the dangerous and terrifying diagnoses that a person can face. In their practice, psychiatrists successfully use special tests to identify the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Certain types tests are designed to identify early signs disorders. There are also those that allow you to establish the level of development of pathology.

Experts suggest conducting a test for predisposition to schizophrenia in anonymous conditions. This increases the number of truthful answers and the quality of the final results - after all, a gloomy possible outcome and a terrifying diagnosis do not loom over a person.

Tests for schizophrenia help to identify the disease in the early stages

For doctors to identify and diagnose a person with a schizophrenic disorder, testing alone is not enough. The verdict is pronounced only after the full comprehensive survey person, which includes evaluation clinical symptoms and normal functioning of the brain.

The test for susceptibility to schizophrenia is primarily advised to be carried out by persons whose parents are prone to various forms neurosis and psychosis. First of all, tests allow you to identify the level of predisposition to the disorder.

If the test taker gets positive results- he needs to see a highly qualified psychiatrist. Schizophrenia, detected at an early stage, helps to take timely measures to stop the manifestations of the disorder and protect the patient from the progression of a dangerous disease.

When deciding to be tested, a person should be aware that even a positive self-diagnosis does not give an accurate answer. Although schizophrenia has already been studied quite well, leading experts are still experiencing difficulties with the formulation accurate diagnosis. This happens for the following reasons:

1. Schizophrenia has a lot of different manifestations - types and forms.
2. The symptoms of this mental disorder often resemble those of other mental disorders.
3. For an accurate diagnosis to be made, symptoms of a schizophrenic disorder must be present in this person for a long time (from six months).

The test for determining schizophrenia is only a method to better understand yourself and pay attention to the condition own health. A doctor will never make a diagnosis of schizophrenia based on the positive results of even the most highly accurate and proven clinical test.

Rorschach tests

Herman Rorschach is a renowned psychotherapist based in Switzerland. He entered the history of psychiatry through individually designed personality testing for the presence of mental abnormalities. Later, the tests he created were successfully used to determine mental disorders human consciousness. The most famous test is called Rorschach Spots.

How to use the test

Rorschach spots are a collection of cards. Most often, it includes ten pictures in the form of ink blots. A certain ink stain, when examined and analyzed by a patient, evokes individual associations. A physician, analyzing a test for schizophrenia passed by a person using pictures, reveals the level of impairment of consciousness and psyche.

The doctor, analyzing the test, relies on those associations (with objects, objects, processes) that cause blots in the test person. For example, when looking at a picture, the subject sees:

1. A cheerful person who jumps and dances.
2. A bat or dragon that wags its tail affably.
3. Evil creatures that will attack and eat me now, they are dangerous for everyone around (dangerous only for me).
4. Monstrous aliens who plan to capture the whole earth. In the meantime, they sit in their house and consider a plan of attack.

The test-taker should describe his feelings to each picture in as much detail as possible. There are ten blobs in total. The uniqueness of the Rorschach test is that these blots are black and white and do not resemble any recognizable image. Therefore, this test allows you to judge the existing pathological images.

Luscher test

Pass the psychological test schizophrenia can also be detected with the help of original color perception. This method was developed in the middle of the last century by the Swiss psychotherapist Max Luscher. More than a century of its use has shown and proved a clearly traceable connection between the existing psycho-emotional background of a person and color perception.

The founder of the test, Max Luscher, created it to assess and identify the level communication skills, predisposition to stress and the presence of depression in the tested person.

To analyze the mental state of the subject, Luscher used color perception. The test consists of several cards, each of which is painted in a certain color. When conducting a personality test, it is proposed to choose the most attractive color card each time.

In the course of his many years of practice and activity, Max Luscher made important conclusion: for each person, color perception is universal, and emotional perception is a purely individual matter. That is, color perception can change under the influence of any factors.

Varieties of the test

For many years successful application Luscher's test, psychotherapists developed on its basis two types of test, which make it possible to more accurately determine the degree of psycho-emotional disorder:

1. Full version of the test. The patient is asked to analyze seven color tables with more than 70 color shades.
2. Shortened test. A person is asked to analyze only eight colors.

