Schizophrenia: Psychological explanations

Question 1

Outline Psychological explanations of schizophrenia:

Answer 1

Family Dysfunction:

• schizophrenic mother
• expressed emotion
• double-bind theory

Cognitive explanations

Question 2

Outline Psychological explanations of schizophrenia:
Family Dysfunction:
- Schizophrenic mother

Answer 2

Reichman

mothers who were cold, rejecting and controlling create tension and stress, leads to paranoid delusions for child

Question 3

Outline Psychological explanations of schizophrenia:
Family Dysfunction:
- expressed emotion

Answer 3

Negative emotion expressed to schizophrenia patient causes relapse

Question 4

Outline Psychological explanations of schizophrenia:
Family Dysfunction:
- double-bind theory

Answer 4

Bateson
child told one thing but opposite is shown
confuses child leads to disorganised thinking

Question 5

Outline Psychological explanations of schizophrenia:

- Cognitive explanations

Answer 5

reduced processing in ventral striatum linked with negative symptoms
reduced processing in temporal and cingulate gyrus associated with hallucinations

• Disfunctional thought processing
  1. Meta Representation
  Dysfunction means cant distinguish between own actions and others actions (thoughts sound like another voice)
  2. Central control
  Disorganised speech as cant stop automatic thoughts

Question 6

Evaluation of psychological explanations

Answer 6

+ Read 46 studies of child abuse and schizophrenia
69% of women and 59% has suffered previous abuse
- Study lacks validity as could be inaccurate
- Causes parents to blame themselves
- doesn’t consider biological explanations