Abstract
Language abnormalities are commonly associated with and diagnostic of a brain disorder like schizophrenia. Attempts have been made in the past to characterize the speech abnormalities in schizophrenia, but no known available research has been conducted in Nigeria where the English language is recognized as the official language. This study was designed to examine the discourse during a medical interview of a Nigerian patient with schizophrenia. A clinical interview between a schizophrenic patient and a doctor was carried out at the Mental Health Department of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. The conversation was tape-recorded, thereafter transcribed and analysed. The findings revealed syntax errors in turn-taking, mistakes in pronunciation, grammatical and phonological errors. The data confirms literature elsewhere and suggests a role for language analysis in the evaluation of persons with schizophrenia.
Highlights
Schizophrenia is a complex disease that is characterized by disorders of the thought processes which manifest as disorganized behaviour and/or speech [1, 2]
Approvals to carry out the study was given by the department of English of the University of Benin, and the authority of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City
Patient G, who was married and has a tertiary level of education, was diagnosed to have schizophrenia by a consultant psychiatrist using the 10th edition of the International Classification of Disease [14]
Summary
Schizophrenia is a complex disease that is characterized by disorders of the thought processes which manifest as disorganized behaviour and/or speech [1, 2]. Since language mirrors the thought, schizophrenia is often associated with language abnormalities [3]. Recognized as one of the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia [4, 5]. The disease is thought to have an impact on the brain region that regulates language production [4]. This may lead to widespread deficits in comprehension, production, attention, and cerebral lateralization of language [7]
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