Schizophrenia: Psychodynamic Approach (ID Explanation) Flashcards
What points can be made when describing the theory?
Fixation
Regression
Losing touch with reality
Mothers
Which stage does the fixation occur?
First few months of the oral stage
How does a fixation occur?
When the needs are either not met or overindulged
During the oral stage, where is the libido’s focus?
Lips and mouth
What is the main activities of the oral stage?
Breastfeeding
What happens to schizophrenic people when under stress?
They regress back to the oral stage
Why do schizophrenic people regress back to the oral stage?
Stress
How is regression an ego defense mechanism?
Causes the ego to revert back to an earlier stage
How developed is the ego during the oral stage?
Not very developed
What causes people with schizophrenia to lose touch with reality?
They regress to a point where the ego is not developed so the id is able to operate unhindered. They can’t differentiate between fantasy and reality.
What is the function of the ego?
Control the id’s impulses and to blance it’s demands with the moral limitations of the superego
What do the symptoms of schizophrenia represent?
The unchecked activities of the id
What did Freud compare the mental state of schizophrenics to?
A newborn baby
Why did Freud compare schizophrenics to newborn babies?
Both have narcisism.
What are mothers of people with schizophrenia like?
Overprotective
Controlling
Rejecting
Distant
How do the mothers have a negative effect?
Overprotectiveness: Hinders emotional development
Emotional distance: Less personal security
So less able to deal with stress
What points can be made when evaluating the explanation?
Strength Freud is out of date Failure to produce an effective treatment Inconsistant support for mothers Overlooks genetics
What is a strength?
Achnowleges impact of early childhood experiances on personality
Moves focus away from victim blaming and towards family relationships
How are Freudian concepts out of date?
Psychology has moved onto more scientific, evidence based theories. Even basic psychodynamic principles can’t be proven so we can’t trust their explanations of mental disorders.
Why hasn’t the explanation provided any treatment?
Freud throught psychanalysis wasn’t approapriate
Rosen thought it was
Strupp found it was distressing and caused harm as they don’t have the insight or emotional capability to deal with it
Suggests underlying ideas have no merit
How is support for schizophrenic mothers inconsistant?
Kasanin: Examined hospital records and found 33/45 had overprotective mothers
Only a weak correlation
1/3 had healthy relationships
He may have been biased
Why did Strupp argue psychanalysis is ineffective?
it was distressing and caused harm as they don’t have the insight or emotional capability to deal with it
Who reserched into schizophrenic mothers?
Kasanin
How does it overlook research into genetics?
Focuses on nurture
Ignores adoption studies
Heston: 16% of adopted developed it
What percentage of children in Heston’s study developed schizophrenia?
16%
