Schizophrenia

Question 1

What is a psychotic disorder?

Answer 1

It is where you see or hear things that are not there (hallucinations) or believe things that are not true (delusions)

Question 2

Define schizophrenia

Answer 2

A long term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behaviour. Leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion and a sense of mental fragmentation

Question 3

What is a delusion

Answer 3

A delusion is where a person has an unshakeable belief in something untrue

Question 4

What are hallucinations?

Answer 4

Hallucinations are where someone sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels things that don’t exist outside their mind

Question 5

Explain what is meant by positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 5

Any change in behaviour or thoughts

Question 6

Explain what is meant by negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Answer 6

Where people appear to withdraw from the world around them, take no interest in everyday social interactions, and often appear emotion less or flat

Question 7

What does the double bond theory state?

Answer 7

That schizophrenia is caused by mixed messages from parents that express care but at the same time appear critical

Question 8

Who is used as evidence for the double bind theory?

Answer 8

Bateson

Question 9

What does Bateson argue?

Answer 9

That this communication dysfunction was a risk factor in the on set of schizophrenia and could help explain negative symptoms

Question 10

What is contesting evidence for the double bind theory?

Answer 10

Liem - measured patterns of paternal communication in families with a schizophrenic child and found no difference when compared to ‘normal families’

Question 11

What is the schizophrenic mother?

Answer 11

Mothers who were cold, rejecting and controlling create a dysfunctional family climate. - the cause of schizophrenia

Question 12

What is a problem with the schizophrenic mother?

Answer 12

It is very reductionist because it’s blaming the mother and doesn’t take any other factors into consideration

Question 13

What is used as supporting evidence for the schizophrenic mother?

Answer 13

Kasanin - studied parents of 45 schizophrenics and found maternal rejection in 2 patients and maternal overprotection in 33

Question 14

What are characteristics of a high expressed emotion family?

Answer 14

• verbal criticism
• hostility towards the patient, often with threats
• emotional over involvement

Question 15

What are the findings of Tienari’s study?

Answer 15

Of the 303 adoptees, 14 developed schizophrenia over the course of the study. 11 of these were from the high risk group and 3 from the low risk group. However, being reared in a ‘healthy’ adoptive family appeared to have a protective effect even for those that had a high genetic risk. In adoptees at high risk of schizophrenia, stress was a significant predictor of the development of schizophrenia

Question 16

What does the dopamine hypothesis suggest as an explanation for schizophrenia?

Answer 16

According to the dopamine hypothesis, excess levels of dopamine is the cause of schizophrenia - abnormal dopamine functioning

Question 17

What are typical antipsychotics?

Answer 17

Dopamine agonists reducing dopamine activity by blocking dopamine receptors at the synapse. This reduces positive symptoms such as hallucinations and has a calming/sedative effect

Question 18

What did Adams do?

Answer 18

Reviewed 50 articles with a string methodological basis. It was concluded that even after 50 years of use chlorpromazine was still an effective, very cheap drug despite is severe side effects

Question 19

What are atypical antipsychotics?

Answer 19

Also block dopamine receptors like chlorpromazine. In addition to this they also act on other neurotransmitters such as serotonin and glutamate. This drug addresses the negative symptoms such as avolition, reduced depression and anxiety

Question 20

What did Marder do?

Answer 20

Reported that clozapine was an effective drug in approximately 30-67% of patients who are resistant to typical antipsychotics

Question 21

What is the aim of CBT?

Answer 21

To help patients to identify their faulty, delusionary beliefs and to help them develop more rational constructive ways of thinking, coping and behaving

Question 22

What does CBT focus on?

Answer 22

Focuses on changing unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour. The CBT therapist reaches people with schizophrenia how to test the reality of their thoughts and perceptions, how to “not listen” to their voices, and how to manage their symptoms overall. CBT can help reduce anxiety, the severity of symptoms and the risk of relapse

Question 23

Who developed the ABC cognitive model?

Answer 23

Ellis

Question 24

What is the breakdown of the ABC model?

Answer 24

A = activating event 
B = belief 
C = consequence