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AQA A-Level Psychology > Schizophrenia > Flashcards

Schizophrenia Flashcards

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1
Q

Introduction:
Outline the term schizophrenia

A

Original name: Dementia Praecox
- Split (schizo) mind (phrenia)
- split between cognition and emotion

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2
Q

Introduction:
Outline the prevalence of schizophrenia in the general population

A
  • affects 0.3-0.7% (varies across culture)
  • men - usually appears in late teens to early 20s
  • women - usually appears in early 30s (around baby time)
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3
Q

Introduction:
Outline what is meant by episodic in terms of schizophrenia

A

symptoms appear in episodes that can last as short as a few hours or as long as years
1/3 of people recover after one episode
1/3 live with it for life
1/3 experience catatonic behaviour
5-6% commit suicide

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4
Q

Introduction:
Outline the prognosis of schizophrenia

A

Bleuler (1978) studies 2000 schizophrenics (longitudinal)
found symptoms are the most severe in early adulthood, during the first 5 years after onset

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5
Q

Introduction:
Outline the two types of symptoms of schizophrenia

A

Positive - excess of normal functions. adding to your normal behaviour
Negative - loss of normal function. similar to severe depression. taking away from normal behaviour

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6
Q

Introduction:
Outline positive symptoms to schizophrenia and definitions

A
  • hallucinations - faulty sensory input resulting in either auditory, visual or tactile figments
  • delusions - unusual beliefs not based in reality. e.g. thought broadcasting, insertion or withdrawal. jealousy.
  • disorganised thinking and speech - the result of interference from hallucinations and delusions
  • catatonic behaviour - reduced reaction to the environment. could last hours
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7
Q

Introduction:
Outline negative symptoms of schizophrenia and definitions

A
  • alogia (speech poverty) - reduced speech or only speaking in response to others
  • flat affect (lack of emotion) - feeling disconnected from emotions. incorrect reactions to situations
  • avolition (social withdrawal) - isolating yourself and avoiding all social interactions. lack of goal orientated behaviour
  • apathy - lack of enthusiasm
  • anhedonia - loss of interest in everyday activities
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8
Q

Issues in diagnosis - diagnostic criteria:
Outline the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in the DSM-V

A
  • characteristic symptoms - disruption to 2 or more of; work, relationships and self-care
  • social/occupational dysfunction - failing to meet the standards of their previous self
  • duration - 1 month for brief episode of psychosis (BEP), 6 months for schizophrenia
  • schizoaffective/mood disorder exclusion - exclusion of these in case of mix of characteristic symptoms
  • exclusion of substance cause
  • relationship to autism - negative symptoms look like autism, therefore autistic people must show positive symptoms to be diagnosed
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9
Q

Issues in diagnosis - reliability:
Outline what variables may affect the reliability of the diagnoses of schizophrenia

A
  • inter-rater reliability
  • test-retest (external) reliability
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10
Q

Issues in diagnosis - reliability:
Outline inter-rater reliability for schizophrenic patients

A

having multiple psychologists/psychiatrists assess the same patient to determine individual diagnoses - must have a +0.8 correlation

Beck et al (1961) found 153 schizos were assessed by two different psychiatrists and only agreed 54% of the time (+0.54). implies low inter-rater reliability for schizophrenia

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11
Q

Issues in diagnosis - reliability:
Outline test-retest reliability for schizophrenic patients

A

having the same psychologist/psychiatrist assess the patient on separate occasions to determine the same diagnoses
- doesn’t take into account natural progression

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12
Q

Issues in diagnosis - reliability:
give evaluations for reliability of diagnosis for schizophrenic patients

A
  • Research support - Copeland (1970) found people are more likely to think someone’s behaviour is because of their personality if it fits with stereotypes about their group
  • consequences of getting the diagnoses wrong - either they aren’t schizophrenic and are pumped full of antipsychotics or they are and they go untreated
  • revision of the DSM - newer DSM versions outlining different criteria - people diagnosed on old versions may not be diagnosed by new ones, or other way around.
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13
Q

Issues in diagnosis - validity:
Outline what variables may affect the validity of the diagnosis of schizophrenia

A
  • comorbidity
  • overlapping symptoms
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14
Q

Issues in diagnosis - validity:
Outline comorbidity and its effect on the validity of diagnosis of schizophrenia

