psychosis and psychotic disorders

Question 1

schizophrenia

Answer 1

• disturbances caused by thought, emotions and behavior
  persistant , positive and negative symptoms that never full go away
• slow onset
• 6 months or more

Question 2

schizophrenia symptoms (positive) - pathological excesses

Answer 2

positive symptoms - comprise of excesses and distortions

      - hallucinations- sensory perceptions such as auditory, tactile, visuals 
      - delusions - faulty interpretations of reality
      - Loose associations (derailment)
      - neologisms (made up words) 
      - Heightened perceptions

Question 3

Schizophrenia symptoms (negative) pathological deficits

Answer 3

Negative symptoms- characteristics that are lacking in an individual

        - poverty of speech 
        - restricted affect 
           - show less emotion than most
           - avoidance in eye contact
           - expressionless face
        - loss of volition - motivation
        - social withdrawl

Question 4

schizophrenia symptoms (psychomotor symptoms)

Answer 4

psychomotor symptoms include

    - awkward movements, repeated grimaces, odd    gestures 
    - catatonia- basically your an idiot drooling and what not

Question 5

Course of schizophrenia

Answer 5

first appears in late teens through mid 30’s
three phases
- prodromal- beginning ( 1st phase)
- active- symptoms become apparent
- residual- a return to prodromal like levels
- each phase may last for days or years
- never reach full recovery
- DSM5 calls for a diagnosis after symptoms of psychosis continue for 6 months

Question 6

Diagnosing schizophrenia

Answer 6

Type 1- dominated by positive symptoms

- better adjustment prior to the disorder, later onset, and greater likelihood of improvement
- tied largely to structural abnormalities in the brain

Question 7

diagnosing schizophrenia

Answer 7

diathesis-stress relationship may be at work
- people with a biological predispostion will develope only if certain kinds of stressors or events are also present

Question 8

diagnosing schizophrenia

Answer 8

Type 2- Dominated by negative symptoms

Question 9

Biological views of schizophrenia

Answer 9

Genetic factors
- some people inherit a biological predisposition to it
Biochemical abnormalities
- to much dopamine can trigger it
Abnormal brain structure
- brain scans have found that people man have enlarged ventricles (brain cavities that contain cerebrospinal fluid
- also found to have smaller temporal and frontal lobes , smaller amounts of grey matter, and weird blood flow
Viral problems- exposure to viruses before birth

Question 10

Psychological views

Answer 10

freud believed develops from 2 processes
- regression to pre-ego stage (go back to babylike)
- efforts to re-establish ego control
Later theorist elaborated on freuds idea of harsh parents
- theory of mothers with schizophrenia

Question 11

Behavioral view

Answer 11

operant conditioning and principles of reinforcement cause schizophrenia

Question 12

Sociocultural views

Answer 12

family dysfunction

• double blind messages typically consist of primary verbal comm and an accompanying contracdictory nonverbal “metacomm”
• Parents with people with a disorder often
  
  • display more conflict
  • have greater difficulty comm
  • are more critical of and over-involved with their kid
  • families are high in “expressed emotion”
    
    • critism and hostal and intrude on privacy

Question 13

treatment for schizophrenia

Answer 13

Antipsychotic drugs
- discovered in the 50’s (phenothiazines, and antihistamines)
- conventional antipsychotic drugs
- neuroleptic drugs- often produces undesired movements “ extrapyramidal effects”
- work better with positive symptoms than negative
- tardive dyskinesia - involves tic-like involuntary movements usually of the mouth, lips, tongue, body and legs
- Newer antipsychotic drugs
- called “atypical”
- more effective, especially for negative effects
- few extrapyramidal side effects and less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia
- however they cause AGRanulolytis- debilitating drop in white blood cells.
Psychotherapy
– cognitive-behavioral therapy
- seek to change how individuals view and react to their hallucinatory experiences,
- provide education and evidence of the biological causes of hallucinations.

Question 14

Psychotic disorders

Answer 14

• sever mental disorder that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions

Question 15

delusional disorder

Answer 15

• 1 or more non-bizarre delusions that persist for 1 month or longer
• no negative symptoms of schizophrenia
• slow onset
  subtypes
  
  • erotomanic- person of higher status falls in love and makes advances towards them
  • Grandiose- (i can fly)
  • jealous
  • people are out to get you
  • Folie a deux- two people share psychotic disorder (cults)

Question 16

Brief psychotic disorder

Answer 16

• short episodes of positive and negative symptoms followed by complete return to premorbid function
• sudden onset.
• 1 month or less
• usually occurs following extreme stress