{"id":624,"date":"2019-04-02T14:09:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T14:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/?page_id=624"},"modified":"2025-10-17T12:52:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:52:49","slug":"positive-negative-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/understanding-experiences-of-psychosis\/positive-negative-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Positive &#038; Negative Symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You may hear people refer to \u2018positive symptoms\u2019 and \u2018negative symptoms\u2019. This can be confusing, especially as it can be hard to see how any of these experiences can be positive.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Positive symptoms &#8211;<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">is actually used to describe experiences that are not usually present i.e. they are additional to what the person is usually like. The most common ones include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hearing voices or noises that others can\u2019t hear,(auditory hallucinations)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Seeing things that others can\u2019t see (visual hallucinations)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Having strongly held unusual or bizarre beliefs that most other people would not share (delusions)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Not thinking straight and therefore difficult to follow when talking (thought disorder)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Watch a service user, Siobhan talk about experiencing paranoia.<\/h4>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/estream.lancaster.ac.uk\/Embed.aspx?id=88331&#038;code=dH~awT7LJKCETUWHnJEJ3GCxLJvIldOKr\" width=\"1080\" height=\"607\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_column_text][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Negative symptoms &#8211;<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">describe a lack of or loss of experiences that are usually there, i.e. they take something away from what the person is usually like. The most common ones include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Loss of motivation or energy<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Loss of pleasure in everyday activities<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Withdrawal from relationships and activities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Negative symptoms are sometimes more difficult to understand and they can build up gradually. This makes them difficult to distinguish from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Normal teenage angst<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sedation effects from medication<\/li>\n<li>Depression<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Cognitive Problems<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many people with psychosis also have additional problems that you may notice. The most common are problems with \u2018cognitive functioning\u2019. This includes things like memory, learning, planning and attention. You may also notice changes in their ability to understand social situations. They may seem less able to understand how other people are feeling, or what their intentions are. If you or your relative are worried about any of these, then it\u2019s important to mention to the clinical team as strategies are available that can help.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You can find out more in later modules \u2013 \u2018<a href=\"\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/managing-unusual-behaviour-positive-symptoms\/managing-positive-symptoms\/\">Module 3 \u2013 Managing Positive Symptoms<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018<a href=\"\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/managing-negative-symptoms-2\/managing-negative-symptoms\/\">Module 4 \u2013 Managing Negative Symptoms<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">[arrows][\/vc_column_text]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] You may hear people refer to \u2018positive symptoms\u2019 and \u2018negative symptoms\u2019. This can be confusing, especially as it can be hard to see how any of these experiences can be positive. Positive symptoms &#8211; is actually used to describe experiences that are not usually present i.e. they are additional to what the person is <\/p>\n<div class=\"btn-more-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/understanding-experiences-of-psychosis\/positive-negative-symptoms\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-hover-fill\"><i class=\"icon-right-arrow\"> <\/i>Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Positive &#038; Negative Symptoms&#8221;<\/span><i class=\"icon-right-arrow\"> <\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1571,"parent":1845,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-toolkit.php","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-624","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Positive &amp; Negative Symptoms - REACT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/understanding-experiences-of-psychosis\/positive-negative-symptoms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Positive &amp; Negative Symptoms - REACT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] You may hear people refer to \u2018positive symptoms\u2019 and \u2018negative symptoms\u2019. 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