schizophrenia

Question 1

what is schizophrenia?

Answer 1

A mental disorder characterised by delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thoughts, speech and behaviour. it is often described as a type of psychosis.

Question 2

what causes schizophrenia?

Answer 2

abnormality in the brain, substance abuse, genetics.

Question 3

what is ICD-10?

Answer 3

an international classification of disease containing characteristics and symptoms necessary to diagnose schizophrenia.

Question 4

what is DSM-V?

Answer 4

the diagnostic manual of psychiatric disorder. this consists of characteristics used to diagnose schizophrenia such as:
delusions
hallucinations
disorganised speech
disorganised behaviour.

section A: they must have 2 or more symptoms
section b: social and occupational dysfunction
section C: the symptoms must last over 6 months.

Question 5

what are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 5

hallucinations
delusions
disorganised speech.

Question 6

what are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 6

speech poverty
avolition
affective flattering.

Question 7

what is reliability in schizophrenia?

Answer 7

the consistency within the diagnosis/classification, where the diagnosis must be repeatable.

Question 8

what does inter-rater reliability mean?

Answer 8

two or more clinicians must reach the same conclusion.
they use the kappa score to do this.
0 is no agreement and 1 is perfect agreement.

Question 9

what does test retest mean?

Answer 9

a clinician must reach the same conclusion on at least 2 different occasions.

Question 10

why are there cultural differences in schizophrenic diagnosis?

Answer 10

some cultures do not see hallucination as a negative thing.

studies show that in some African cultures, hallucinations are viewed as special and harmless, while in USA culture, they are seen as violent and negative.
on diagnosis, the British and American psychologists had very different diagnostic rates even though they were examining the same people. this suggests that there is an issue with the diagnosing process.

Question 11

what was Rosenhan’s study?

Answer 11

had 12 ppts. they all wen to mental hospitals saying they where hearing voices. 11 where admitted with schizophrenia and one was classified as manic depressed.
they made observations around the hospital. they acted normal once admitted.
the range was 7 to 52 days..
the fact that non of the participants where actually schizophrenic, meaning there was huge error in the diagnostic process.

Question 12

what does validity mean?

Answer 12

the findings are accurate and relevant to the diagnosis and generalisation to the population.

Question 13

what is symptom overlap?

Answer 13

when schizophrenia symptoms may be the smae as other mental disorders.
symptoms are similar in:
ocd
depression
bipolar.

Question 14

what does co-mobidity mean?

Answer 14

the extent to which schizophrenia can be diagnosed with another disorder. when two or more conditions co-occur.

Question 15

how does gender bias occur in schizophrenia diagnosis?

Answer 15

some researchers suggest that the DSM-V shows bias as the criteria suggests one gender is psychologically more abnormal than the other. men are more likely to be diagnosed earlier than women .

Question 16

what do family studies show about the relation of genetics and SZ?

Answer 16

if both parents have schizophrenia, you are highly likely to develop it.

if you are an identical twin, you are highly likely to develop it if your twin has it.

Question 17

give an AO3 point of family studies and SZ?

Answer 17

schizophrenia may run in families due to having common rearing practices. for exapmle, the negative emotional climate in some families may lead to stress beyond an individuals coping mechanisms, thus triggering a SZ episode.

Question 18

what do twin studies show about the relationship of genetics and SZ?

Answer 18

concordance rates of MZ twins are 40% were as DZ are only 7%.

one limitation is that environmental factors must hold some relevance in the development of SZ as neither concordance rate is 100%

Question 19

what do adoption studies show about the relationship of genetics and schizophrenia?

Answer 19

studies with adoptees with biological mothers that had schizophrenia, suggest there is a 6.7% chance of them developing it to.
where as adoptees with non sZ biological mother only had a 2% chance.

Question 20

AO3 of adoption studies and schizophrenia?

Answer 20

adoptees are placed strategically placed as the parents are informed of all mental and biological background of the child. this may change the way the child is cared for.

Question 21

what is the dopamine hypothosis?

Answer 21

if there is too much dopamine, there will be too many neurotransmitters firering, therefore causing positive symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions.

Question 22

what is research in support of the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 22

large doses of medication was gave to participants to increase dopamine levels. no participant suffered from schizophrenia. however they began to show schizophrenic like symptoms.
small doses were given to schizophrenic people and their symptoms worsened

Question 23

what are 2 AO3 points of the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 23

it is reductionist.

it focuses on the nature side of the nature nurture argument.

Question 24

what do neural correlates show about the relationship of biological explanations and SZ?

