Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffWhen doctors suspect someone has schizophrenia, they typically run a battery of medical and psychological tests and exams. These can help rule out other problems that could be causing your symptoms, pinpoint a diagnosis and also check for any related complications. These exams and tests generally include:
- Physical exam. This may include measuring height and weight; checking vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure and temperature; listening to the heart and lungs; and examining the abdomen.
- Laboratory tests. These may include a complete blood count (CBC), screening for alcohol and drugs, and imaging studies, such as an MRI or CT scan.
- Psychological evaluation. A doctor or mental health provider will talk to you about your thoughts, feelings and behavior patterns. He or she will ask about delusions or hallucinations and check for signs of psychosis. You may also fill out psychological self-assessments and questionnaires. You may be asked about substance or alcohol abuse. And with your permission, family members or close friends may be asked to provide information about your symptoms.
Diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia
To be diagnosed with schizophrenia, you must meet the criteria spelled out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This manual is published by the American Psychiatric Association and is used by mental health providers to diagnose mental conditions and by insurance companies to reimburse for treatment.
Diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia are:
- Presence of at least two of these: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behavior, or presence of negative symptoms
- Significant impairment in the ability to work, attend school or perform normal daily tasks
- Signs last for at least six months
- Other mental health disorders have been ruled out
You may be diagnosed with one of the five subtypes of schizophrenia, although not all people easily fit into a specific category. The five subtypes are:
- Paranoid
- Catatonic
- Disorganized
- Undifferentiated
- Residual
Talk to your doctor about which type of schizophrenia you have so that you can learn more about your specific situation and its treatments.
