Schizophrenia

Question 1

What is Schizophrenia?

Answer 1

Severe mental illness where contact with reality and insight are impaired, example of psychosis.

Question 2

What is ‘classification of mental disorder’?

Answer 2

Process of organising symptoms into categories based on which symptoms cluster together in sufferers.

Question 3

What are positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 3

Atypical symptoms experienced in addition to normal experiences. Include hallucinations and delusions.

Question 4

What are hallucinations?

Answer 4

A positive symptom, sensory experiences of stimuli that have either no basis in reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are there.

Question 5

What are delusions?

Answer 5

Positive symptom, involve beliefs that ave no basis in reality e.g. sufferer is a victim of a conspiracy.

Question 6

What are negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 6

Atypical experiences that represent loss of a usual experience such as clear thinking or motivation.

Question 7

What is speech poverty?

Answer 7

A negative symptom involving reduced frequency and quality of speech.

Question 8

What is avolition?

Answer 8

A negative symptom, in less loss of motivation to carry out tasks resulting in lower activity levels.

Question 9

What is co-morbidity?

Answer 9

The occurrence of two illnesses or conditions together, e.g. person has both schizophrenia and personality disorder. Where 2 conditions are frequently diagnosed together it calls into question the validity of classifying the two disorders separately.

Question 10

What is symptom overlap?

Answer 10

Occurs when two or moe conditions share symptoms. Calls into question the validity of classifying two disorders separately.

Question 11

What are genetics?

Answer 11

Genes consist of DNA strands. DNA produces ‘instructions’ for general physical features of an organism (eye colour, height) and specific physical features (neurotransmitter level). These may impact on psychological features (intelligence). Genes are transmitted from parents to offspring e.g. inherited.

Question 12

What is dopamine?

Answer 12

A neurotransmitter that generally has an excitatory effect and associated with sensation of pleasure. Unusually high levels are associated with schizophrenia and low levels with Parkinson’s disease.

Question 13

What are neural correlates?

Answer 13

Patterns of structure or activity in the brain that occur in conjunction with an experience and may be implicated I origins of that experience.

Question 14

What is family dysfunction?

Answer 14

Abnormal processes within a family such as poor family communication, cold parenting and high levels of expressed emotion. These may be a risk factors for both the development/maintenance of schizophrenia.

Question 15

What is the cognitive explanation for schizophrenia ?

Answer 15

Explanations that focus on mental processes such as thinking, language and attention.

Question 16

What is dysfunctional thought processing?

Answer 16

A general term meaning info processing that is not functioning normally and produces undesirable consequences.

Question 17

What are antipsychotics?

Answer 17

Drugs used to reduce intensity of symptoms, especially positive, of psychotic conditions like schizophrenia.

Question 18

What are typical antipsychotics?

Answer 18

The first generation of antipsychotic drugs, having been used since since the 1950s. They work as dopamine antagonists and include Chlorpromazine

Question 19

What are Atypical antipsychotics?

Answer 19

Drugs for schizophrenia developed after typical antipsychotics. They target range if neurotransmitters such a dopamine and serotonin. These include; Clozapine and Risperidone.

Question 20

What is Clozapine?

Answer 20

An atypical antipsychotic drug developed in 1960s but withdrawn for a while following deaths of some patients from Agranulocytosis. Remarketed in 1980s as a treatment for schizophrenia. Also has mood enhancing effects so is often prescribed to to patients at high risk of suicide.

Question 21

What is cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)?

Answer 21

Method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and Behavioural techniques. From cognitive viewpoint the therapy aims to deal with thinking, challenging negative thoughts. Therapy also includes Behavioural techniques.

Question 22

What is family therapy?

Answer 22

A psychological therapy carried out with all or some members of a family with aim of improving communication and reducing stress of living as a family.

Question 23

What are token economies?

Answer 23

Form of Behavioural therapy, where desirable behaviours are encouraged by the use of selective reinforcement. E.g. patients are given rewards as secondary reinforcers when they engage in correct/socially desirable behaviours. Tokens can be exchanged for primary reinforcers - favourite foods or privileges.

Question 24

What is the interactionist approach to schizophrenia?

Answer 24

A broad approach to explaining schizophrenia, which acknowledges that a range of factors, including biological and psychological factors, are involved in development of schizophrenia.

Question 25

What is the diathesis-stress model?

Answer 25

An interactionist approach to explaining behaviour. E.g. schizophrenia explained as result of both underlying vulnerability and a trigger, both are necessary for onset of schizophrenia. In early versions, vulnerability was genetic and tiggers psychological. Nowadays both genes and trauma are seen as diatheses and stress psychological or biological in nature.