Schizophrenia

Question 1

what are the four key symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 1

thought insertion, hallucinations, delusions, disorganised thinking

Question 2

thought insertion

Answer 2

believing one’s thoughts have been implanted by an external source

Question 3

hallucinations

Answer 3

perceptual experiences which do not correspond with reality

Question 4

delusions

Answer 4

fixed beliefs that are resistant to change and implausible to people of the same cultural background

Question 5

disordered thinking

Answer 5

jumbled and unrelated thoughts leading to incoherent speech

Question 6

lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia

Answer 6

0.3-0.7%

Question 7

how does lifetime prevalence vary

Answer 7

varies with ethnicity, nationality and geographic origin in immigrants

Question 8

the onset of schizophrenia, males vs. females

Answer 8

earlier in males (early to mid-20s)

females (late-20s)

Question 9

features of schizophrenia

Answer 9

minority may recover completely
but most experience chronic, episodic impairment and some show progressive deterioration, with increasingly brief periods of remission and severe cognitive deficits.
positive symptoms reduce over time but delibating negative symptoms often remain

Question 10

strength of schizophrenia diagnosis

Answer 10

high degree of consistency with DSM-5 and ICD-10

Question 11

hyperdopaminergia

Answer 11

excess dopamine
chlorpromazine and reserpine, helpful in alleviating the symptoms of schizophrenia
schizophrenic symptoms may be linked to high levels of dopamine
positive symptoms of dopamine

Question 12

hypodopaminergia

Answer 12

dopamine deficiency

negative symptoms of schizophrenia derived from lack of dopaminergic activity

Question 13

positive schizophrenic symptoms

Answer 13

delusions and hallucinations

from hyperdopaminergia

Question 14

negative schizophrenic symptoms

Answer 14

flat effect and mutism

from hypodopamingeria

Question 15

strength of neurotransmitters as an explanation

Answer 15

supported by research on rats treated with amphetamines.

rats given nine amphetamine injections. showed schizophrenia-like symptoms

Question 16

weakness of neurotransmitters as an explanation

Answer 16

cannot explain social causations like second-generation immigrants

Question 17

how is schizophrenia a heritable condition

Answer 17

estimate for the heritability of schizophrenia 79%

identify responsible. genes that are present in family members who have schizophrenia

Question 18

gene mutations

Answer 18

schizophrenia can appear in the absence of a family history.
DNA code in genes may mutate
which will lead to schizophrenia

Question 19

what are the two candidate genes that are linked to the presence of schizophrenia

Answer 19

COMT gene and DISC1 gene

Question 20

COMT gene

Answer 20

provides instructions for the creation of catechol-O-menthyltransferase

Question 21

DISC1 gene

Answer 21

those with an abormality to that gene are more likely to develop schizophrenia

Question 22

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 22

one may posess schiophrenic genes but it will only be triggered by other biological or environmental effects

Question 23

strength of genes as an explanation

Answer 23

research support – schizophrenia runs in family. clear similarity in MZ twins than DZ twins

Question 24

weakness of genes as an explanation

Answer 24

social causation

those exposed to city life are more likely to get schizophrenia

Question 25

factors for social causation

Answer 25

social adversity, urbanicity, social isolation and immigration/ minority status

Question 26

social adversity

Answer 26

basic human needs: physical and emotional | and people from lower socioeconomic groups may be more vulnerable, further exacerbating their problems

Question 27

urbanicity

Answer 27

urban living and schizophrenia... city life is more stressful than rural life many stressors linked to city life

Question 28

social isolation

Answer 28

people with schizophrenia withdraw from contact with people because they find it stressful

Question 29

immigration and minority status

Answer 29

those in minority or outgroup status may leave them marginalised or have a weaker ethnic or cultural identity

Question 30

strength of social causation

Answer 30

significant correlation between urban dwelling and schizophrenia

Question 31

FGA

Answer 31

first-generation antipsychotics chlorpromazine – first antipsychotic medication reduces positive symptoms

Question 32

Features of FGA

Answer 32

effective in reducing positive symptoms | as many as 40% gain no relief at all, many people may still experience negative symptoms

Question 33

side effects of FGA

Answer 33

tardive dyskinesia = stiff or slow, wirthing movements of your face and body that you can't control

Question 34

SGAs

Answer 34

clozapine – blocks dopamine, serotonin and glutamate receptors reduces positive and negative effects

Question 35

side effects of SGAs

Answer 35

fatal blood condition, agranulocytosis

Question 36

features of SGAs

Answer 36

provides relief for up to 60% of people

Question 37

drug treatment protocols

Answer 37

start medication use as quickly as possible to be effective objective is to decrease hostility and to return the client back to normal functioning once symptoms subside, manitenence dose will be prescribed, maintained for 12 months after remission

Question 38

factors disrupting the effectiveness of antipsychotic medications

Answer 38

amphetamines, alcohol, caffeine and nicotine

Question 39

strength of drug treatments

Answer 39

supported by empirical evidence Zhao et al. meta-analysis comparing 18 antipsychotics found out that antipsychotics had lower relapse rates

Question 40

weakness of drug treatment

Answer 40

conducted on animals | can't be generalised

Question 41

CBT structures

Answer 41

5-20 sessions | in groups or individually

Question 42

CBT - irrational thoughts

Answer 42

helps clients identify irrational thoughts and tries to change them builds self-awareness by helping the individual understand more about their condition

Question 43

CBT - delusions

Answer 43

CBT helps patients explain the delusions they see, therefore reducing anxiety

Question 44

CBT - behavioural experiments

Answer 44

'reality testing' patients asked to collect evidence of percieved reality. debunked with the clinician to prove that it is not real

Question 45

CBT - behavioural action

Answer 45

awarding positive behaviours (being more sociailly active, etc) to reduce motivational deficits

Question 46

strength of CBT

Answer 46

support by NICE analysis done showed that CBT was effective in reducing rehospitalisation rates for up to 18 months

Question 47

weakness of CBT

Answer 47

may not reduce all symptoms or prevent relapse | CBT found to be only superior in 2/9 trials

Question 48

CBT is better than drug treatments because...

Answer 48

some might not respond well to medication | study found drug resistant clients improved when given CBT which targeted their delusions and hallucinations