From Pepe Silvia to Geshinka: the curious domains of psychosis

In this episode we explore the mainstream medical understanding of the domains of schizophrenia and psychosis.

In the process we discuss a number of texts including Better Call Saul, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Black Swan and Joker.

According to the Verywell Health website psychosis is a “symptom”, of which signs include: hallucinations, delusions, and agitation; and schizophrenia is a mental health “condition” that can cause psychosis. People living with schizophrenia can experience symptoms of psychosis but not all people experiencing psychosis have schizophrenia.

The writers of the DSM-V suggest that schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders are defined by abnormalities in one or more of the following five domains: delusions; hallucinations; disorganised thinking; grossly disorganised or abnormal motor behaviour (including catatonia), and; negative symptoms.

Please listen in as we try to wrap our heads around these five domains of schizophrenia.

References

• DSM-V-TR (APA)
• Verywell Health
• Under the Silver Lake (2018) directed by David Robert Mitchell.
• Better Call Saul — here’s an example of Chuck McGill’s behaviour: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — the infamous Pepe Silvia scene.
• Black Swan (2010) directed by Darren Aronofsky
• Tchaikovsky — Swan Lake
• Disorganized Speech Schizophrenia
• Joker (2019) directed by Todd Philips
• Rethinking Madness by Paris Williams

Links:

Altered Mates Website

Altered Mates Instagram

Music for the show by Si Mulumby.