A
  • simultaneous presence of two or more disorders

Buckly (2009) found comorbidity rates of schizophrenia and depression 50%, PTSD 29%, OCD 23%
makes it harder to correctly diagnose
suggests schizophrenia and depression could be the same thing
47% have substance abuse issues

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15
Q

Issues in diagnosis - validity:
Outline overlapping symptoms and its effect on the validity of diagnosis of schizophrenia

A
  • symptoms crossing over to multiple disorders
  • no symptoms in schizophrenia are solely in schizophrenia - all come up elsewhere

bipolar: mania, irritability
schizo: affective flattening, apathy

both: aggression, agitation, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, depression, impulsivity, hostility

13% of population hear voices whereas only 1% of population have schizo

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16
Q

Issues in diagnosis - validity:
Outline symptom heterogeneity

A

the same symptoms appear different across different causes

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17
Q

Issues in diagnosis - validity:
Outline aetiological heterogeneity

A

causes of symptoms are influenced by different factors

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18
Q

Issues in diagnosis - validity:
give evaluations for validity of diagnosis for schizophrenic patients

A
  • research support - Buckly
  • DSM has multiple criteria - multiple ways to be diagnosed - broader and not subjected to just symptoms
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19
Q

Issues in diagnosis - culture bias:
Outline the cultural influences on the diagnosis of schizophrenia

A
  • cultural interpretations of schizophrenia symptoms
  • negative cultural attitudes towards schizophrenia
  • culture/nationality of the clinician
  • race discrimination
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20
Q

Issues in diagnosis - culture bias:
Outline studies supporting the influence of the culture/nationality of the clinician in diagnosing schizophrenics

A

Cochrane (1977) found Caribbean men are 7 time more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia when living in Britain

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21
Q

Issues in diagnosis - culture bias:
Outline studies supporting the influence of race discrimination in diagnosing schizophrenics

A

Escobar (2012) found white doctors over-interpret symptoms of black patients during diagnosis

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22
Q

Issues in diagnosis - culture bias:
give evaluations for the effect of culture bias on the validity of diagnosis of schizophrenic patients

A
  • research support - cochrane, escobar
  • practical applications - symptom pool
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23
Q

Issues in diagnosis - gender bias:
Outline factors into gender bias when diagnosing schizophrenics

A
  • unreported facts when diagnosing schizophrenia in men and women - men suffer more more severe negative symptoms and suffer from more substance related disorders. Goldstein (1993) found men are more likely to be involuntarily committed to psychiatric wards than women
  • biased research - most research into schizophrenia has been conducted on men
  • underdiagnoses of women suffering schizophrenia - leads to untreated patients as they may be denied access to treatment
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24
Q

Issues in diagnosis - gender bias:
Outline studies into rates of diagnoses across the two genders in diagnosing schizophrenics

A

Longnecker et al (2010) reviewed studies of schizophrenic incidence and found prior to 1980s men and women were equally diagnosed, but since then men have been increasingly diagnosed more often

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25
Q

Issues in diagnosis - gender bias:
Outline studies into gender bias in the diagnosis of schizophrenics

A

Loring and Powell (1988):
- doctors were asked to review a case study and make a diagnosis
- when the patient was male, 56% schizo
- when female, 20% schizo (backs Longnecker)

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26
Q

Issues in diagnosis - gender bias:
give evaluations for gender bias in the diagnosis of schizophrenics

A
  • research support - longnecker, loring and powell
  • practical implications - women not being diagnosed and treated
  • economic implications - schizo women not being able to work and contribute to the economy due to being untreated
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27
Q

Biological explanations - genes:
Outline the role of the C4 gene in schizophrenia development

A
  • Particular forms of the C4 gene lead to increased risk of developing schizophrenia
  • C4 assists in synaptic pruning
  • faulty C4 gene leads to increased rate of synaptic pruning which leads to negative symptoms
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28
Q

Biological explanations - genes:
Outline studies into the role of genes in schizophrenia development

A

Ripke (2014) found 108 separate genetic variations associated with schizophrenia
- different variations of genes lead to different symptoms to different severities

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29
Q

Biological explanations - genes:
Outline studies into inheritance of genetic similarity in family members for schizophrenia

A

Gottesman and Shields (1991):
general population - 1%
3rd degree relatives (12.5% genetic similarity - cousins, aunts/uncles) - avg. 3%
2nd degree relatives (25% genetic similarity - grandchildren, half-siblings) - avg. 5%
1st degree relatives (50% genetic similarity - parents, siblings, children) - 12%

