Schizophrenia L1-3 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is schizophrenia?

A
  • serious mental psychotic disorder
  • characterised by profound disruption of cognition and emotion
  • onset between 15 and 45 years
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2
Q

What does schizo affect?

A
  • language
  • thought
  • perception
  • emotions
  • sense of self
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3
Q

It is more commonly diagnosed in?

A
  • men than women
  • cities rather than countryside
  • working class than middle class people
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4
Q

Why is schizo referred to as a psychotic disorder rather than a neurotic disorder?

A
  • psychotic refers to mental issues causing abnormal thinking and perceptions
  • people lose touch with reality and themselves
  • can end up homeless or hospitalised
  • also not uncommon for them to attempt/commit suicide
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5
Q

What classification systems are used to diagnose schizo?

A
  • DSM 5, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders
  • ICD 11, The International Classification of Diseases
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6
Q

DSM

A
  • devised by APA, American Psychological Association
  • in 5th edition
  • used in America
  • for diagnosis of schizo need to show at least 2 or more positive symptoms for one month period
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7
Q

ICD

A
  • devise by WHO, World Health Organisation
  • in 11th edition
  • used in Europe and other parts of the world
  • need to show one positive and one negative symptom for at least one month for schizo diagnosis
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8
Q

What was done with subtypes of schizo?

A
  • both manuals recognised but deleted
  • made diagnosis more complex and had little effect on treatment
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9
Q

What are the types of Schizophrenia?

A
  • Crow made distinction between 2 types
  • Type 1 and Type 2
  • Type 1, characterised by positive symptoms, better prospects for recovery
  • Type 2, characterised by negative symptoms, poorer prospects for recovery
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10
Q

What type of symptoms are there?

A
  • positive, symptoms that reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions
  • negative, symptoms that appear to reflect a reduction or loss of normal functions, often persist even during low/absent levels of positive symptoms
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11
Q

What are the positive symptoms?

A
  • hallucinations
  • delusions
  • disorganised speech
  • grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour
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12
Q

What are hallucinations, +s?

A
  • sensory experiences of stimuli that have no basis of reality or are distorted perceptions of things that are there
  • can be auditory, visual, olfactory (hearing) or tactile (touch+feeling)
    Auditory - hearing voices, making comments or conversing with them, normally criticising them
    Visual - seeing things that are not real e.g. distorted facial expressions on people
    Olfactory - smelling things not real e.g. smelling disinfectant
    Tactile - touching things not real e.g. bugs crawling on skin
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13
Q

What are delusions, +s?

A
  • aka paranoia
  • irrational, bizzare beliefs that seem real to the individual with SZ
  • can take range of forms
  • common delusions involves being important historical/political figure like Jesus
  • or belief that they will be persecuted by gov/aliens
  • delusions may involve body, believe parts of them under external control
  • some can lead to aggression, but this is not often
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14
Q

What is disorganised speech, +s?

A
  • result of abnormal thought processes
  • problems with organising their thoughts which shows in their speech
  • may slip from one topic to another, derailment, could occur mid sentence as well
  • speech may be so inconsistent that it comes across as gibberish, referred to as ‘word salad’
    (symptom diagnosed in DSM but not ICD, extra symptom)
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15
Q

What is grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour, +s?

A
  • catatonia refers to abnormality of movement and behaviour arising from a disturbed mental state
  • inability or lack of motivation to complete or initiate a task
  • can lead to problems with hygiene or person may be over active and going many things simultaneously
  • person may dress in bizarre way, winter clothes in summer
    (symptom diagnosed in DSM but not ICD, extra symptom)
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16
Q

What are the negative symptoms?

A
  • speech poverty, alogia
  • avolition
  • affective flattening
  • anhedonia
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17
Q

What is speech poverty/alogia, -s?

A
  • changes in patterns of speech
  • reduction in the amount and quality of speech
  • may be accompanied by delay in verbal responses during convo
  • may also be reflected in less complex syntax/sentence structuring
  • associated with long illness and earlier onset
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18
Q

What is avolition, -s?

