schizophrenia Flashcards
schizophrenia
A serious mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves
- contact with reality and insight are impaired
feature
a fact related to the disorder
features of schizophrenia
- occurs in less than 1% of the population worldwide
- affects thought process and ability to determine reality
- sufferers can experience one episode or can have persistent episodes
symptoms of schizophrenia
can be either positive or negative
positive symptoms
Type 1
- something is gained
negative symptoms
Type 2
- something is lost
delusions
(positive symptom)
- FALSE BELIEFS
- sometimes referred to as paranoia
delusions of persecution
people believe they are being targeted
delusions of grandeur
people believe they have a special power / mission
thought broadcasting
people believe that their brain acts like a radio transmitter
avolition
(negative symptom)
- lack of motivation to do tasks that have an end goal
hallucinations
(positive symptoms)
- FALSE PERCEPTIONS
- unusual sensory experiences
- sometimes related to the environment
cataleptic stupor
(negative symptom)
- a state close to unconsciousness
- individuals may experience a trance seizure and become waxy / flexible
speech poverty
(negative symptom)
- no fluency when speaking
- changes in speech patterns, more frequent pauses, shorter answers
- example is echolia
auditory hallucinations
(positive symptoms)
- sensory experiences where individuals hear a sound that is not present
- often common to be voices
failure to maintain normal posture
(negative symptom)
- individuals are unable to stand normally
- may be rigid or standing in a way that fights gravity
diagnosis of schizophrenia
DSM-5 and ICD-10
DSM-5
america
- one positive symptom must be present
- signs of disturbance for six months
ICD-10
europe
- two or more negative symptoms must be present
- signs of disturbance for two months
reliability in diagnosis
refers to how far the classification system produces the same diagnosis for same set of symptoms
validity in diagnosis
refers to whether the diagnosis is correct
descriptive validity in diagnosis
how similar individuals diagnosed with disorders are
aeitological validity in diagnosis
how similar the cause it
predictive validity in diagnosis
how useful the diagnosis categories are for producing correct treatment
co-morbidity
when the patient has two or more disorders at the same time
evaluation of co-morbidity
Buckley et al (2009) found that half of people with schizophrenia also have depression (50%), or substance abuse (47%). PTSD also occurred in 29% of cases, as well as OCD in 23%.
❌ not reliable -> all patients get different diagnosis so its not consistent
❌ not valid -> makes diagnosis of schizophrenia difficult so therapists may get it wrong
symptom overlap
when a disorder has some of the same symptoms as another disorder
evaluation of symptom overlap
considerable overlap between symptoms of schizophrenia and other disorders: both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder involve positive and negative symptoms. Ellason and Ross (1995) found oeople with dissociative identity disorder have more schizophrenia symptoms than schizophrenia patients.
❌ not reliable -> different classification systems could result in less schizophrenia diagnosis’s
❌ not valid -> people with schizophrenia may not be diagnosed with schizophrenia, so therefore diagnosis is not valid
culture bias
tendency to ignore culture differences and interpreting all phenomena through a “lens” of its own culture
evaluation of culture bias
African cultures, due to cultural beliefs, may believe that the voices they here are religious so will not look for help. Escobar (2012) found that white psychiatrists may over-interpret symptoms of black people.
❌ not reliable -> less consistent diagnosis because people are not looking for help
❌ not valid -> classification systems do not help diagnose those with religious or cultural beliefs so diagnosis is not correct
gender bias
in the context of gender, psychological research may offer a view that does nit justifiable represent an experience of men or women
evaluation of gender bias
more men receive diagnosis compared to women. Loring and Powell (1988) randomly selected 290 male and female psychiatrists to read two case articles or patients behaviour to diagnose them. When a patient was described as ‘male’, 56% were diagnosed. When the patient was described as ‘female’, 20% were diagnosed.
❌ not reliable -> less women are diagnosed than men therefore diagnosis is inconsistent
❌ not valid -> classification systems allow gender to influence diagnosis so therefore it is inaccurate
evaluation of validity of diagnosis
Cheniaux et al (2009) had two psychiatrists independently assess the same 100 clients using the ICD-10 and the DSM-4. 68 of the 100 clients were diagnosed under the ICD and only 39 under the DSM
❌ not valid -> figures of diagnosis are completely different due to the different classification systems
evaluation of reliability of diagnosis
Osorio et al (2019) reported excellent reliability for the diagnosis of schizophrenia in 180 individuals using the DSM-5. This is because pairs of interviewers achiever an inter-rater reliability of +0.97 and test-retest of +0.92
✅ reliable -> supporting evidence with statistics shows that using the classification system alone creates consistent diagnosis
biological explanations of schizophrenia
- genetic factors
- neurochemicals
- brain structure
genetic basis of schizophrenia
- plays a major role in schizophrenia
- thought to explain 50% of cases
- there is no “schizogene”
- it is thought a variety of genetic factors may influence the development of schizophrenia
family study
research done on close relatives to compare certain traits to determine whether the genetic factors underlie these traits
family and twin studies (Gottesman 1991)
- conducted a large scale family study
Identical twins: 48%
Fraternal twins: 17%
Children: 13%
Siblings: 9%
Parents: 6%
General public: 1%
This study shows that genetics plays a big role in the development of schizophrenia, however it also suggests that there is other factors due to the 48% of identical twins
Gottesman continued
