INTERACTIONIST TREATMENT AO1 + AO3

Question 1

diathesis stress model

Answer 1

• The model is associated with combining antipsychotic medication and psychological therapies, in particular CBT.
• For instance, psychological treatments work by targeting the faulty thought processes in schizophrenic patients, For example, CBT which helps patients to identify faulty thoughts and try to change them.
• It helps patients make sense of how delusions and hallucinations impact their feelings and behaviour, thus helping to reduce anxiety

Question 2

Typical antipsychotic drugs

Answer 2

• (chlorpromazine) combat the positive symptoms of SZ (H/D). It acts as an antagonist to reduce the amount of dopamine and therefore reduce symptoms of SZ.
• Atypical antipsychotic drugs (clopazine), combats both positive and negative symptoms as it blocks serotonin and glutamate receptors as well as temporarily occupying dopamine receptors so they are at a normal level.

Question 3

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Answer 3

• Using both drug therapy and CBT we are able to target both aspects of schizophrenia, this being the irrational beliefs
• (for instance delusions) and the excess amount of dopamine (returning levels back to normal levels)

Question 4

One strength of typical antipsychotics as a treatment is that there is supporting research to show effectiveness.

Answer 4

• For example, Davis et al reviewed 29 relevant studies and found that relapse occurred in only 19% of schizophrenic patients using conventional antipsychotics compared to 55% of patients taking a placebo.
• This suggests that conventional antipsychotic drugs minimise the risk of relapse amongst patients.
• However it’s argued that placebo studies aren’t fair to use in comparing treatment and non-treatment, as withdrawal of antipsychotic medication creates heightened sensitivity and increased dopamine receptors to make up for the loss of the drug; the body is then flooded with dopamine.
• This suggests that the proportion of relapses in the placebo condition can be due to withdrawal effects.
• Therefore, it is unclear whether the apparent reduction in relapse rates in the medicated condition is due to the drug, or the withdrawal effects in the placebo condition.

Question 5

One strength of drug therapy as a whole is that it’s cost effective and non disruptive.

Answer 5

• Compared to psychological treatments, such as CBT, drug therapies cost less and can be mass produced.
• Also,ncompared to psychological treatments, drug therapies do not interfere with the patient’s daily life, such as patients don’t need to attend appointments and take time out of their day to treat SZ.
• This is an advantage as it is an appropriate method of treating SZ as it increases the quality of life without disrupting people’s day to day life.
• FM drug therapies have good implications in terms of economy as people are taking less time off work, and so are able to still contribute to the economy

Question 6

Additionally the appropriateness of CBT has been questioned as there is a high dropout rate.

Answer 6

• This is due to the high level of commitment that is needed for the treatment to be effective.
• A SZ patient may find it hard to keep up this commitment as they are struggling with the symptoms of SZ.
• Therefore it is only appropriate for those who can engage with the programme, not with those who have severe SZ

Question 7

One strength of CBT as a treatment of SZ is that there is supporting research to show its effectiveness

Answer 7

• For example, Sameer used 34 case studies and concluded that CBT has a significant, but fairly small effect on type 1 and 2 schizophrenia.
• This shows CBT is effective in counteracting the effects of SZ and thus improving the quality of life of patients.
• However this is a fairly small sample and does not take into account any other forms of treatment that the patients may have been undergoing.
• Therefore, findings may lack validity and so it has limited usefulness