  • dizygotic twins - 17%
  • monozygotic - 48%
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30
Q

Biological explanations - genes:
Outline studies into the effect of inherited schizophrenia

A

Tienari et al (2000):
took adopted kids with and without schizophrenic mothers and worked out the likelihood of the children developing it.
- no schizophrenic mother - 1%
- schizophrenic mother - 10% even with no contact - shows large genetic impact

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31
Q

Biological explanations - genes:
Outline genes associated with schizophrenia and their impact

A

COMT, DRD4, AKT1 - all candidate genes

  • all lead to excessive dopamine in D2 receptors
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32
Q

Biological explanations - genes:
give evaluations for the genetic explanation of schizophrenia

A
  • biologically deterministic - no one chooses to have schizophrenia - against free will
  • research support - tienari et al
  • biologically reductionist - destined to have schizophrenia
  • psychology as a science
  • no 100% concordance rate - not a complete explanation
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33
Q

Biological explanations - dopamine hypothesis:
Outline the first and second versions of the dopamine hypothesis as an explanation of schizophrenia

A

V1 - high dopamine causes schizophrenia
- when people were found with high dopamine and no schizophrenia it was reformed

V2 - Too many D2 receptors causes schizophrenia
- when people with a lot of D2 receptors were found without schizophrenia is was reformed

  • neither version explained positive and negative symptoms - further reform
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34
Q

Biological explanations - dopamine hypothesis:
Outline how the third version of the dopamine hypothesis explains positive symptoms of schizophrenia

A

Positive symptoms - hyperdopaminergia:
- overactivity of the mesolimbic pathway which moves dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NA)

  • too much dopamine
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35
Q

Biological explanations - dopamine hypothesis:
Outline how the third version of the dopamine hypothesis explains negative symptoms of schizophrenia

A

Negative symptoms - hypodopaminergia:
- mesocortical pathway disfunction (underactivity) which moves dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the cerebral cortex

  • not enough dopamine
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36
Q

Biological explanations - dopamine hypothesis:
give evaluations for the dopamine hypothesis as an explanation of schizophrenia

A
  • scientific adaptability - V1, V2, V3
  • biologically reductionist - assumes dopamine is the sole reason for schizophrenia
  • practical applications - drug treatments changing dopamine levels
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37
Q

Biological explanations - neuroanatomy:
Outline the three neuroanatomic correlations found in schizophrenia

A
  • enlarged ventricles
  • hypofrontality
  • hippocampal-amygdala region
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38
Q

Biological explanations - neuroanatomy:
Outline enlarged ventricles as a correlation to schizophrenia

A

strong correlation between having schizophrenia and having enlarged ventricles (empty sacks in the brain that keep the brain held together)

  • about 15% larger in schizos
  • unclear cause and effect
39
Q

Biological explanations - neuroanatomy:
Outline hypofrontality as a correlation to schizophrenia

A

decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the prefrontal cortex of the brain

  • present in schizophrenia, ADHD, bipolar and major depression
  • symptomatic
  • unclear cause and effect
40
Q

Biological explanations - neuroanatomy:
Outline hippocampal-amygdala region as a correlation to schizophrenia

A

both the hippocampus and the amygdala are smaller in volume and size

  • leads to dulled emotional state - flat affect (negative symptoms)
41
Q

Biological explanations - neuroanatomy:
give evaluations for neuroanatomic correlations

A
  • biologically reductionist
  • only a correlation - unknown cause and effect
  • poor validity - hypofrontality covers ADHD, bipolar and major depression as well as schizophrenia
42
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
Outline the 3 key factors into family dysfunction as a psychological explanation of schizophrenia

A
  • high levels of interpersonal conflict
  • poor communication or difficulty in communicating
  • being overly critical and controlling of children
43
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
Outline the 3 types of family dysfunction that could lead to schizophrenia

A
  • schizophrenogenic (refridgerator) mother
  • double-bind hypothesis
  • high expressed emotion
44
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
Outline the schizophrenogenic mother as a type of family dysfunction that could lead to schizophrenia

A

Freida Fromm-Reichman:

  • cold and distant mothers increase the likelihood of developing schizophrenia
45
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
Outline the double-bind hypothesis as a type of family dysfunction that could lead to schizophrenia

A

Bateson (1950):

those raised in families with excessive conflict pose increased risk of schizo
- learned helplessness - key part of depression
- increased confusion and anxiety
- shut themselves off emotionally - negative symptoms (flat affect)

