Educational reference
About this symptom
This describes reduced expression of emotion through the face, voice and gestures: a flatter tone, less facial movement, fewer gestures, less eye contact.
It is among the most misread features of the condition. Reduced expression is not reduced feeling. People described this way frequently report experiencing emotion as strongly as before, while it shows less on the outside. Being treated as indifferent when one is not is itself distressing.
This matters practically, because others respond to expression. Reduced expression can be taken as rudeness, disinterest or hostility, affecting friendships, family relationships, and outcomes in settings like job interviews.
It is one of the negative symptoms, which tend to be more persistent than psychotic symptoms and respond less reliably to medication, though psychological and social approaches can help.
Similar reduced expression occurs in depression, in Parkinson's disease, and as a side effect of some medicines, so it is not specific to schizophrenia.