Schizophrenia Flashcards
Family Dysfunction
psychologists have suggested that abnormal processes within a family are risk factors for the development and maintenance of schizophrenia
- e.g. the schizophrenogenic mother and the Double-bind theory
The Schizophrenogenic Mother
- literally means: schizophrenia-causing mother
- cold, rejecting, controlling and creates a family climate characterised by tension and secrecy
- leads to distrust which can develop into paranoid delusions
- e.g. the belief that one person is being persecuted by another person
- ultimately causing schizophrenia
The Double-Bind Theory
- communication style within the family is a risk factor
- child regularly finds themselves in situations where they fear they are doing the wrong thing
- but receive mixed messages about what the wrong thing is
- feel unable to comment on the unfairness of this
- when they ‘get it wrong’ they are punished with the withdrawal of love
- gives them a view of the world as confusing and dangerous
- which leads to disorganised thinking and paranoid delusions
Expressed emotion (EE)
- Level of emotion expressed toward the patient by their carers:
- verbal criticism - sometimes accompanied by violence
- Hostility - including anger and rejection
- emotional over-involvement in the life of the patient - including needless self sacrifice
- each are a serious source of stress for the patient
- primary explanation for relapse
- can trigger the onset of schizophrenia in people who are already genetically vulnerable e.g. diathesis-stress model
cognitive explanations for schizophrenia focus on….
…. dysfunctional thought processing
cognitive explantations: metarepresentation
- metarepresentation = ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviour, allows us insight into our own goals
- dysfunction of metarepresentation would disrupt the ability to recognise our own actions and thoughts as being carried out by ourselves rather than someone else
- this would explain hallucinations of voices and delusions
cognitive explanations: central control
- central control = the cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses whilst we perform deliberate actions instead
- disorganised speech could result from the inability to suppress automatic thoughts and speech triggered by other thoughts
- e.g. may find it hard to form full sentences as each word triggers associations that cannot be suppressed
Evaluation for cognitive explanations
(P) - correlation does not equal causation
(E) - we cannot say that dysfunction in metarepresentation or an impairment of central control directly causes schizophrenia
- e.g. dysfunction be caused neurotransmitter imbalance
(C) - we can therefore not establish cause and effect
(P) - too simplistic
(E) - biological factors need to be considered e.g. 48% prevalence rate for both identical twins having the condition
(C) - a more holistic (studying the whole instead of smaller parts) needs to be taken
Evaluation for psychological explanations
(P) - evidence support
(E) - Read 2005 found difficult family relationships increased risk
- 69% of female inpatients has a history of abuse
(C) - suggests that the theory is correct and knowledge can be applied to help patients e.g. family therapy
(P) - retrospective data
(E) - all participants have schizophrenia - accounts could be affected by delusions or hallucinations and reduction in memory due to time
(C) - each of these cause distorted recall and reduce the validity of the data
(P) - unethical
(E) - data is correlational, cannot actually blame family and establish cause and effect
(C) - can impact relationship between mother and patient further
Name the 3 psychological therapies for schizophrenia
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Family Therapy
Token Economies
Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT)
- identifies irrational thoughts and tries to change them or rationalise them
e. g. talking through delusions and considering less threatening possibilies - helps deal with hallucinations - offer explanations to reduce anxiety
e. g. helping understand what the voices they are hearing really are (e.g. not demons) - may use the ABC model
Family Therapy
- aims to improve communication within a family
- for example, reducing expressed emotion EE to reduce the risk of relapse
or - understanding the schizophrenogenic mother and double-bind theories
Token Economies
- works on the principles of operant conditioning
- tokens e.g. disks are given immediately after a correct/ socially desirable behaviour is preformed (so that an association can be formed)
- tokens are secondary reinforcers
- tokens can be exchanged for primary reinforcers - rewards e.g. favourite foods
- targets for tokens increase each week - successive increments
- e.g. week 1 –> 1 token = showering
week 2 –> 1 token = showering AND taking medication
they:
- improve quality of life
- manage behaviour
- increase independence
Psychological therapies evaluation
(P) - token economies = unethical
(E) - adults being treated like dogs/children and being manipulated for things like their favourite food, which they should access to anyway
(C) - takes away freedom and normal life
(E) - patients with severe symptoms of avolition will be too unmotivated to take part, so it will not work for them and they will not have access to the privileges
(C) - discrimination and unethical - not fair
(P) - CBT is unethical
(E) changes personal thoughts with no evidence that they are wrong
- e.g., telling a paranoid schizophrenic that the government is not out to get them
(C) unethical = reduces the use of cbt
(P) - therapy in general is out of reach for patients with severe symptoms
(E) - hallucinations or avolition may mean they cannot attend
(C) - use a more interactions approach –> use drug therapy to reduce symptoms since it is easier and more effective and then therapy to help cope further
Drug therapies are commonly… and treat….
antipsychotics
psychosis - most often positive symptoms