46
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
Outline high expressed emotion as a type of family dysfunction that could lead to schizophrenia

A

Families reaction to a deteriorating mental state can have a huge affect on the prognosis
- family members have no tolerance
- patient is 4 times more likely to relapse as a result
- severe hostility from family

47
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
Outline the term family schism in regards to family dysfunction as an explanation of schizophrenia

A

lack of emotional support/closeness
- leads to conflict and tension between the patient and family members

48
Q

Psychological explanations - family dysfunction:
give evaluations for family dysfunction as an explanation of schizophrenia

A
  • environmentally reductionist - assumes no biological influence
  • practical applications - family therapy
  • compare to biological explanations
49
Q

Psychological explanations - cognition:
Outline dysfunctional thought processing in cognition as a psychological explanation of schizophrenia

A
  • schizophrenics have a problem with a high-level cognitive process called ‘meta-representation’ (self-awareness)
  • ## different types of cognitive dysfunction explain different symptoms (both positive and negative)
50
Q

Psychological explanations - cognition:
Outline the first type of cognitive dysfunction as an explanation of schizophrenia

A

dysfunction in the ‘central monitoring system’ (CMS)

explains positive symptoms of schizophrenia
- due to misattribution errors as our inner speech/articulatory control process (PL/WMM) are linked to external sources such as other people’s voices and our own inner voice

51
Q

Psychological explanations - cognition:
Outline the second type of cognitive dysfunction as an explanation of schizophrenia

A

dysfunction within the ‘supervisory attention system’ (SAS)

explains negative symptoms of schizophrenia
- focusses on decision making
- schizo’s have a defective SAS so struggle to focus clearly

52
Q

Psychological explanations - cognition:
Outline the third type of cognitive dysfunction as an explanation of schizophrenia

A

dysfunction within insight/egocentric bias

  • schizo’s may struggle to see other people’s perspectives and may be super fixated on their own feelings
  • schiso’s may lack insight into their own disorder - may be unaware they have schizophrenia or are unwell
53
Q

Psychological explanations - cognition:
give evaluations for cognitive dysfunction as an explanation of schizophrenia

A
  • practical applications - CBT
  • environmentally reductionist
  • cognition cannot be empirically measured/observed - unscientific
54
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the two types of antipsychotics as a treatment of schizophrenia

A
  • typical (1st generation)
  • atypical (modern/2nd generation)
55
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the types of typical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

anticholinergic and noradrenergic

56
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the aim of typical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

manipulating the dopamine levels to treat positive symptoms

  • only works on positive and only works on dopamine
57
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the process of typical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

antagonises the dopamine system by blocking the receptor sites on the post-synaptic membrane (D2 receptors)

  • based on V2 of the dopamine hypothesis
58
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the side effects of typical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

anticholinergic: dry mouth, urinary problems, constipation and visual disturbances

noradrenergic: low blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, nasal congestion

59
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline different atypical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

clozapine, risperidone, lurasidone

60
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the aim of atypical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

tackling negative symptoms (although also works on positive symptoms)

  • also works on dopamine but further works on serotonin and glutamate
61
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the process of atypical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

similar to typical antipsychotics, blocks the receptors of dopamine, serotonin and glutamate

  • helps improve mood and cognitive function
  • helps reduce depression and anxiety
  • often given to suicidal patients
62
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the side effects of atypical antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

weight gain and neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS)

  • NMS is a life threatening, idiosyncratic reaction to neuroleptic meds (including antipsychotics)
  • symptoms of NMS include fever, muscular rigidity, autonomic dysfunction and altered mental state - you know, the thing your taking the drugs to stop happening!!! (think cost/benefit analysis)
63
Q

Biological treatments:
How long do antipsychotics usually take to work with full effect when treating schizophrenia

A

4-6 weeks depending on the type of antipsychotic

64
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline the link between the dopamine hypothesis and antipsychotics when treating schizophrenia

A

atypical antipsychotics are used for the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal pathways, which relate to hyperdopaminergia and hypodopaminergia

65
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline studies into the effectiveness of typical antipsychotics in treating schizophrenia

A

Davis et al (1989) ran a meta-analysis of over 100 studies comparing typical antipsychotics with placebos

found typical antipsychotics effectively treated 75% of patients within 6 weeks while less than 25% of the placebo group improved in the same time

66
Q

Biological treatments:
Outline studies into the effectiveness of atypical antipsychotics in treating schizophrenia