But a dubious analysis, and even a positive one, is not enough to make a diagnosis of schizophrenia. To make sure that a person suffers from a mental disorder, after the tests, he is assigned a series of in-depth medical studies.

Chaplin mask test

In medical circles, another interesting test for schizophrenics is widely known - the Chaplin test. This test was first introduced into the everyday life of medical psychiatrists by Richard Gregory, a famous scientist, professor of neuropsychology. The scientist, studying the difference between the existing reality in healthy and sick individuals, came to the conclusion that a person's perception depends on thinking, which is based on experience.

The more knowledge about any situation a certain person has, the less often her self-consciousness requires the processing and acceptance of fresh information.

Testing is based on an optical illusion. The subject is asked to look at the rotating face of the legendary comedian for 2-3 minutes. And then to tell if there is something strange in the moving image of Chaplin. Look:

If the person is healthy. A mentally adequate person, faced with a certain new information, for its processing uses the existing experience. A healthy person develops optical illusions when his already ingrained knowledge and experience about a particular subject does not match the situation.

People who do not suffer from schizophrenic disorder, the face will seem convex and from the wrong side.

Initially, a person perceives the usual three-dimensional Chaplin mask. When the face turns visual system a healthy person cannot perceive inner part blank masks. Adequate people see there another three-dimensional face. This is due to the following nuances:

1. The brain of a healthy person does not quite adequately perceive the play of light / shadow on inside masks.
2. Human experience dictates to the brain the knowledge of what shape a face has. This is "downward" knowledge.
3. In the brain, there is dissonance with the sensory signal.
4. But in a healthy person, downward knowledge always has a distinct advantage.
5. The concave face on the wrong side of the mask of a healthy personality seems voluminous.

If a person is sick. One of the main symptoms of schizophrenia is the failure of all cognitive functions. Schizophrenics cannot perceive any optical illusions. A person suffering from schizophrenia will not find anything strange in a rotating mask. For a sick person, Chaplin's appearance will remain concave.

The reasons why individuals with schizophrenic disorder are unable to perceive optical illusions have not yet been fully elucidated. There is a theory that such non-perception depends on the special manner in which sick people process visual information.

If you cannot see a three-dimensional pinkish face on reverse side masks, hurry to the doctors. But don't despair! optical illusions also not perceived by people under the influence of drugs, alcohol and severe stress.

Eye movement test

A feature of this test is its high accuracy in determining possible schizophrenia. The world's leading psychiatrists have long studied the reaction of the movement of the eyeballs in people suffering from various mental disorders.

The result of many years of research was the eye method for verifying schizophrenia. The test was created by Scottish scientists Philip Benson and David Clair. long time observing the behavior of patients. In schizophrenic syndrome, the patient is characterized by:

1. The inability of the patient to focus on a fixed object.
2. It is also difficult for a schizophrenic to keep his eyes on objects that move at a slow speed.

How is testing

The final conclusion on the presence of a schizophrenic disorder in a person is given based on the results of a combination of the following stages:

1. Smooth tracking.
2. Free movement.
3. Gaze fixation.

Eye tests with a certainty of 97-98% can detect the presence of schizophrenia in the early stages. The reliability of the method was confirmed by scientific research by scientists at the University of Aberdeen.

Various pictures and objects (moving and stationary) are alternately placed in front of the subject. The task of the patient is to keep an eye on objects.

Due to its characteristics and specific disorders occurring in the brain, it is difficult for a patient with schizophrenia to concentrate his gaze and focus it correctly.

At the heart of the breach normal mobility eyeballs in a schizophrenic lies a failure in the conduction of neurons going through the centers of the brain halves. Also, during the disease, adequate interaction between peripheral receptors (including optic nerve) and cerebral cortex.

Warning symptoms are:

• the inability of a person to track moving objects for a long time;
• when following an object eyeballs the patient seems to be lagging behind the object.

The eye method for detecting schizophrenia is currently considered only a method early diagnosis pathology. But the scientists plan to develop and improve testing, which allows you to determine not only the presence of the disease, but also which way the disease will develop.

