Individual Differences Of Schizophrenia - Psychodynmic

Question 1

How does the psychodynamic approach explain schizophrenia?

Answer 1

• The psychodynamic approach proposes the idea that schizophrenia is related to unresolved conflicts from childhood
• there are two key ideas to understand Freuds ideas of schizophrenia: fixation and regression

Question 2

What is Fixation?

Answer 2

• fixation is when there’s too much or too little stimulation in a particular stage of the psychosexual stages

Question 3

Fixation in regard to schizophrenia

Answer 3

• in the case of schizophrenia, we look at the oral stage.
• Freud claimed that schizophrenics become fixated during the first one to two months of the oral stage of development.
• this therefore leads their Id to lack development

Question 4

What is Regression?

Answer 4

• it’s a ego defence mechanism which causes the ego to retreat

Question 5

Regression in regards to schizophrenia

Answer 5

• the dominance of the id and the lack of the ego at the oral stage, causes symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions result in an individual losing touch with reality- these are symptoms of schizophrenia

Question 6

Losing touch with reality

Answer 6

• it’s the role of the ego to control the impulses of the id and balance the demands of the id with the moral limitations by the superego
• if an individual regresses back to a point where the ego effectively doesn’t exist, there is nothing stopping the id from acting unimpead

Question 7

What did Freud compare schizophrenia to ?

Answer 7

• he compared it to an infantile state and as such the individual with schizophrenia is classed by a primary narcissism seen in newborns

Question 8

Schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 8

• a neo Freudian believed that the mother-child relationship was crucial in the development of schizophrenia
• mothers who were overly dominant, controlling and overprotective yet still distant and cold were the cause of schizophrenia.
• the overprotection stifle the child’s development, and their distance leave the child feeling emotionally insecure
• leads to distrust that develops into paranoid delusions - symptoms of schizophrenia