Psychopathology part 1 Flashcards
(21 cards)
What is a mental disorder?
Traditionally defined in term of behaviors that are considered abnormal
What is the problem about classifying mental disorders in the traditional method?
The definition of normal and abnormal vary with time and culture.
How is the DSM- IV classify abnormal behavior?
Defines abnormal as behavior that is atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, unjustifiable
How many major categories of “mental disorder” does the DSM-IV identifies?
17- in terms of symptoms, prognosis, and appropriate treatment.
What are some major classes of disorders?
mood & anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, substance abuse, personality disorder.
How prevalent are mental disorders in the US?
33% will report symptoms of a major disorder some point in life
19% experience symptoms in the course of a year
5% currently suffer from a serious disorder.
What are the 4 major psychiatric disorders in 19% of the US population?
Alcohol and drug abuse - 15,000,000
Severe Anxiety- 16,000,000
Severe Depression- 10,000,000
Schizophrenia- 1,500,000
What are the positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
- hallucinations (mostly auditory)
- Delusions of grandeur, persecution, etc.
- Disordered thought processes
- Bizarre Behaviors
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
- Social withdrawal
- Flat affect (blunted emotional response)
- Anhedonia (loss of pleasurable feelings)
- Reduced motivation, poor focus on tasks
- Alogia (reduced speech output)
- Catatonia (reduced movement)
What are the general characteristics of schizophrenia?
- affects about .5-1% of the population
- no gender differences
- onset of symptoms in early adulthood
- usually chronic
- accounts for a large proportion of hospitalized patients
What role does heritability play in schizophrenia?
- concordance for identical twins 48%
- concordance for fraternal twins 17%
- paternal age- Children of older fathers more susceptible.
- Physical characteristics, eye tracking, childhood behavioral problems.
What can we conclude about the heritability of schizophrenia?
Both genes and environmental factors contribute
How does the environment effect schizophrenia?
- life stress/external environment (people in cities are more susceptible)
- prenatal stress- (incompatible blood types/exposure to the flu during pregnancy)
How does schizophrenia effect the brain?
- enlarged ventricles
How does schizophrenia effect brain activity?
hypofrontality hypothesis- relatively low levels of frontal lobe activity.
What have people observed on the brain chemistry of people with schizophrenia?
- high doses of amphetatines produce similar symptoms (paranoia delusions, auditory hallucinations
- some patients with parkinsons disease develop schizophrenic symptoms after taking L-dopa
What drugs help reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia and amphetamine psychosis?
Antipsychotics and neuroleptics (chlorpromazine)
What is the DA hypothesis for schizophrenia?
its a result of excess of DA activity in the brain.
What are the problems with the DA hypothesis of schizophrenia?
- Some patients show no improvement with DA receptor blockers (those with negative symptoms)
2) antipsychotic drugs take several weeks to produce effects despite immediate changes in DA levels.
3) many antipsychotics also block other NT receptors.
What is the Glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia?
1) symptoms are due to deficient activity at glutamate synapse.
2) because DA inhibits glutamate, drugs that inhibit DA cause an increase in glutamate activity
What is the evidence for the Glutamate hypothesis?
1) low levels of Glu & Glu receptors in schizophrenic brains
2) PCP (an NMDA receptor antagonist) produces schizophrenic symptoms- both positive and negative.
