Schizophrenia: Psychodynamic Approach (ID Explanation)

Question 1

What points can be made when describing the theory?

Answer 1

Fixation
Regression
Losing touch with reality
Mothers

Question 2

Which stage does the fixation occur?

Answer 2

First few months of the oral stage

Question 3

How does a fixation occur?

Answer 3

When the needs are either not met or overindulged

Question 4

During the oral stage, where is the libido’s focus?

Answer 4

Lips and mouth

Question 5

What is the main activities of the oral stage?

Answer 5

Breastfeeding

Question 6

What happens to schizophrenic people when under stress?

Answer 6

They regress back to the oral stage

Question 7

Why do schizophrenic people regress back to the oral stage?

Answer 7

Stress

Question 8

How is regression an ego defense mechanism?

Answer 8

Causes the ego to revert back to an earlier stage

Question 9

How developed is the ego during the oral stage?

Answer 9

Not very developed

Question 10

What causes people with schizophrenia to lose touch with reality?

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

What is the function of the ego?

Answer 11

Control the id’s impulses and to blance it’s demands with the moral limitations of the superego

Question 12

What do the symptoms of schizophrenia represent?

Answer 12

The unchecked activities of the id

Question 13

What did Freud compare the mental state of schizophrenics to?

Answer 13

A newborn baby

Question 14

Why did Freud compare schizophrenics to newborn babies?

Answer 14

Both have narcisism.

Question 15

What are mothers of people with schizophrenia like?

Answer 15

Overprotective
Controlling
Rejecting
Distant

Question 16

How do the mothers have a negative effect?

Answer 16

Overprotectiveness: Hinders emotional development
Emotional distance: Less personal security
So less able to deal with stress

Question 17

What points can be made when evaluating the explanation?

Answer 17

Strength
Freud is out of date
Failure to produce an effective treatment
Inconsistant support for mothers
Overlooks genetics

Question 18

What is a strength?

Answer 18

Achnowleges impact of early childhood experiances on personality
Moves focus away from victim blaming and towards family relationships

Question 19

How are Freudian concepts out of date?

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Why hasn’t the explanation provided any treatment?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

How is support for schizophrenic mothers inconsistant?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Why did Strupp argue psychanalysis is ineffective?

Answer 22

it was distressing and caused harm as they don’t have the insight or emotional capability to deal with it

Question 23

Who reserched into schizophrenic mothers?

Answer 23

Kasanin

Question 24

How does it overlook research into genetics?

Answer 24

Focuses on nurture
Ignores adoption studies
Heston: 16% of adopted developed it

Question 25

What percentage of children in Heston’s study developed schizophrenia?

Answer 25

16%