A
  • can sometimes be called apathy
  • described as finding it difficult to begin or keep up with a goal directed activity
  • sufferers often have sharply reduced motivation to carry out a range of activities
  • Andreason identified these signs of avolition: poor hygiene/grooming, lack of persistence in work/education and lack of energy
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19
Q

What is affective flattening, -s?

A
  • reduction in the range and intensity of emotional expression
  • including facial expression, voice tone, eye contact and body language
  • sufferers have fewer body and facial movements and smiles
  • less co-verbal behaviour
  • when speaking may show a deficit in prosody (tone, tempo, loudness etc) which give cues to emotional content of convo
    (symptom diagnosed in DSM but not ICD, extra symptom)
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20
Q

What is anhedonia, -s?

A
  • loss of interest/pleasure in all or most activities
  • or lack of reactivity to normally pleasurable stimuli
  • physical anhedonia is inability to experience physical pleasures like pleasure from food, bodily contact etc.
  • social anhedonia is inability to gain pleasure from interpersonal situations like interacting with people
    (symptom diagnosed in DSM but not ICD, extra symptom)
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21
Q

What are the issues with the classification and diagnosis of SZ?

A
  • reliability, consistency of measuring instrument
  • validity, measuring what you mean to measure
  • co-morbidity
  • symptom overlap
  • gender bias
  • cultural bias
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22
Q

Issue of reliability, inter rater?

A

When 2 or more diagnosticians agree with the same diagnosis for the same individual, diagnosis done separately
- Whaley found inter rater between diagnosticians as low as +0.11 (DSM use)
= Cheniaux et al, more recent also showed low inter rater
= had 2 psychiatrists independently diagnose 100 schizo patients using ICD and DSM criteria
= inter rater poor, one diagnosed 26 with DSM and 44 with ICD
= other diagnosed 13 with DSM and 24 with ICD
So poor reliability is weakness of SZ

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23
Q

Issue of reliability, test retest?

A

When clinician makes same diagnosis on separate occasions but from same information
- Read et al, test retest reliability of SZ diagnosis only have 37% concordance rate
- (diff study) also noted a 1970 study where 194 Brit and 134 US psychiatrists provided diagnosis on basis of case description
- 2% of Brit diagnosed whilst 69% of US did
Suggests diagnosis has never been reliable

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24
Q

Upside of reliability?

A
  • very recent study, 2019, testing reliability in SZ diagnosis with DSM5 very high
  • Flavia Osario et al, inter rater between pairs of psychiatrists +0.97 and test retest +0.92
  • both figures show most recent diagnosis of SZ using DSM very good and reliable
25
Q

Issue of validity, criterion validity?

A

Extent to which we measure what we intend to measure
Criterion = when different assessment systems arrive at same diagnosis for same patient
- according to Cheniaux et al study, SZ more likely to be diagnosed with ICD than DSM
- SZ either over diagnosed with ICD or under with DSM
Sign of poor validity
= Cheniaux et al, showed low inter rater
= had 2 psychiatrists independently diagnose 100 schizo patients using ICD and DSM criteria
= inter rater poor, one diagnosed 26 with DSM and 44 with ICD
= other diagnosed 13 with DSM and 24 with ICD

26
Q

Issue of validity, Rosenhan?

A
  • research known as ‘on being sane in insane places’
  • aimed to test validity of SZ diagnosis using DSM (2 at the time)
  • 8 vol who did not suffer mental illness went to different mental hospital
  • claimed to hear voices like ‘hollow, empty, thud’
  • all admitted in and acted normally
  • time taken for release and reactions to them recorded
  • 8 vol took between 7 and 52 days to be released as schizos in remission
  • norm behaviours seen as SZ
  • 35 of 118 patients suspected volunteers were sane
    = later hospital told that unspecified number of pseudo patients would attempt entry of 3 month period
    = no. of suspected imposters was recorded
    = 193 admitted, 83 thought to be imposters but no actual imposters attempted admission
    Highlights lack of validity, psychiatrists clearly unable to distinguish between real and pseudo patients
27
Q

Issue of validity, B+J?

