week 9 Flashcards
schizophrenia
- disorder that involves severely distorted beliefs, perceptions and thought process
schiz diagnoses
- diagnosed when two or more symptoms are shown: at least one symptom must be delusions, hallucinations or disorganised speech
- diagnosed either with or without catatonia
- reduction in functioning
- symptoms exist for 6 months, 1 month of positive symptoms
subtypes of schiz
- paranoid subtype
- disorganised subtype
- catatonic subtype
- undifferentiated subtype
- residual subtype
positive symptoms
- delusions, can lead to dangerous behaviours
- hallucinations
- disorganised thought process, speech or behaviour
delusions of schizophrenia
- persecutory delusions - beliefs about being followed usually by agents of authority (FBI)
- grandiose delusions - beliefs about being famous
- delusions of reference - believing others are talking About them
hallucinations of schizophrenia
- people may see, hear, tase, smell or feel something that others don’t
- hallucinations may tell people to perform certain acts
disorganised behaviour in schizophrenic people
- disorganised speech - lack of association between ideas and events
- disordered behaviour - unusual, odd or repetitive behaviours and gestures
catatonia
- catatonic stupor - absence of motor behaviours, totally motionless and rigid
- catatonic excitement - agitate, fidgety, shouting, swearing or moving rapidly
Negative symptoms
- deficits in behavioural or emotional functioning
- symptoms can occur in conbination
flat effect
- lack of emotion
- Passive with immobile facial expressions
- vocal tone doesny change
- doesn’t respond to events with emotion
- speech lacks the inflection that communicates mood
prevalence
- 20,000 new cases are diagnosed in US per year
- aprox. 1 million Americans are diagnosed annually
temporary or chronic?
- onset typically occurs during young adulthood
- 25% of those who experience schizophrenia recover completely
- 25% experience recurrent episodes of schizophrenia
- 50% schizophrenia becomes chronic
genetic factors
- 50% risk for a person who’s twin has schizophrenia
- if biological parent of an ADOPTED individual had schizophrenia there a greater risk to develop it.
- the more closely related a person is to someone that has schizophrenia the more likely they are to develop schizophrenia
other factors of schizophrenia
- paternal age - schizoids caused by mutations in the sperm and age increases the rate of mutation
- 45 to 49 years: 2x more likely
- 50+: 3x more likely
- mothers age made no difference
biological factors
- 50% of people with schizophrenia show abnormal brain structures - enlargement of the ventricles
- loss of grey matter tissue and lower overall volume of the brain
- issues with neurotransmitters
treatment of schizophrenia
-1954 discovery of chlorpromazine which reduces agitation, aggression, hallucinations, increases time between hospitalisations but does NOT change negative symptoms and cognitive deficits
side effects of this includes:
- weight gain
- movement disorder (involuntary movement of lower face and limbs)
adv and disadv of atypical medication for schizophrenia
advantages:
- less likely to cause movement-related dopamine side effects
- more effective in treating the negative symptoms
disadvantages
- weight gain
- diabetes
- cardiac problems
- no greater improvements than with older antipsychotics
psychosocial interventions
- cognitive behavioural therapy
- family intervention
- early intervention
