schizophrenia Flashcards
what is schizophrenia?
a severe mental disorder where contact with reality and insight are impaired.
what are positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
symptoms that are in addition to normal experiences.
examples; hallucinations, delusions and speech disorganisation
what are negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
symptoms that represent the loss of normal experiences.
examples; avolition and speech poverty
what are hallucinations?
additional sensory experiences such as hearing distortions in objects or hearing voices
what are delusions?
irrational beliefs about themselves or the world
what is speech disorganisation?
speech becomes incoherent or the speaker changes topic mid sentence.
what is avolition?
a loss of motivation or ability to complete tasks that have an end goal such as personal hygiene.
what is speech poverty?
difficulty of spontaneously producing words or a delay in verbal responses
what is co-morbidity?
when a person has two disorders or conditions at the same time, such as schizophrenia and a personality disorder
what is symptom overlap?
when two or more conditions share the same symptoms, for example, delusions are a symptom of both schizophrenia and bipolar.
what are candidate genes?
genes that are believed to be related to a particular trait, such as a disease or a physical attribute.
what is dopamine?
a neurotransmitter that generally has an excitatory effect and is linked to the sensation of pleasure.
what is dysfunctional thought processing?
information processing that does not represent reality accurately and produces undesirable consequences
what are antipsychotics?
drugs used to reduce the intensity of symptoms of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia
what are typical antipsychotics?
the first generation of drugs for schizophrenia and other disorders, and have been used since the 1950s.
they work as dopamine antagonists and include chlorpromazine
what are atypical antipsychotics?
drugs for schizophrenia that were developed after typical antipsychotics.
they typically target a range of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin.
what is CBT?
a method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques.
the therapy aims to deal with thinking, such as challenging negative thoughts
what are token economies?
a form of behavioural modifications, where desirable behaviours are encouraged by the use of selective reinforcement.
example - people are given rewards when they engage in socially desirable behaviours.
the tokens are secondary reinforcers and can then be exchanged for primary reinforcers such as food or privileges.
what is the schizophrenogenic mother?
the stereotypic mother of an individual with schizophrenia.
She is held to be emotionally disturbed, cold, rejecting, dominating, perfectionistic, and insensitive.
At the same time, she is overprotective, fosters dependence, and is both seductive and rigidly moralistic.
what is the double bind theory?
a situation in which an individual receives contradictory messages from another person.
they feel that any action they make will be wrong.
what is expressed emotion?
the intensity of expression of a range of emotions within the family context.
Levels of expressed emotion may be high or low.
This emotion may be considered ‘negative’ (hostility, anger) or ‘positive’ (caring concern).
what is dysfunctional thinking?
leads to symptoms of schizophrenia by facilitating the development of delusions, memory issues, and other thought-associated issues.
it affects the ability to filter preconscious thoughts.
what is metarepresentation dysfunction?
the ability to reflect on, and have insight into, our own intentions and the actions of others.
dysfunction in this area could mean that the individual is unable to recognise that their own thoughts are actually theirs
what is central control dysfunction?
the ability to suppress automatic responses/triggers in response to stimuli.
dysfunction in this area could mean that the individual cannot suppress automatic thoughts that get triggered by other thoughts.