A

Liberman et al (2005) compared the effectiveness or typical to atypical in 1432 patients with chronic schizophrenia

found 74% of patients discontinued treatment due to the side effects of atypical antipsychotics (NMS)

67
Q

Biological treatments:
give evaluations for antipsychotics as a treatment for schizophrenia

A
  • compare typical to atypical - side effects or positive/negative symptoms
  • cost/benefit analysis
  • biologically reductionist - only treats biological influences on schizophrenia
  • research support - davis at al, liberman et al
  • compare to CBT
68
Q

Psychological treatments - CBT:
Outline the two techniques of CBT used to treat schizophrenia

A
  • integrated psychological therapy (IPT)
  • coping strategy enhancement (CSE)
69
Q

Psychological treatment - CBT:
Outline integrated psychological therapy (IPT) as a CBT technique used to treat schizophrenia

A

group based therapy combining CBT with other idiosyncratic techniques with social activities to challenge the negative thoughts of the patient while improving social skills

70
Q

Psychological treatment - CBT:
Outline coping strategy enhancement (CSE) as a CBT technique used to treat schizophrenia

A

rather than challenging the negative thoughts of the patient, CSE aims at developing coping strategies to assist the patient when symptoms are particularly present and difficult to deal with

71
Q

Psychological treatment - CBT:
Outline the processes involved in using CBT to treat schizophrenics

A
  • challenge irrational beliefs
  • treat their delusions as hypothesis (rather than just saying they’re irrational) - prove their beliefs wrong
  • offer alternative interpretations of thinking
  • teach then self-distraction techniques e.g. watch TV, listen to music - particularly good for auditory hallucinations but used for other types of hallucinations as well as other positive symptoms
72
Q

Psychological treatment - CBT:
Outline the aspects of the therapist when using CBT to treat schizophrenia

A
  • unconditional positive regard
  • empathy
  • respect

these factors boost the effectiveness of CBT

73
Q

Psychological treatment - CBT:
Outline studies into the effectiveness of CBT as a treatment technique for schizophrenia

A

Bighelli et al (2018):

  • 44.5% reached a reduction of 20% in symptoms
  • 13.2% reached a reduction of 50% in symptoms

52.9% of the -20% had reduction in positive symptoms
24.8% of the -50% had reduction in positive symptoms

suggests CBT is more effective at treating positive symptoms than negative

74
Q

Psychological treatment - CBT:
give evaluations for CBT as a treatment for schizophrenia

A
  • research support - Bighelli et al
  • compare to other psychological and biological treatments
  • environmentally reductionist - assumes no biological influence
  • therapy doesn’t work for everyone - won’t work for those who are too severe (need drug intervention)
75
Q

Psychological treatment - family therapy:
Outline family therapy as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

Boosting the support from family members to help the patient better manage their symptoms

76
Q

Psychological treatment - family therapy:
Outline ways of establishing family support in family therapy when treating schizophrenia

A
  • cooperative trusting relationships - full openness. all family members are given the opportunity to talk about their experiences without judgement - no secrets
  • educate - family members taught about the condition to better understand it and what the patient is going through. boosts family tolerance and useful to lower expressed emotion issues
  • practical coping strategies - coming up with family activities for when the patient is struggling
77
Q

Psychological treatment - family therapy:
give evaluations for family therapy as a treatment for schizophrenia

A
  • decreased chance of relapse
  • openness is difficult to achieve - some people may be reluctant to give opinions for fear of repercussions - reduced effectiveness
  • environmentally reductionist
  • compare to other psychological and biological treatments
  • more beneficial for those living at home (teenagers - women don’t typically get it until early 30s - less effective for women than men (early 20s, late teens))
78
Q

Psychological treatments - token economy:
Outline token economy as a treatment for schizophrenia

A

using positive and negative reinforcement to either reduce the likelihood of unwanted behaviour happening or increasing the likelihood of wanted behaviour

79
Q

Psychological treatments - token economy:
Outline how positive and negative punishment could be used in token economy when treating schizophrenia

A

alogia - giving the a token when they start a conversation (positive punishment)

flat effect - taking away a token if they don’t show any emotion (negative punishment)

80
Q

Psychological treatments - token economy:
Outline the issue with using token economy on positive symptoms when treating schizophrenia

