Which describes common symptoms in schizophrenia?

• A. Depressive symptoms prevalence
• B. Social withdrawal, emotional and cognitive changes
• C. Left-right confusion
• D. Minor physical anomalies of the face and limbs

Answer: (B)

Schizophrenia most often shows up with negative symptoms and cognitive changes that reduce social engagement and everyday functioning. Descriptions of social withdrawal, blunted or diminished emotional expression, and problems with thinking and attention reflect these core impairments and are among the most characteristic features clinicians look for in this illness. That combination—withdrawal plus emotional and cognitive changes—best captures what patients commonly experience and what helps distinguish schizophrenia from other conditions.

Depressive symptoms can occur alongside schizophrenia, but they aren’t the defining cluster of symptoms. Left-right confusion isn’t a typical or central feature of the illness, and minor physical anomalies of the face or limbs are not used to describe its common symptom pattern—though some neurodevelopmental notes may be observed in research, they aren’t the everyday description of the syndrome.