The nuances of the test

In schizophrenics, difficulties with adequate visual fixation are expressed in different ways. In order to more accurately evaluate the test results, specialists developed separate tables of compatibility between eye movements and established norms of nosology.

Many leading specialists are involved in the improvement and improvement of the eye test:

1. Psychiatrist Dr. Benson, studying the inadequate eye response in schizophrenics, came up with a special scale. The scale facilitates the final determination of the test.
2. Psychotherapist Saint Clair. A leading scientist, a psychotherapist, focused on the length of time spent in conducting the test. It is impossible for sick people to sit in one position for a long time during the test. The professor has developed an original technique that reduces the time allotted for test diagnostics.

A test for schizophrenia based on pupillary movements is currently only used in a few leading psychiatric clinics Europe. This method is still at the testing stage. Only after the test has been carefully worked out, evaluated in practical conditions, can it be recommended for use in mass practice.

We habitually use the name of the disease "schizophrenia" to describe a little strange people. "Schizophrenic" - we say, mentally twirling a finger at the temple. Meanwhile, schizophrenia is a mental illness that has long course and is accompanied by a mismatch of mental processes, motor skills and increasing personality changes.

Schizophrenia can develop slowly and unnoticed by the patient. The first signs of schizophrenia are usually isolation from society, social self-isolation, emotional coldness, indifference to loved ones and their appearance, loss of interest in things and events that fascinated the patient before.

Scientists from the University of Bristol studied the neurotransmitters glutamate and dopamine, which are responsible for signaling between the aforementioned areas of the brain. The researchers found that subtle changes in neurotransmitter interactions completely changed the flow of information from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex.

According to the researchers, due to hyperactivation of dopamine receptors, the activity of glutamate NMDA receptors decreases. As a result, the connection between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex is disrupted. That is why people with schizophrenia see things as they really are. That is, passing a similar test for schizophrenia, patients see the concave side of the mask.

A mentally healthy person sees with the mind, not with the eyes.

When you look at the world, your eyes are not just lenses that coolly record everything that happens. On the contrary, the brain adjusts the picture to the context of a particular situation. Let's look at another visual test for schizophrenia. Look at the following optical illusion.

In this case, our brain filters out what we see based on the knowledge it has about light and shadows. We perceive a three-dimensional cube hovering over a white board until we are shown the wrong side of the focus. And all because our brain tells us that the cube cannot be concave inward. Patients with schizophrenia lose their holistic perception of the world, and focus only on certain parts of the overall picture. Looking at such an illusion, schizophrenics realize that in front of them is a piece of cardboard concave inside, painted in black and white squares.

To initial signs diseases include:

• causeless aggression, anger towards loved ones;
• loss of previously characteristic patient interests and hobbies;
• unexpected and illogical ideas and solutions;
• auditory hallucinations (giving orders to the sick voice);
• neuroses (obsessions, obsessive fears, disorders of perception of one's own "I").

Dmitry Belov

Schizophrenia, like any mental illness, has its own symptoms, which can only be considered in combination. Taken out of the general context, single manifestations are not only signs, but may correspond to the symptoms of others. mental illness.

Scientists are looking for ways to diagnose schizophrenia, offering various test methods. However, none of them can accurately define schizophrenia.

The first ones begin to appear already in childhood and adolescence. Already to determine schizophrenia, you need to know the features of its manifestation.

External manifestations of schizophrenia: symptoms and signs

Schizophrenia differs from other mental illnesses in a variety of forms and a long period of time of its onset. The first, as a rule, shock the relatives of the patient. This reaction is understandable, since no one is ready to accept this disease in their family. Therefore, faced with the first signs, they reject even the thought of a disease, explaining the problems as overwork or stress.

This situation is fraught with consequences, as the symptoms will increase, and the person's well-being will worsen.

As a rule, patients with schizophrenia have several groups of symptoms:

1. Psychotic. This group includes signs that are completely absent in healthy people: delirium, obsessions, .

Crazy ideas are not based on real situations, but are completely made up. Patients with schizophrenia create their own picture of the world around them. Patients develop aggressive inclinations: a person feels flawed, believes that the whole world wishes him harm.

