Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is the purpose of drug therapy regarding schizophrenia?
Antipsychotics are used to reduce the intensity of symptoms, in particular the positive symptoms of psychotic conditions like schizophrenia; however they do not cure the conditions
How many antipsychotics can be taken at one time?
Only one antipsychotic can be used at one time but there are several different types that can be tried to work out what is best for an individual.
How long does it take for the drugs to work?
It takes about 10 days for antipsychotic drugs ifs to start working and reduce the symptoms if schizophrenia. After about 6 weeks many patients see a lot of improvements.
How can the drug be administered?
They can be given orally as a tablet or a syrup. However they can be given as a depot injection for those who fail to take medication regularly.
What generation are typical antipsychotics and give examples?
They’re 1st generation. For example chlorpromazine, haloperidol and loxapine.
What symptoms do typical drugs work on ?
Typical antipsychotics work to combat the positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.
What did the success of typical antipsychotics lead to?
The effectiveness of the typical antipsychotics had led to the development of the dopamine hypothesis.
What generation are atypical antipsychotics? Give examples
They’re second generation. For example clozapine and risperidone.
What symptoms do atypical drugs work on ?
They are said to combat positive symptoms and well as the negative symptoms such as avolition and speech poverty.
How do atypical antipsychotics work?
They block dopamine receptors in the limbic system. Rather than permanently blocking them it is only temporary which is thought to reduce levels of tardive dyskinesia
How do typical antipsychotics work?
They reduce the amount of dopamine by binding to the receptor sites, blocking their actions.
Are there any side effects of drug therapy to treat schizophrenia?
Typical antipsychotics are associated with a range of side effects including dizziness, agitation, sleepiness, stiff jaw, weight gain and itchy skin. Long term use can result in tardive dyskinesia.
What does Healy’s research suggest about drug therapy and schizophrenia?
Healy suggested some serious flaws with evidence for the effectiveness of antipsychotics. Most are short term effects only, and successful trials have had data published many times exaggerating the size of evidence for positive effects.
Why are ethics of drug therapy questioned? What impact might this have on treatment?
Antipsychotics have been used in hospital situations to calm people with schizophrenia and make them easier for staff to work with rather than the benefits to the people themselves. However calming people distressed by hallucinations makes them feel better and allows them to engage with other treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy.
What is problematic about our understanding of the dopamine hypothesis and the use of drug therapy?
What does Thornley eat al’s research suggest about drug therapy and schizophrenia?
Reviewed studies comparing the effects of chlorpromazine to control conditions in which patients received a placebo. Data from 13 trials with 1121 patients showed that chlorpromazine was associated with better overall functions for and reduced symptom severity .
What does Meltzer’s research suggest about drug therapy and schizophrenia?
Concluded that clozapine is more effective than typical antipsychotics and other atypical antipsychotics and that it is effective in 30 to 50% of treatment resistant cases where typical antipsychotics have failed.
What is cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)?
A method for treating schizophrenia based on cognitive and behavioural techniques.
How many CBT sessions would someone with schizophrenia typically be given?
When CBT is used to treat schizophrenia it usually takes between 5 and 20 sessions either in a group or on an individual basis. The session s usually occurs around once every 5 to 10 days.
What is the aim of CBT sessions in relation to schizophrenia ?
It aims to deal with thinking such as challenging negative thoughts and beliefs and changing behaviour as a response.
What does the interactionist approach acknowledge?
It acknowledges that there are biological, psychological and societal factors in the development of schizophrenia.
What did the original distress stress model state?
The diathesis was deemed entirely genetic. He suggested this genetic vulnerability took the form of one ‘schizo-gene’, and suggested that if a person did not acquire this ‘schizo-gene’, then no amount of stress would lead to schizophrenia.
What does the modern view of diathesis involve?
The diathesis stress model says that there is not an existence of a ‘schizo-gene’ and that there are up to 108 genetic variations involved (Ripke et al, 2014). Therefore, the modern view of diathesis is that a range of factors can cause an underlying vulnerability to schizophrenia.
What does the modern view of diathesis involve ?
An underlying vulnerability that can be triggered by stress, resulting in the development of disorder
