Paper 3 : Schizophrenia

Question 1

Schizophrenia diagnosis

Answer 1

ICD 11 : 2 negative symptoms
DSM-5 : 1 positive symptom

Question 2

Hallucinations

Answer 2

Extra sensory experience eg voices

Question 3

Delusions

Answer 3

Beliefs with no basis in reality

Question 4

Avoiltion

Answer 4

Severe loss of motivation

Question 5

Speech poverty

Answer 5

Reduced amount, speed and quality of speech

Question 6

Symptom overlap

Answer 6

Same symptom in different conditions

Question 7

Co morbidity

Answer 7

Occurrence of two conditions at the same time

Question 8

Hyperdopaminergia

Answer 8

High activity of dopamine in sub cortex linked to hallucinations

Question 9

Hypodopaminergia

Answer 9

Low activity in prefrontal cortex linked to disordered thinking

Question 10

Neural correlates

Answer 10

Brain scans show structural abnormality and abnormal functioning in different areas of the brain linked with symptoms of SZ
Enlarged ventricles
Low activity in ventral striatum (linked to a avoilition)
Low activity in superior temporal gyrus (hallucinations)

Question 11

Typical antipsychotic

Answer 11

Older
Chlorpromazine
400-800mg
Risk of agranulocytosis

Question 12

Atypical

Answer 12

Newer
Risperidone
4-8mg
Also affects serotonin transmission

Question 13

Family dysfunction

Answer 13

Due to family experiences of conflict, communication problems, criticism and control

Question 14

Schizophrenogenic mother

Answer 14

Mother is cold and controlling and rejecting. Father is passive and not involved. Stress triggers psychotic thinking

Question 15

Double bind communication

Answer 15

Bateson
Child receives mixed messages. Makes lots of mistakes, cannot do right thing. Punishment is withdrawal of love. Results in disorganised thinking and paranoia

Question 16

High expressed emotion

Answer 16

Family show’s exaggerated involvement, control and criticism.

Question 17

Dysfunctional thought processing

Answer 17

Lower levels of information processing in some areas of the brain.

Question 18

Dysfunction of meta representation

Answer 18

Cannot recognise one’s thoughts as their own
Leads to sensations of hearing voices (hallucinations)

Question 19

Dysfunction of central control

Answer 19

Cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses. Derailment of thoughts as each word triggers automatic associations they can’t suppress. Speech poverty

Question 20

Egocentric bias

Answer 20

Individual perceives themselves as central component in events and jumps to conclusions (delusions)

Question 21

CBT

Answer 21

Form of talking therapy. Aims to identify and change irrational thoughts. Helps patients to understand their symptoms. Learn hearing voices is okay, reduces anxiety helping them cope

Question 22

Family therapy

Answer 22

Aims to reduce expressed emotion and improve communication. Helps them solve and anticipate problems, reduces anger, guilt

Question 23

Token economies

Answer 23

Based on operant conditioning
Tokes given to reinforce target behaviours

Question 24

Meehls

Answer 24

Gene + stress = schizophrenia
Schizogene makes you vulnerable to the effects of chronic stress