When you think of someone with schizophrenia, most people probably imagine a person who experiences delusions and/or hallucinations. This may often be the case, but there are several diagnostic criteria to consider when evaluating schizophrenia. First, because most people imagine a person to be schizophrenic, a person with schizophrenia will experience delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech. In fact, they may experience more than one or all of these criteria. Delusions are the false belief in something that is contraindicated. For example, a delusion of grandeur might be for a person to believe that they are the president of the United States, despite seeing it on the news and despite the fact that no one refers to them as president. A delusion of persecution might consist of believing that law enforcement is hunting the person despite there being no evidence or reason why law enforcement is tracking the individual. A person might experience a delusion of reference such as when they believe that a person on TV is talking directly to them. A final illusion that the experience could be would be that of control. A delusion of control would be the person's belief that an external force (such as aliens) is controlling or stealing their thoughts. Hallucinations are perceptions that appear and seem real to the person, but in reality do not exist at all. Most hallucinations in schizophrenia are auditory, although visual hallucinations also occur frequently. An example of a hallucination would be seeing a demon or hearing God speak to him. Disorganized speech involves losing your train of thought or responding with information that is irrelevant to the conversation. Pe......middle of paper......ility.Catalepsia – rigidity with loss of sensation.Waxy flexibility – decreased response to stimuli and immobile posture. Furthermore, they are likely to remain in the position where someone else puts them. Mutism – reluctance or inability to speak. Negativism – opposition or no response to stimuli. Posture – posture maintained against gravity. Mannerism – strange version of normal actions. Stereotyping – repetition of an act without purpose. Agitation – has no legitimate urges. Grimacing – a facial expression of disgust or pain. Echolalia – repeating another person's speech. Echopraxia – repeating another person's movements. If treatment for schizophrenia is started before the onset of catatonic symptoms side effects of drugs should be excluded. Finally, the severity of schizophrenia can be specified by assessing the severity of active symptoms.