Psychological explanations for schizophrenia Flashcards
Define the term family dysfunction.
Abnormal processes within a family such as poor family communication, cold parenting and high levels of expressed. These may be risk factors for both the development and the maintenance of schizophrenia.
What did Fromm-Reichmann propose?
A psychodynamic explanation for schizophrenia based on the accounts she heard from her clients.
What is the schizophrenogenic mother?
Psychodynamic explanation for schizophrenia proposed by Fromm-Reichmann (1948), who noted that many of her patients with schizophrenia described a particular type of parent, which she termed ‘schizophrenogenic’. These characteristics are: Cold Uncaring Rejecting Unemotional Controlling Suspicious Creates tension and secrecy This leads to an atmosphere of distrust and the development of paranoid thoughts which become delusions.
Who suggested double-blind theory?
Bateson et al. (1972) agreed family climate is important in the development of schizophrenia but emphasised the role of communication style within a family.
Explain the double-blind theory?
Suggest that children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop schizophrenia, because this prevents them from developing an internally coherent construction of reality.
Find themselves trapped in situations where they fear doing the wrong thing but they don’t know what it is.
Unable to comment on unfairness or seek clarification.
Often punished for ‘wrong’ behaviour by withdrawal of love.
Define the term expressed emotions?
Is the level of negative emotions expressed towards a person with schizophrenia by their carers.
List the elements of expressed emotions.
Verbal criticism of the person, occasionally accompanied by violence.
Hostility towards the person, including anger and rejection.
Emotional over-involvement in the life of the person, including needless self-sacrifice.
What do high levels of expressed emotions cause?
May influence relapse rates, or the onset of schizophrenia in a vulnerable person.
And leads to stress beyond impaired coping mechanisms, triggering a schizophrenic episode.
What is the strengths of psychological explanations?
Support for family dysfunctions as a risk factor.
Read et al. (2005) reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia and concluded 69% of adult women in-patients with a diagnosis had a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse or both in childhood. For men the figure was 59%. Adults with insecure attachments with their primary carer are also more likely to have schizophrenia (Berry et al. 2008).
What are the limitations of psychological explanations?
Research in this area is often retrospective.
Weak evidence for family-based explanations.
How is the research for psychological explanations retrospective?
Information about childhood experiences was gathered after the development of symptoms and schizophrenia may have distorted patients’ recall of childhood experiences. This creates a serious problem of validity.
How is there weak-evidence for family-based explanations?
There is hardly any evidence supporting the particular explanations of the schizophrenogenic mother or the double-bind theory, and it leads to the blame for the disorder being put on the parents, which many psychiatrists today find unacceptable.
Led historically to parent-blaming - bearing lifelong responsibility for their child’s care.
What is the cognitive explanations for schizophrenia?
It focuses on the role of dysfunctional thought processing contributing to schizophrenia symptoms. These faulty thoughts may be due to abnormal biological functioning (as seen in the examples of neural correlates).
Frith et al (1992) identified two main kinds of dysfunctional/faulty thought processing.
Name them.
Metarepresentation
Central control
What is metarepresentation?
The ability to reflect on, and have insight into, our own intentions and the actions of others. Dysfunction in this area could mean that the individual is unable to recognise that their own thoughts are actually theirs, so leading to hallucinations (voices) and delusions (thought insertion).
