Schizophrenia Flashcards
define schizophrenia
a psychotic disorder characterised by severe symptoms in areas of judgement, emotions, perception and behaviour
what 3 things are needed for a schizophrenia diagnosis (DSM-4)
characteristic schizophrenia symptoms, social/occupational dysfunction and duration
what are the conditions of characteristic schizophrenia symptoms (DSM-4)
2 or more symptoms, present for a significant time in a 1-month period
what are the conditions of social/occupational dysfunction (DSM-4)
below prior level in one or more major areas of functioning such as work, interpersonal relations or self care
what are the conditions of duration (DSM-4)
at least 6 months, in which symptoms must persist for at least 1 month
define delusions
incorrect beliefs due to distortions or exaggerations of reasoning and/or misinterpretation of experiences
define hallucinations
distortions or exaggerations of perception in the senses
what types of delusions are there
paranoid delusions (delusions of persecution), delusions of grandeur, delusions of reference- believing things in the environment are related to you, somatic delusions- false beliefs about the body
name the positive symptoms of schizophrenia
delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech/thinking
name the negative symptoms of schizophrenia
alogia, affective flattening, avolition
explain validity in schizophrenia diagnosis
predictive validity- if diagnosis leads to successful treatment the diagnosis is valid
descriptive validity- patients with schizophrenia should differ in symptoms from patients with other disorders
explain reliability in schizophrenia diagnosis
test retest reliability- same clinician makes same diagnosis from same information on separate occasions
inter rater reliability- different clinicians make identical, independent diagnoses of the same patient
what did rosenhan study
reliability and validity in diagnosis of schizophrenia
describe rosenhan’s study
8 pseudo patients called a hospital with symptoms of hearing a same-sex voice saying ‘empty’, ‘hollow’ and ‘thud, once admitted patients acted and spoke normally and didn’t mention the voices, pseudo patients did everything they were told but didn’t take medication, they made notes
what did rosenhan’s study find
7 out of 8 pseudo patients were admitted with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and discharged with schizophrenia in remission, they stayed an average of 19 days (range of 7-52 days), they were never detected as being fake
describe rosenhan’s second experiment
staff at a hospital were told to detect any pseudo patients that rosenhan’s had sent, rating them on a scale of 10 of how likely they were to be a fake (1/2- high confidence), however none were sent
what did rosenhan’s second experiment find
after 3 months one staff member highly confidently rated 41 patients as pseudo patients, 23 patients were rated highly confident by at least 1 psychiatrist, 19 by a psychiatrist and another member of staff
classification of schizophrenia peel 1
p- criticism of reliability, cultural variations
ev- luhmann et al, 60 adults with sz (20 each- Ghana, India, US), African/Indian ppts reported positive experiences with playful voices, not one US ppt did- more likely to report violent/hateful voices
ex- classification of sz is changeable dependent on culture, more socially acceptable in Africa/India where hallucinations are viewed as positive, so diagnosis rates are lower, less socially acceptable in US so diagnosis rates are higher, low reliability- no cultural agreement of what sz is
l- socially sensitive research, diagnosing other cultures by western standards, are they really experiencing sz, is it more of a spiritual experience in those cultures, do they need a diagnosis
classification of schizophrenia peel 2
p- criticism of reliability, poor inter-rater reliability
ev- chenioux et al, 2 psychiatrists diagnosed 100 patients using DSM and ICD, one diagnosed 26 by DSM and 44 by ICD, the other diagnosed 13 by DSM and 24 by ICD
ex- no consistency in how to diagnose sz, poor reliability between psychologists and classification systems, a clear diagnosis is difficult
l- is sz a true disorder if its so difficult to diagnose, hard to distinguish between symptoms of other disorders, definition is constantly changing, more of a spectrum
classification of schizophrenia peel 3
p- criticism of validity, gender bias
ev- loring and powell, 290 randomly selected male and female psychiatrists, 56% gave diagnosis of sz when case was described as ‘male’, 20% for ‘female’, women more likely to receive depression diagnosis
ex- women underdiagnosed, ability to mask emotions and cope in work/relationships so don’t hit criteria for sz, low validity in diagnosis
l- biased diagnosis in male psychiatrists, gender bias not as prominent in female psychiatrists, can see through masking in female patients
classification of schizophrenia peel 4
p- criticism of validity, co-morbidity, symptom overlap
ev- most people with sz tend to be diagnosed with another: 50% with depression, 47% lifetime substance abuse, 12% fulfil OCD criteria
ex- symptom overlap could lead to misdiagnosis, low validity, when co-morbidity can be difficult to treat disorders appropriately when different treatments are needed, are conditions seperate or interactionist
l- real life implications, if not receiving correct treatment, will not get better, implications for the economy, more individualistic approach needed looking at specific individuals’ symptoms
what explanations are included in the biological explanation of sz
genetic, dopamine hypothesis, neurophysiological (neural correlates)
what 3 key terms are needed in the genetic explanation about sz
polygenic- not caused by one gene but several interacting
aetiologically heterogeneous- the disorder has different causes
candidate gene- any genes thought to cause a disease or disorder
what did ripke find
meta-analysis of 37,000 patients and 113,000 controls, 108 separate genetic variations associated with increased risk of sz, genes coded for function of neurotransmitters like dopamine