Schizophrenia

Question 1

Whaley

Answer 1

Found that inter-rater reliability correlation co-efficient in the diagnosis of schizophrenia was as low as 0.11.

Question 2

Rosenhan

Answer 2

Sent ‘normal’ people into US psychiatric hospitals claiming to hear voices saying “thud”. All but one were diagnosed with schizophrenia and were admitted into the hospital. While there, they acted ‘normally’ and even after telling the staff that they felt fine and no longer had the symptoms- took an average of 19 days, some 2 months before discharged. (only when agreed had been insane.)

Question 3

Copeland

Answer 3

Found that when British and US psychiatrists were given the same description of a patient, 69% of the US psychiatrists diagnosed them as schizophrenic, whereas only 2% of the British psychiatrists gave the same diagnosis. Cultural differences.

Question 4

Joseph

Answer 4

Pooled together research done on the concordance rate for schizophrenia in different types of twins. Found that overall, monozygotic twins had a C.R. of 40.4%, in comparison to dizygotic twins who had a C.R. of 7.4%.

Question 5

Gottesman

Answer 5

Found that the closer the degree of the relation, the greater the likelihood of also having schizophrenia. For example, having 2 schizophrenic parents= 46% C.R. 1 schizophrenic parent= 13% C.R. and a sibling= 9% C.R.

Question 6

The dopamine hypothesis suggests…

Answer 6

that messages from neurons that transmit dopamine, fire too easily/quickly, which can lead to characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia.

Question 7

Schizophrenic sufferers are thought to have abnormally high numbers of?

Answer 7

Dopamine receptors. Which leads to more dopamine binding, and so there is also therefore more neuron firing.

Question 8

Dopamine neurons play a key role in our…?

Answer 8

Attention. So therefore any disturbances in it will cause issues with things such as attention/thought/perception etc. as suggested by Comer.

Question 9

A problem with the dopamine hypothesis and treatment of it is?

Answer 9

That these drugs (amphetamines) can actually increase the levels dopamine, instead of decrease them, as neurons struggle to compensate for the sudden loss.

Question 10

Haracz

Answer 10

Found that in a review of post-mortem studies of schizophrenics, most of those who showed elevated dopamine levels had received anti-psychotic drugs shortly before death.

Question 11

Side effects of conventional anti-psychotic drugs?

Answer 11

Shaking, the stiffening of muscles, slowing down in movement, confusion, and TARDIVE DYSKINESIA.

Question 12

Hill

Answer 12

Found that for all of the people who take conventional anti-psychotic drugs, 30% develop tardive dyskisesia, which is irreversible in 75% of these cases.

Question 13

Davis

Answer 13

Reviewed 29 studies on the effectiveness of conventional anti-psychotic drugs and found that relapse occurred in 55% of those using the placebo, compared to just 19% who still relapsed with the actual drug.

Question 14

Ross and Read

Answer 14

Pointed out how from Davis’ study (on the relapse rates of conventional anti-psychotic drugs vs. placebo) that those who had their drugs replaced with a placebo were in a withdrawal state, and so therefore more vulnerable than those remained on the drug.

Question 15

Is it conventional anti-psychotic drugs or atypical anti-psychotic drugs which block the action of serotonin as well as dopamine?

Answer 15

Atypical anti-psychotic drugs

Question 16

Awad and Voruganti

Answer 16

Found that atypical anti-psychotic drugs had fewer side effects as well as being 20% more effective than conventional anti-psychotic drugs.

Question 17

Read

Answer 17

Found that between 1979 and 1999 there was a 59% decline in the U.K. of E.C.T.’s performed.

Question 18

Braga and Petrides

Answer 18

Reviewed 42 articles on the use of E.C.T. with anti-psychotic drugs, and they found that they almost all agreed that this combination was the best way of treating schizophrenia.

Question 19

The socio-cultural explanation involves…

Answer 19

EE which focuses on the interpersonal communications within families.

Question 20

Kavanagh

Answer 20

Found that people living in families with high EE were 4 times more likely to relapse into their schizophrenic phase, that those in families with lower EE.

Question 21

Brown and Birley

Answer 21

Found that approx 50% of people experienced a major life event in the 3 weeks prior to that schizophrenic episode, whereas only 12% reported one in the 9 weeks prior to that.

Question 22

Yellowlees

Answer 22

Developed a machine to try and produce virtual hallucinations, (such as hearing the TV telling you to kill yourself, or faces morphing into one another) to try and show that hallucinations aren’t real. Not been found to be entirely effective though.

Question 23

Lewis

Answer 23

Found that C.B.T. shortens the length of the episode, but the patients are then more likely to relapse than without C.B.T.

Question 24

Malmberg and Fenton

Answer 24

Argued that it is impossible to draw any conclusions on the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapies. (often on anti-psychotic drugs too, or there may be other triggers too)

Question 25

Karen ad Vandebos

Answer 25

Produced research to try and separate these different types of treatment in order to compare them. Had 3 groups of pps. One group on anti-psychotic drugs, another on psychodynamic therapies and the other on both. Found psychodynamic treatment alone was the superior treatment.