Modules 50-1 Flashcards
Schizophrenia symtptoms
- disorganized thinking, speech, delusions
- disturbed perceptions; hallucinations
- unusual emotions and actions, including flat affect, and cataconia
- subtypes
- onset and course
causes of schizophrenia symptoms
- brain: dopamine overactivity
- abnormal brain anatomy and activity
- maternal virus during pregnancy
- associated genes
- social-psychological influences
schizophrenia
the mind is split from reality (split from one’s own thoughts so that they appear as hallucinations)
psychosis
refers to a mental split from reality and rationality
positive (presence) of problematic behaviors in schizo
- hallucinations, especially auditory
- delusions, especially persecutory and of grandeur
- disorganized thought and nonsensical speech (talking back to hallucinations)
- bizarre behaviors
negative (absence) of healthy behaviors in schizo
- flat affect (no emotion showing in the face)
- reduced social interaction
- anhedonia
- avolition
- alogia
- catatonia
anhedonia
no feeling of enjoyment
avolition
less motivation, initiative, focus on tasks
alogia
speaking less
catatonia
moving less
hallucinations
perceptual experiences not shared by others
- often auditory hearing voices
could be visual, olfactory, tactile, or gustatory (taste)
flat affect
facial/body expression is “flat” with no visible emotional content
could also be “blunt” affect with still minimal emotional content
schizophrenia flat affect
odd and socially inappropriate responses like looking bored or amused while hearing of death
– impaired perception of emotions, including not “reading’ others’ intentions and feelings
schizophrenia inappropriate actions/behavior
- repetitive behaviors such as rocking and rubbing
- catatonia : sitting motionless and unresponsive for hours
Onset of schizo (timing when you get it in development)
symptoms appear at end of adolescence and in early adulthood (later for women than for men)
prevalence of schizo
1/100 (slightly more in men)
acute/reactive development of schizo
in reaction to stress, some people develop positive symptoms such as hallucinations
- recovery is likely
- also genetically predispositioned dont’ show until the traumatic event
chronic/process development of schizo
develops slowly with more negative symptoms such as flat affect and social withdrawal
- with treatment and support, there may be periods of normal life, but not a cure
- without treatment, this type often leads to poverty and social problems
subtypes of schizo
paranoid disorganized catatonic undifferentiated residual
paranoid schizo symptoms
plagued by hallucinations, often with negative messages, and delusions, both grandiose and persecutory
disorganized schizo symptoms
primary symptoms are flat affect, incoherent speech, random behavior
catatonic schizo symptoms
rarely initiating or controlling movement; copies others’ speech and actions
undifferentiated schizo
many varied symptoms
residual schizo
withdrawal continues after positive symptoms have dissappeared
schizo brain structure
- too much dopaminergic receptor activation – explains paranoia and hallucinations
- poor coordination of neural firing in frontal lobes (impairs judgment, self-control)
- thalamus fires during hallucinations as if real sensations were being received
- general shrinking of many brain areas and connections between them (increased ventricles holes)
risk factors of early development for schizo
- low birth weight
- maternal diabetes
- older paternal age
- famine
- oxygen deprivation during delivery
- maternal virus during mid-pregnancy impairing brain development
flu season vs schizo
more likely in babies born:
- during and after flue epidemics
- in densely populated areas
- a few months after flu season
- after mothers had the flue during the second trimester, or had antibodies showing viral infection
– get flu shots with early fall pregnancies
genetic risk factors for schizo
identical twins: if one has it, the other is much more likely to get it
– linked genes but require environmental factors to turn them on
adoptive parents with schizo does not increase likelihood of developing schizo
social-psychological factors
alone cannot cause schizo
- stress may be a factor
social psychological factors appearing before onset of schizo
- early separation from parents
- short attention span
- disruptive or withdrawn behavior
- emotional unpredictability
- poor peer relations and/or solitary play
biological factors appearing before onset of schizo
- having a moher with severe chronic schizo
- birth complications, including oxygen deprivation and low birth weight
- poor muscle coordination
dissociation
refers to a separation of conscious awareness from thoughts, memory, bodily sensations, feelings, or even from identity
- can serve as a psychological escape from an overwhelmingly stressful situation
dissociative disorder
separate from thoughts feelings identitiyes (not consciously aware of them) dysfunction and distress caused by chronic and severe dissociation
dissociateive amnesia
loss of memory with no known physical cause; inability to recall selected memories or any memories
dissociative fugue subtype of dissociative amnesia
“running away” state; wandering away from one’s life, memory, and identity, with no memory of these
dissociative identity disorder (DID)
previously known as multiple personality disorder:
development of separate personalities
personalities of DID
- distinct and not present in consciousness at the same time
- may or may not appear to be aware of each other`
alternative explanations for DID
- dissociative “identities” might just ben an extreme form of playing a role in fantasy-prone people
- DID in North Am. might be a recent cultural construction, similar to the idea of being possessed by evil spirits
- cases of DID might be created or worsened by therapists encouraging people to think of different parts of themselves
body and DID personalities
each have:
- different brain wave patterns
- different left/right handedness
- different visual acuity and eye muscle balance patterns
– patients have heightened activity in areas of the brain associated with managing and inhibiting traumatic memories
eating disorders caused by
- unrealistic body image and extreme body ideal
- desire to control food and the body when one’s situation can’t be controlled
- cycles of depression
- health problems
anorexia nervosa
compulsion to lose weight, coupled with certainty about being fat despite being 15% or more underweight
- no menstruation, body is small
(0. 6% of people)
bulimia nervosa
compulsion to binge, eating large amounts fast, then purge by losing the food through vomiting laxatives, and extreme exercise
- difficult to tell because no weight loss
(1% of people)
binge-eating disorder
compulsion to binge, followed by guilt and depression
2.8%
family/cultural factors of eating disorders
- having a mother focused on her weight, and on child’s appearance and weight
- negative self-evaluation in the family
- if childhood obesity runs in family (only BULIMIA)
- if families are competitive, high-achieving, and protective (only ANOREXIA)
- unrealistic ideals of body appearance
personality disorders
enduring patterns of social and other behavior that impair social functioning
anxious personality disorders (avoidant)
avoidant PD, ruled by fear of social rejection/disapproval
view of self as inadequate, flawed
eccentric/odd personality disorders (schizoid)
schizoid PD, with flat affect, no social attachments
no interest in any kind of relationship, solitary
dramatic personality disorders
histrionic PD, extreme attention seeking, even with seductivity/sexuality
narcissistic PD, self-centered
antisocial PD, amoral, apathetic, don’t feel fear
borderline PD, marked impulsivity/instability of affects, fear abandonment - they “split” - from extreme admiration to hatred (overreaction)
international mental health issue reports
US highest- less stigma, higher accessibility
american rates of psych disorders
highest to lowest: mood 9.5 phobia 8.7 social phobia 6.8 adhd 4.1 ptsd 3.5 anxiety 3.1 schizo 1 ocd 1
outcomes for people with psych disorders
- risks to be watchful of, obstacles to be overcome, and improvements to be made, often with the help of treatment
- some do not recover
- some achieve greatness, even with PD