A
  • more recent study by Birchwoord and Jackson
  • 20% of patients show full recovery and never have another SZ episode
  • 10% show sig improvement
  • 30% show some improvement
  • 40% never really recover
  • of that 40%, 10% so affected they commit suicide
    Great variation in prognosis suggests very poor predictive validity
28
Q

Upside of validity?

A
  • recent Osario study suggests since reliability so high with DSM, validity also high with this individual diagnosing system
  • suggests ICD needs more revision
29
Q

Issue of co-morbidity?

A

Idea that 2 or more mental disorders occur together at the same time with the same person
Can question validity of diagnosis for SZ
= Buckley et al, found around half patients with SZ have depression (50%) or substance abuse (47%)
= PTSD also in 29% of cases and OCD in 23% of cases
- issue as if half diagnosed with depression and SZ suggests inability to distinguish between both disorders
- may be that severe d looks like SZ or vice versa, or may be seen as a single condition

30
Q

Issue of symptom overlap?

A

Considerable overlap between symptoms of SZ and other conditions like D and BP
One may show symptom of SZ but may also be symptom of another
- Ellason and Ross found those with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) have more SZ symptoms than one with SZ
= Read, most with SZ have sufficient symptoms to also be diagnosed with another disorder
- overlap questions validity
- whilst under ICD one may be diagnosed with SZ but when under DSM same person may be diagnosed with BP instead
- overlap suggests that SZ and BP may be one disorder rather than separate

31
Q

Issue of gender bias?

A

One gender being diagnosed more/less than the other
- Fischer + Buchanan, since 1980’s men diagnosed with SZ more commonly
= possible explanation by Cotton, female patients appear to be more able to continue in work and have good family relationships
= less likely diagnosis for women may be due to women showing better interpersonal functioning
So seems to be gender bias in SZ with male heavy diagnosis’

32
Q

Issue of cultural bias?

A

One culture being diagnosed more/less than another
- Pinto + Jones, African American and English people of afro carribean origin are 9 times as likely to be diagnosed
- may be because +s like auditory hallucinations may be acceptable in Africa due to cultural beliefs in communication with ancestors, would not be deemed as worthy of diagnosis in Africa
- but in UK more likely to be seen as +s of SZ
= Escobar, or could be that in Western cultures, honesty of black people is doubted

33
Q

Advantages of classification + diagnosis?

A

= Communication shorthand
- patient often experiences multiple symptoms
- easier to incorporate symptoms into an individual diagnosis
- makes communication between mental health professionals easier
= Treatment
- are often specific to certain disorders
- reliable diagnosis can point to a therapy that will help alleviate symptoms
= despite variation, there are many underlying biological abnormalities in those with SZ
= hoped that deeper understanding of these abnormalities will lead to more effective treatment

34
Q

What are the biological explanations of SZ?

A
  • the genetic basis
  • neural correlates, including the dopamine hypothesis
35
Q

How are genetic factors usually tested, BE?

A
  • through family, twin and adoption studies
36
Q

What are family studies, GB?

A
  • find individuals who have SZ
  • determine whether their biological relatives are similarly affected more often than non biological relatives
  • family studies shown that closer the genetic relatedness, greater the risk
    = Gottesman, if both parents with SZ, then offspring having is 46%
    = if one parent has, drops to 13%
    = if a sibling has, 9%
    Shows closer you are genetically related the more likely you are to get SZ
37
Q

What are twin studies, GB?