Answer 24

there has been brain imaging technology that has showed a link between schizophrenia and enlarged ventricles. they are 15% bigger than the average person. this could lead to an abnormality in the way an individual thinks and processes information.

Question 25

give an AO3 point of neural correlates as an explanation of SZ?

Answer 25

there are scientific evidence of a link.
cause and effect can be established

Question 26

what does family dysfunction suggest about SZ?

Answer 26

abnormal processes in the family such as cold parenting can lead to high emotional distress for children, leading to possible development of SZ.

Question 27

what is the double blind theory?

Answer 27

children who receive mixed messages are more likely to develop schizophrenia

Question 28

what is expressed emotion?

Answer 28

being talked to in an artificial or hostile manner, high levels of emotions eg: more likely to cause relapses

Question 29

what is the evaluation of family dysfuntion?

Answer 29

individual differences: not everyone in high ee families relapse.

double blind schizophrenics recall a larger amount of statements said by their mother than schizophrenic people

Question 30

what is the cognitive explanation of SZ?

Answer 30

cognitive habits and beliefs that cause the individual to evaluate information inappropriately. this leads to a different thought process leading to positive symptoms.

Question 31

what is a delusion according to the cognitive explanation?

Answer 31

the degree to which the individual perceives themselves as the central component and so jumps to conclusions about external events. the tendency to relate irrelevant events to themselves and consequently arrive to false conclusions.

Question 32

what is a hallucination according to the cognitive explanation?

Answer 32

patients focus excessive attention on auditory stimuli so have higher expectancy for the accordance of a voice than a normal individual

Question 33

AO3 points of the cognitive explanation?

Answer 33

CBT is found to work very well therefore showing that the cognitive explanation holds some relivance.

it fails to take into account the biological explanations and therefore is not fully able to explain the reasoning for schizophrenia.

Question 34

what is the history of drug therapy?

Answer 34

before the 1950’s, drug therapies where rarely used and rarely worked.
in 1952 dopamine was discovered which transformed the treatment of SZ..

Question 35

what are typical antipsychotics?

Answer 35

chlorpromazine

blocked the d2 receptors, stopping the levels of dopamine rising to high.
they mainly treated the positive symptoms.

they had side effects such as: lethargy, dry mouth, Tardif dyskinesia

Question 36

what are atypical antipsychotics?

Answer 36

clozapine

blocks the dopamine receptors.
treated positive and negative.

side effects: weight gain

Question 37

why are second generation drugs better than first?

Answer 37

they treat both the positive and the negative symptoms of SZ.

Question 38

what is cognitive behavioural therapy?

Answer 38

they challenge the irrational views and works with a therapist to help overcome and change the irrational behaviour.

Question 39

what is the procedure of CBT?

Answer 39

applying the ABC model
normalisation
critical collaborative analysis
developing alternative explanations.

Question 40

evaluation of CBT?

Answer 40

NICE argues that it has been proven to work and change anxiety levels

there are no real side effects as it is not changing the biological status of the individual

interactionalists would argue that it will be more effective if it was done with drugs so that the individual is receiving the maximum amount of care.

individual differences: it may not work for everyone.

Question 41

what is family therapy?

Answer 41

education about the illness
bringing the family together
reducing EE, anger and guilt
encouraging relative to set appropriate limits.

Question 42

ao3 of family therapy?

Answer 42

it can be very expensive

family members may drop out making it less effective

support research found that people who had out patient care 50% of them relapsed within 9 months, compared to only 8% which had family therapy.

it would be better if it was paired with drugs.

Question 43

what is token economy.

Answer 43

when a patient does something positive, they are given a token. when they have enough tokens, they are able to get something as a reward.
association of positive action and reward can help reduce the negative behaviours and thoughts of the individual

Question 44

AO3 of token economy?

Answer 44

individual differences.

it doesn’t directly treat the symptoms

it takes a more positive approach rather than CTB or family therapy

Question 45

what is the interactionalist approach to schizophrenia?

Answer 45

the diathesis-stress model.

when there is a high biological predisposition of schizophrenia in an individual. the level of stress they have may effect the chances of them developing the condition.

Question 46

ao3 of the interactionalist approach?

Answer 46

twin studies: this explains why one twin may have the condition and the other may not. they may have the same biological predisposition but th level of stress in one twin may be more than the other.

treatment should therefore consist of multiple things. they should use a mixture of therapy and drugs to help combat the symptoms and mindset of the individual in an easier way.

ethical issues of research on schizophrenia can lead to psychological harm of the individual and lead to further dysfunction if not dealt
with correctly.