Hallucinations can be of several types:

• visual, when a schizophrenic sees non-existent objects, people, animals or other creatures;
• auditory, in which a patient with schizophrenia hears voices or sounds that do not exist in reality;
• tactile, causing non-existent pain and sensations in patients (burns, blows, touches);
• olfactory, in which patients feel certain odors.

1. Disorganized. This group of symptoms characterizes the situation inadequate response to what is happening because of problems with mental operations. Patients with schizophrenia may say meaningless things, and accompanying this aggressive behavior. Even with meaningful positions, the patient's speech is fragmentary without the possibility of its systematization. Schizophrenics cannot establish a sequence of actions. They are scattered.
2. emotional symptoms. Patients with schizophrenia have abnormal emotional reactions on what is happening: a person can experience joy at a funeral and negativity in positive situations. Another characteristic component is the state of affect in patients with schizophrenia. Often there are situations when patients with schizophrenia show a tendency to suicide.

The appearance of signs of schizophrenia should alert loved ones and cause a desire to seek help from a specialist.

Diagnosis of schizophrenia

Given the variety of forms of schizophrenia, when diagnosing this disease, it is necessary to take into account the complex of symptoms that are observed in patients for six months. Single manifestations do not characterize the disease.

First of all, experts pay attention to mental disorders: thoughts, general mood, the presence of hallucinations, movement disorders, impaired mental operations. Special attention at the same time deserves a common emotional condition person.

The presence of schizophrenia in relatives speaks in favor of the disease.

When defining schizophrenia, it is worth distinguishing this disease from schizo conditions and psychotic disorders. The signs of these deviations are similar in many respects, but their main difference is that similar states last about two weeks, and people come out of them on their own, without the help of a doctor.

However, the presence of psychotic and schizo disorders is an indicator of the possibility of schizophrenia, which should cause alertness in both the patient and his environment.

Delusional disorders can be a symptom of schizophrenia, or they can characterize obsessions. Delusions can be caused by brain diseases that are easy to identify. In schizophrenia, brain diseases are not detected.

Signs of the hebephrenic form of schizophrenia are movement disorders that are not controlled volitional manifestations. The patient can make faces, make caricature movements. At the same time, manifestations of inadequate emotional reactions are observed.

Symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia. Therefore, these states must be distinguished.

When defining schizophrenia, one must remember that it is characterized by manifestations in almost all areas of human existence:

• apathy towards one's own personality: slovenliness, strange style of dress, lack of self-care, lack of interest in life;
• violation of communication, lack of trust in people;
• broken thinking and incoherent speech, the presence of neologisms (new invented words), meaningless texts;
• conflicting emotions, inadequate environment;
• anxiety;
• changes in behavior, characterized as eccentricity and foolishness;
• suspicion.

Schizophrenia is a very specific disease. To determine it, it is necessary to take into account all the signs in the complex, which led to the need to develop tests for schizophrenia.

Tests for schizophrenia have been developed and improved over several decades. Some tests have gone through a lot of modifications and changes, while others are considered ineffective. At the present stage, there are many tests that are at the testing stage.

Consider the most common tests for schizophrenia:

• Mask. The essence of the test is that a person is shown a mask with the concave side towards the patient. Normal person immediately reacts to color, shadows, refraction of light and perceives reverse side convex mask. A schizophrenic patient's consciousness is split, and he does not combine the play of color and shadow and perceives the reverse side as a concave part.
• Luscher test. color test offers a set of eight different colors, from which you need to choose the color you like, building a color range according to the degree of sympathy. It is important that the colors are normal without any highlights and spots. The mechanism of this test is such that a person chooses a color at an unconscious level. Therefore, Luscher's results can be considered reliable.

Speaking about color preferences, it should be noted that schizophrenics perceive color in a peculiar way. Patients with schizophrenia may be negative towards certain colors or show irritation. Sometimes they absolutely abstract the colors. Therefore, the attitude towards color can also be an indicator of schizo disorders or the disease of schizophrenia itself.