A
  • chance to investigate nature/nurture
  • see contribution of heredity and environmental influences in having SZ
  • as MZ share 100% while DZ share 50%, if SZ genetic then concordance rates should be much higher for MZ than DZ
    = Gottesman, 48% concordance for MZ and 17% for DZ, shows more genetically similar leads to more likely SZ
  • Joseph, review of twin studies carried up to 2001
  • found overall concordance rate 40% MZ twins but DZ 7.4%
  • concordance still quite high for MZ so supports idea of role genes in SZ
38
Q

What are adoption studies, GB?

A
  • carried out to understand the influence of nature and nurture
  • difficult to separate genetics from env in twin+family studies
  • adoption studies researched to see nature/nurture influences when MZ twins my be reared apart or offspring of SZ parents are adopted
    = Tienari et al, study in Finland
    = adoptees with bio mum with SZ more likely to develop than those with mum w/o SZ
    = 164 adoptees with bio mum with SZ 6.7% also had SZ
    = control group of 197 adoptees with mum w/o SZ only 2% with SZ
    Shows role of biology, those with SZ bio mum more likely to develop despite different env due to adoption
39
Q

What are candidate genes, GB?

A
  • specific genes that seem to be associated with SZ
  • is now agreed that SZ is polygenic
  • combo of different genes that have been linked to SZ
40
Q

Candidate genes of SZ evidence, GB?

A
  • Gurling et al, evidence from fam studies
  • found SZ associated w chromosome 8p21-22 to identify high risk sample
  • through gene mapping, found PCM1 gene found in susceptibility to SZ so more evidence for genetics
    = Benzel et al, suggests interaction of genetic factors
    = gene mapping to find evidence suggesting NRG3 gene variants interact with NRG1 and ERBB4 gene variants
    = create susceptibility to developing SZ
  • Ripke et al, compared gen makeup of 37k SZ patients worldwide with 113000 controls
  • found 108 separate genetic variations associated with an increased risk of SZ
  • genes particularly vulnerable, ones with a connection to the functioning of certain neurotransmitters such as dopamine
41
Q

Genetic basis, BE +ve?

A
  • lots of research evidence to support
  • findings from Joseph, Gottesman and Tienari showing link between genes and SZ
  • strength as shows that child growing up with 2 parents with SZ will be more likely to have SZ compared to those with only one SZ parent or with no SZ parent
42
Q

Genetic basis, BE -ve?

A
  • issue studies is separating nature (genes) from nurture (env)
  • MZ twins normally reared together so difficult to separate upbringing from genes
  • even with adopt as tend to be adopted by relatives who may rear in similar way to bio parents
  • so adopt may not be good comparison for effects of nature and nurture
    = SZ can take place in absence of family history
    = explanation is may be mutation in parental DNA like sperm
    = can be caused by radiation, poison or infection
    = Brown et al, evidence, showed +ve correlation between paternal age and increased SZ risk
    = around 0.7% with dad under 25, 2% in dad over 50
    = suggests despite no direct gene involved, can still get if dad is older at time of fertilisation
    = suggests role of nature and nurture play a role, not just genes
  • biologically reductionist, states on because of SZ is simply your genes
  • e.g. insinuates if you have PCM1 gene you will have SZ
  • is ignoring other factors like psychological factors and family upbringing which can be important
  • e.g. found that certain parenting methods can trigger SZ
    = diathesis stress model states there is a genetic vulnerability in SZ
    = but only likely to be triggered with a stress trigger in ones life
    = so may be born with a gene making you vulnerable but if life fairly stress free, then may be safe of the disorder
    = so need to be cautious when looking at genetic factors as may not act alone to trigger SZ
    = more holistic perspective to understanding causes of SZ may lead to more effective treatments instead of gene focus
43
Q

What are neural correlates, BE?

A
  • patterns of structure or activity in the brain that occur with an experience
  • may be connected to origins of that experience
44
Q

What is the dopamine hypothesis, NC, BE?

A
  • claims that an excess of the neurotransmitter dopamine in certain regions of the brain is associated with positive symptoms of SZ
  • so messages from neurons that release dopamine fire too easily and often, leading to hallucinations and delusions
  • Schizos thought to have high levels of D2 receptors on receiving neurons so more dopamine binding and more neurons firing
45
Q

What is dopamine, NC, BE?