A

positive symptoms are an excess of functionality, meaning something is being added to their behaviour e.g. hallucinations or delusions

all positive symptoms can therefore be faked, making a token economy useless

81
Q

Psychological treatments - token economy:
Outline Thorndike’s law of effect

A

If a behaviour is rewarded, it is more likely going to be repeated

or just look at Skinner’s research on electrocuting rats (learning approach)

82
Q

Psychological treatments - token economy:
Outline studies into the effectiveness of a token economy in treating schizophrenia

A

Gholipour et al (2012) found a token economy approach reduced negative symptom scores by 46% from 77 to 41

83
Q

Psychological treatments - token economy:
give evaluations for a token economy as a treatment for schizophrenia

A
  • can’t be used to treat positive symptoms
  • research support - gholipour et al
  • poor long-term effectiveness - only works whilst the patient is in an institution (e.g. prisoners get tokens for good behaviour in prison but not in the real world. this is why criminals almost always go back to prison)
  • environmentally reductionist - just look at the learning approach. assumes all behaviour is learnt not hereditary
84
Q

Interactionist approach - explaining:
Outline how the interactionist approach could be used to explain schizophrenia

A

Diathesis-stress model

outlines an initial vulnerability to schizophrenia that is only activated when environmental stress is applied

85
Q

Interactionist approach - explaining:
Outline the diathesis aspect of the diathesis-stress model when explaining schizophrenia

A

Meehls believed you must be born with a genetic, hereditary predisposition to schizophrenia in order to get it.
this could be a combination of the 108 genes associated with schizophrenia or a faulty dopaminergic system (think dopamine hypothesis)

It is now understood that the same predisposition from biology can be achieved through early childhood trauma
this trauma can then impact the development of the brain if it occurs early enough

86
Q

Interactionist approach - explaining:
Outline the stress aspect of the diathesis-stress model in explaining schizophrenia

A

stressors - events causing stress

environmental events that put pressure on the diathesis causing the behaviour
could be one major event or a series of smaller ones

three main stressors:
family dysfunction
substance abuse
critical life events e.g. parental divorce as a child

87
Q

Interactionist approach - explaining:
Outline how the diathesis and stress aspects come together to cause schizophrenia

A

with the right stressors, stress is put on the genetic or developmental predisposition TRIGGERING off the behaviour

88
Q

Interactionist approach - explaining:
Outline studies into the role of stress W

A

Walker found schizophrenics have significantly more cortisol in their system than non-schizophrenics. (cortisol is the stress hormone).
He further found a positive correlation between the amount of cortisol and the severity of symptoms

He also found cortisol was high pre-schizophrenia showing cortisol is a direct factors/influence in the development of schizophrenia - no wonder teachers moan at you about managing stress

leads to biological (cortisol drugs) and psychological (therapy to reduce stress) treatments

89
Q

Interactionist approach - explaining:
give evaluations for the interactionist approach when explaining schizophrenia

A
  • combines biological and psychological explanations - increased explanatory power
  • leads to more effective treatments - multi-pronged approach
90
Q

Interactionist approach - treating:
Outline the importance of treating schizophrenia is viewed in the UK

A

NICE (national institute of health and care excellence) specifically said treatments should involve ‘full range of psychological, pharmacological, social and occupational interventions’

for comparison, these are the same people who don’t let the NHS use life saving cancer treatments because they are too expensive
- shows the intensity of schizophrenia and how important it is viewed that it is successfully treated

allows for a multi-pronged approach - multiple treatments used at the same time

91
Q

Interactionist approach - treating:
Outline studies into the effect a multi-pronged approach has on the symptoms when treating schizophrenia

A

Tarrier et al (2004) found antipsychotics and therapy showed lower symptom levels than those who only took antipsychotics

92
Q

Interactionist approach - treating:
Outline studies into the effect a multi-pronged approach has on the effectiveness of treatments of schizophrenics

A

Guo et al found patients who received both antipsychotics and therapy have improved insight, quality of life and social functioning than those who only took antipsychotics

combination treatment patients also have a reduced chance of discontinuing treatment or relapsing

93
Q

Interactionist approach - treating:
Outline what is meant by insight in regard to mental health

A

Insight is the extent to which patients know they are unwell
more insight means increased chance of successful treatment

  • schizophrenics usually have little to no insight at the start of treatment whilst people with OCD typically have higher insight
94
Q

Interactionist approach - treating:
give evaluations for using the interactionist approach in treating schizophrenia

A
  • research support - guo et al, tarrier et al
  • economic implications - more effective so gets people back to work faster, but is more expensive

AQA A-Level Psychology (12 decks)

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