Which of the following is NOT one of the major symptoms of schizophrenia?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Split personality
The symptoms of schizophrenia are grouped as positive symptoms (excesses of thought, emotion and behaviour), negative symptoms (deficits) and psychomotor symptoms.
Option (1) Split personality — Not a symptom of schizophrenia (Correct). Two or more separate and contrasting personalities in one person mark dissociative identity (multiple personality) disorder, a dissociative disorder. ‘Split personality’ is the everyday name for this disorder. A person with schizophrenia loses touch with reality but does not switch between personalities; the word schizophrenia means ‘split mind’, a split between thought, emotion and behaviour, not into separate personalities.
Option (2) Delusions — A positive symptom (Incorrect). A delusion is a false belief that is firmly held on inadequate grounds; delusions of persecution are the most common in schizophrenia.
Option (3) Hallucinations — A positive symptom (Incorrect). Hallucinations are perceptions that occur in the absence of external stimuli; auditory hallucinations are the most common in schizophrenia.
Option (4) Alogia — A negative symptom (Incorrect). Alogia is poverty of speech, a reduction in speech and speech content, one of the pathological deficits seen in schizophrenia.
NCERT (2025-26): “Symptoms of Schizophrenia … Positive symptoms are ‘pathological excesses’ or ‘bizarre additions’ to a person’s behaviour. Delusions, disorganised thinking and speech, heightened perception and hallucinations, and inappropriate affect are the ones most often found in schizophrenia. Many people with schizophrenia develop delusions. A delusion is a false belief that is firmly held on inadequate grounds. It is not affected by rational argument, and has no basis in reality. Delusions of persecution are the most common in schizophrenia. People with this delusion believe that they are being plotted against, spied on, slandered, threatened, attacked or deliberately victimised.…” “Symptoms of Schizophrenia … People with schizophrenia may have hallucinations, i.e. perceptions that occur in the absence of external stimuli.…” “Symptoms of Schizophrenia … Negative symptoms are ‘pathological deficits’ and include poverty of speech, blunted and flat affect, loss of volition, and social withdrawal. People with schizophrenia show alogia or poverty of speech, i.e. a reduction in speech and speech content.…” “Dissociative Disorders … Dissociative identity disorder, often referred to as multiple personality, is the most dramatic of the dissociative disorders. It is often associated with traumatic experiences in childhood. In this disorder, the person assumes alternate personalities that may or may not be aware of each other.…” |