psychological treatments Flashcards
limitation into strength (not a cure) CW
P: CBT, family therapy and token economy programmes as therapies for schiz aim to make it more manageable and improve patient’s quality of life, they are not a cure
E: CBT- Addresses the irrational thoughts
FT- improves communication within families
TE- helps maladaptive behavior but they all don’t address the cause of these behaviors.
C: However they help with delusions of persecution and positive and negative symptoms which means that it is effective.
E: It helps them get back to normal life improving their quality of life.
limitation (not practical) DW
P: psychological therapies rely on the individual and/or families taking part
E: It is a talking therapy. It relies on the individual going to therapy and talking about their symptoms.
E: This is not going to be effective for everybody as people may not want to talk about their problems. For example in Family therapy everybody has to participate and be involved or its not going to work.
I: This means that if someone has scheduled for CBT but doesn’t show up this costs money for the NHS and wastes money. If families don’t take part then it wastes time in a session.
strength (evidence for effectiveness) FT HB
P: There is some support for the benefits of family therapy
E: Pharaoh et al reviewed evidence of effectiveness of family therapy for families of schizophrenia sufferers. They concluded that there is moderate evidence to that FT significantly reduces hospital readmissions over the course of a year and improves quality of life for patients and their families
E: This supports the family dysfunction explanation and shows that FT improves the relationship between patients and their families. Because it reduces hospital readmissions it saves the NHS money and puts less strain on them
strength ( evidence for effectiveness) CBT HB
P: There is some support for the benefits of CBT.
E: Jauhar et al reviewed the results of 34 studies of CBT for schiz They concluded that CBT has a significant but fairly small effect on both positive and negative symptoms.
E: This shows that CBT works and supports the cognitive explanation. It is useful because it helps with positive and negative symptoms which improves the patient’s quality of life so that they can lead a normal life.
limitation (ethical issues with TE) DW
P: Ethical issues are a major problem with TE programmes used to manage schiz
E: The issue is that privileges and services become more available to patients with mild symptoms and less so for those with more severe symptoms of schiz that prevent them from complying with desirable behaviour.
E: This means that the more severely ill patients suffer discrimination and are treated like animals which goes againt the BPS code of conduct. This is not fair as some may get more rewards than others based on the severity of their symptoms
I: This could put them at psychological distress and add to their symptoms making it worse making it harder for them to recover and get better
limitation (alternative therapies) DW
P: There are other psychological therapies that can be helpful for some people with schiz that are less well-known and less likely to be available to patients
E: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends art therapy, provided by a qualified art therapist with experience of working with schiz sufferers is available
E: It is unlikely that one type of therapy will address all the symptoms involved in schiz. For example, CBT might be great for treating delusions of persecution but not for avoiltion whereas art therapy may better at treating avolition and other symptoms such as isolation and social withdrawal which can be helped by patients engaging in programmes using art, music and dance as apart of their therapy.
I: This allows people to access and express their feelings through a different method other than talking therapy so may be suitable for people who have difficulty with communication and help combat their negative symptoms