A
  • neurotransmitter in the brain
  • helps regulate movement, attention, learning and emotional response
  • also involved in reward, motivation
  • due to contribution to feelings of pleasure as part of reward system plays a part in addiction
46
Q

What are the consequences of the dopamine hypothesis, NC, BE?

A

Hyperdopaminergia in the sub cortex
- based on go version of dh in explaining SZ
- states there are high levels of activity of dopamine in area known as subcortex (central areas of brain)
- e.g. excess in Brocas area (responsible for speech) may cause problems in speech and/or auditory hallucinations
Hypodopaminergia in the cortex
- recent version of dh has focus on lower levels of dopamine in cortex
- can also explain symptoms
- low levels in prefrontal cortex (thinking) explaining -ve symptom like speech poverty
- low levels of d leading to inability to form grammatically correct sentences
= has also been suggested cortical hypodopaminergia leads to subcortical hyperdopaminergia
= so high and low levels in different brain regions part of updated version to explain SZ symptoms

47
Q

Dopamine hypothesis, NC, BE +ve?

A
  • evidence from drug research
  • dopamine agonists like amphetamines tend to increase dopamine levels and worsen SZ symptoms in sufferers and can produce SZ like symptoms in non sufferers
    = antipsychotic drugs act like antagonists, acting to reduce levels of dopamine in schizo patients
    = supports idea that d levels are high and can be reduced with drugs
  • Lindstroem et al, found chemicals needed to produce d taken up faster in brain of schizos than controls
  • suggesting schizos produce more d
    Range of evidence suggests dh is relevant is understanding SZ
48
Q

Dopamine hypothesis, NC, BE -ve?

A
  • biologically determinist, suggests individual has no control over this
  • dh cannot be seen as sole cause since there are other psychological, biological and cognitive factors
  • others could instead explain hallucinations and delusions
    = glutamate may be another explanation, may be involved
    = is another type of neurotransmitter, makes neruons more active and speeds communication
  • correlation causation issue
  • important questions left unanswered, SZ caused by high or low levels of d??, could be other explanations for correlation
  • correlation between high levels of d and experiencing SZ symptoms but does high d lead to SZ or other way
  • does not really explain cause and effect
49
Q

What are the psychological explanations for SZ?

A
  • family dysfunction
  • cognitive explanations
50
Q

What is meant by family dysfunction, PE?

A
  • attempt to link SZ to childhood and adult experiences of living in a dysfunctional family
  • explained in 3 ways:
    1. the schizophrenogenic mother
    2. double bind theory
    3. expressed emotion and SZ
51
Q

What is meant by the schizophrenogenic mother, FD PE?

A
  • Fromm-Reichmann gave a psychodynamic explanation based on accounts from patients about their childhood
  • noted many spoke about particular type of parent referred to as TSM
  • schizophrenogenic means SZ causing
  • characteristics of this type of mother: cold, rejecting, controlling, creates family climate of secrecy+tension
  • leads to the child having lack of trust in relationships which later develop into paranoid delusions then SZ
  • in these type of families, father is often passive and uninvolved in childs upbringing
52
Q

What is meant by the double bind theory, FD PE?

A
  • Bateson et al, agreed family climate important in SZ development
  • focussed more on actual family communication style
  • suggests that occurs in children who often receive contradictory messages from their parents
  • children feel trapped in situations, fear doing the wrong thing but are unsure about what the wrong/right thing to do is
  • mixed message e.g. mother says ily with disgusted expression
  • results in child being unable to comment on unfairness of situation or seek clarification
  • so when child gets smt wrong, is punished with withdrawal of love
  • child feels confused and sees world as dangerous place, reflected in SZ with symptoms like paranoid delusions
  • Bateson clarified this was a risk factor and not the only cause
53
Q

What is meant by expressed emotion, FD PE?

