schizophrenia - 1.6 Flashcards
The importance of an interactionist approach in explaining and treating schizophrenia; the diathesis-stress model.
interactionist explanation
schizophrenia is caused by an interaction between biological and psychological factors
diathesis
when someone is predisposed to developing an illness
caused by genetics and brain abnormalities (biological risk factors)
makes them more likely to develop schizophrenia
why isnt diathesis enough?
need to also experience stress in the environment
situational stressors
work to bring about the illness or to intensify symptoms of the existing illness
higher the diathesis, less stress needed to pull the trigger
situational stressors
work to bring about the illness or to intensify symptoms of the existing illness
higher the diathesis, less stress needed to pull the trigger
forms of diathesis
biological e.g. specific genes
psychosocial e.g. early experience of abuse
neural diathesis stress model
proposes that stress heightens cortisol levels and this triggers/worsens schizophrenia symptoms
protective factors
may guard against potential harm of various risk factors
can explain why people with same diathesis/stress may not both develop disorder
e.g. risk factor of toxic parenting can be offset by loving grandparents
personal traits e.g. optimism and resilience may help protect
evaluation of interactionist approach
study support from Tienari et al - compared groups of adopted children, only developed SZ if they had diathesis and stress
study support from Brown and Birley - conducted interviews with patients who had recently developed schizophrenia, 50% had a stressful life experience in 3 weeks prior to developing symptoms, supports diathesis-stress model
not full explanation - model has been criticised for not acknowledging the role of other biological factors such as role of neurotransmitters in development of SZ
lacks objectivity - there is some vagueness regarding exactly how different biological, psychological and social factors interact according to the model, lacks objectivity, not scientific or reliable
interactionist treatment
combines both drug therapy and CBT
‘interaction’ refers to the idea that SZ may not have one true cause, may develop due to range of factors
therefore makes sense to treat all factors
drug therapy
consists of the use of antipsychotic medication which addresses the possible biological cause of schizophrenia
treats positive symptoms
cognitive / psychological therapy
consists of CBT which is a talking therapy aimed at enabling the client to cope with their symptoms and manage their dysfunctional thoughts and behaviours
reduces dysfunctional mental processes and negative symptoms
family therapy
prevents relapse and reduces stressful family environment which triggers schizophrenia
steps of interactionist treatment
usually starts with antipsychotics to control symptoms
this enables them to participate in CBT which follows after, drug therapy reduces symptoms prior to CBT sessions
family therapy prevents relapse
evaluation of interactionist treatment
research support from Guo et al. (2010) - patients who had interactionist treatment whilst in early stages of schizophrenia showed improvement in symptoms and were less likely to relapse, was a randomised controlled study, can establish cause and effect + high internal validity
expensive - drugs cost money to produce and therapy takes multiple sessions and is often 1:1, however in long term it prevents relapse so patients less likely to return to hospital and more likely to go back to work
may not suit all patients - some may have difficulty understanding or interpreting the side effects of their drugs which CBT could worsen with its emphasis on challenging dysfunctional thoughts
treatment-causation fallacy - suggests that the interactionist approach may be mistaken in treating the (supposed) biological causes of the illness first as there is no hard evidence that schizophrenia has its roots in biological factors
