Psychological explanations of schizophrenia Flashcards
What is family dysfunction as a psychological explanation for schizophrenia?
There have been attempts to link Sz to childhood and adult experiences of living in a dysfunctional family
What did Fromme-Reichmann (1948) propose?
Psychodynamic explanation of the schizophrenogenic mother
What does schizophrenogenic mean?
Schizophrenia causing
What is the schizophrenogenic mother explanation?
The mother is cold, rejecting and controlling and creates a family environment which is characterised by secrecy and tension
How does what the schizophrenogenic mother does cause Sz in the child?
It leads to distrust and later paranoid delusions
What did Bateson et al (1972) propose?
Double-bind theory
What is the double bind theory?
- The child finds themselves in a situation where they believe they are doing something wrong but receive mixed messages about it is and feel unable to comment on the unfairness of this situation and seek clarification
- When they get it wrong, they are punished with the withdrawal of love
In the double-bind theory, how does the withdrawal of love when the individual does something wrong result in schizophrenia?
- They understand the world as confusing and dangerous and this is reflected in the symptoms such as disorganised thinking or paranoid delusions
What is expressed emotion?
The level of emotion in particular negative emotion expressed toward a patient by their carers
What are the elements of expressed emotion?
- Verbal criticism of the patient accompanied by violence
- Hostility towards the patient, including anger and rejection
- Emotional over involvement in the life of the patient, including needless self-sacrifice
What does expressed emotion cause?
Stress
Why is stress triggering for Sz?
Some people are already genetically vulnerable
What is the cognitive explanation for Sz?
- Disruption of normal thought processes
- Reduced processes can cause cognition to become impaired
What did Firth et al (1992) identify?
Two types of dysfunctional thought
What are the two types of dysfunctional thought which Firth et al identified?
Metarepresentation
Central cognition
What is metarepresentation?
The cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour and allows us insight into our own intentions and goals and allows us to interpret the actions of others
What would dysfunction of metarepresentation cause?
Disrupt our ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts as being carried out by ourselves rather than someone else
What does dysfunction of metarepresentation explain?
Hallucinations of voices and delusions
What is central cognition?
The cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses while we perform deliberate actions instead
What could dysfunction of central cognition cause?
Disorganised speech and thought disorders
In relation to dysfunction of central cognition, what do sufferers of Sz experience?
Derailment of thoughts and spoken sentences because each word triggers associations and the patient cannot suppress automatic responses to these
What did Berry et al (2008) find? (supporting evidence for family dysfunction as a risk factor)
Adults with insecure attachments to their primary carer are more likely to be schizophrenic
What did Read et al (2005) find?
They reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia and concluded that 69% of women in patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia had a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse or both
For men, the figure was 49%
What is the issue with family dysfunction studies?
They rely on information about childhood being recalled after they have developed the symptoms
Creates validity issues
Prospective studies find some evidence linking family dysfunction to schizophrenia and the results are inconsistent
