Issues in mental health: Topic Two Flashcards
What is topic two?
The medical model
Which neurotransmitter has been linked to low mood?
Serotonin
What is it thought that low levels of serotonin can cause?
Depression
What types of drugs are given for depression as a result of low levels of serotonin?
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
Describe the role of serotonin from the pre synaptic to the post synaptic cell
Serotonin plays a role in transmitting messages across the synapse, once the post synaptic cell has been stimulated the serotonin is taken back (reuptake) into the presynaptic cell to await the next message
What do SSRIs do?
They prevent the reuptake of serotonin so there is more of the serotonin available in the synapse to carry future messages and therefore reducing symptoms of depression
Why might genetics play a role in mental illness?
As the mental illness can be passed from parent to child
What is believed about the passing on of a mental illness from parent to child in terms of how a child will be more likely to inherit such illnesses?
That the child might have a predisposition to the disorder but would need an environmental trigger for the disorder to be displayed within the child
What did Gottesmann find in terms of identical twins having mental disorders?
That if one twin had a mental illness, there was a 58% chance that the other twin would have it
Describe the evolutionary theory of mental illness
Behaviours that have a positive effect on our survival are likely to become inherited traits as people with these traits initially survived to mate and pass them on
What format of treatment is in it’s early stages of research in terms of genetics causing disorders?
Genetic manipulation which may be able to reduce mental illness
What did Weinberger look into?
Brain differences in people with schizophrenia
What did Weinberger find?
That non-affected twins showed differences in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus volume compared to affected twins (as shown through MRI scans)
What was the aim of Gottesman’s research?
To investigate in a large sample the probability of a child, with two parents with a psychiatric illness, being diagnosed with a mental disorder, in particular, the one that their parents have
Describe where the sample came from and from what year?
The population of Denmark alive or born in 1968 and with a clear link to their biological parents was established from the civil registration system
From the people found in the civil registration system, which people were included?
Those aged 10 before January 2007
Overall, how many couples were studied in Gottesman’s study?
Approx. 1.3 million
What was identified from the psychiatric central register in terms of the sample?
Anyone who had ever received a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression
Describe group A
2 parents with bipolar or schizophrenia
Describe group B
1 parent with bipolar or schizophrenia
Describe group C
Neither parent diagnosed
Describe group D
‘General public’ (no info on illness)
What were the results in terms of children from group A having the same disorder as their parents?
- 9% Bipolar
27. 3% Schizophrenia
What were the results in terms of children from group D having bipolar or schizophrenia?
- 48% Bipolar
0. 86% Schizophrenia
Outline Gottesman’s conclusions in terms of the risk of a child being diagnosed for schizophrenia?
The risk with 2 parents diagnosed is 3.9 times higher than 1 parent diagnosed and 31.7 times higher than neither parent diagnosed
Outline Gottesman’s conclusions in terms of the risk of a child being diagnosed with bipolar
The risk of 2 parents diagnosed in 51.7 times higher than neither parent diagnosed
What did Gottesman find in terms of parents who were diagnosed with another disorder and the risk of schizophrenia?
If both parents are diagnosed with another disorder, the risk of schizophrenia is higher
Outline the advantage of drug therapy over cognitive and behavioural treatments for disorders
Drugs are a quick way of altering the brains biochemistry to treat symptoms of mental illness and research has shown they work faster than cognitive and behavioural treatments
Discuss the main disadvantage of drug therapy to treat disorders
Some drugs (e.g. Prozac) has been associated with an increase in suicidal thoughts
What did Kahn et al find in terms of drugs increasing suicidal thoughts?
He did not find a significant difference between antidepressants and placebos in the amount of suicidal risk they cause
Give an example of a condition better suited to drug therapy
Schizophrenia
What does ECT stand for?
Electro-convulsive therapy
What does ECT involve?
Electrodes being placed on a patients head and an electric shock passed into the brain for a fraction of a second (under anaesthetic and muscle relaxants)
What does ECT induce and what has this been effective at reducing?
ECT induces a seizure and has been effective at quickly reducing the symptoms of depression
How long does treatment usually run and with how many treatments of ECT?
Usually runs for 2-3 weeks with 6-12 treatments
What possible side effects are there of ECT?
Physical trauma (heart problems), short term memory confusion and longer term memory loss (although this is not common)
Annually in the UK how many patients undergo ETC?
4000 patients
ECT can ‘turn down’ what?
Overactive connections in the brain as they start to build