A
  • is the level of emotion, -ve in particular, expressed towards patients by carers usually parents
    Has several parts:
    1. verbal criticism, occasionally shown with violence
    2. hostility towards the patient, including anger and rejection
    3. emotional over involvement in patients life, including needless sacrifice
  • high levels of EE by carers of ps creates serious source of stress
  • may be reason for p to relapse
  • EE can also be the trigger for the onset of SZ especially if person had genetic vulnerability to SZ (diathesis stress model)
54
Q

Family dysfunction, PE +ve?

A
  • Tienari et al adoption study
  • adopted who had SZ bio parents more likely to have than those without
  • difference only emerged when adopted family seen as disturbed/’dysfunctional’
  • illness manifested under certain env conditions
  • genetic vun alone not sufficient, shows fd contributing factor to SZ
    = Read et al, reviewed 46 studies of child abuse and SZ
    = 69% of adult women patients had a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse or both in childhood
    = for men figure was 59%
    = shows that fd contributes to SZ development
    = also found adults who had insecure attachments to primary caregiver more likely to develop SZ
  • Bateson supports double bind theory
  • reported on cs with recovering SZ patient visited by mother in hospital
  • he embraced but she stiffened so he withdrew, she said ‘don’t you love me anymore?’, he blushed and she said he mustn’t be so easily embarrassed and afraid of his feelings
  • when she left he assaulted an aide and had to be restrained
  • supports double bind, clear mum giving mixed signals to son during youth leading to outburst to aide
    = evidence for EE, Kavanagh reviewed 26 studies of EE
    = found mean relapse rate for SZ who returned home to live with high EE fam was 48% compared to 21% for those with low EE fam
    = shows EE increases risk of relapse for recovering SZ
55
Q

What is meant by cognitive explanations, PE?

A
  • focus on role of mental processes
  • SZ associated with several types of dysfunctional thought processing
  • so provide explanations for SZ as a whole
    Frith et al identified 2 kinds of dysfunctional thought processing that can underlie some symptoms:
    1. metarepresentation
    2. central control
56
Q

What is meant by metarepresentation, CE PE?

A
  • cognitive ability to reflect on thoughts and behaviours
  • enables us an insight into our own intentions and goals
  • also allows us to interpret actions of others
  • dysfunction would disrupt ability to recognise actions and thoughts as being our own rather than someone elses
  • could explain auditory hallucinations and delusions
  • like thought insertions where you believe someone is putting thoughts into your head
57
Q

What is meant by central control, CE PE?

A
  • cognitive ability to suppress automatic responses while we perform other actions instead
  • speech poverty + thought disorder may be due to inability to ignore your own automatic thoughts
  • as well as what others may be saying to you in your head
  • SZ sufferers tend to experience derailment of their thoughts and what they say due to too much going on in their thought processes
  • leads to loss of control of their own thoughts
58
Q

Cognitive explanations, PE +ve?

A
  • Stirling et al, compared 30 SZ with 18 non patients on range of cognitive tasks
  • like stroop effect (colour word in diff colour, need to say colour and not read)
  • found SZ took 2x longer to say word than controls
  • shows dysfunctional thought processing in SZ as struggling to separate word from actual colour
    = success of CBT alongside drugs to treat
    = SZ thought disorder so cannot be fully treated by drugs
    = CBT can question and challenge hallucinations and delusions
    = can also use behavioural techniques like +ve reinforcement
    = CBT proven to be effective so further supports CE of SZ
59
Q

Cognitive explanations, PE -ve?

A
  • difficult to establish whether dysfunctional thought processing is cause or consequence of SZ
  • ambiguous cause and effect, careful consideration required
    = problematic as fails to take into account biological factors
    = does not acknowledge that dysfunctional thought processing may also be due to abnormal dopamine levels in brain
    = explanation therefore reductionist as simplifies SZ to very basic element of dysfunctional thoughts
    = does not consider genes, neurotransmitters and stress which have all been shown to contribute to SZ