Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

1. A Though processing disorder. It disrupts the minds ability to function

   • Males and females are equally affected
   • Usually develops for men in their late teens
   • Females tend to develop it 4-5 years later
   • 0.5% of the population is affected
   • Biological explanations of Schizophrenia
     • Genetics
       • Being related to someone with schizophrenia can increase the chances of developing it
       • Twin Studies: Gottesman
         • Reviewed 40 twins studies and found that identical twins there was about 48% concordance rate that. 17% concordance rate for non identical twins

2. Symptoms

   • Perceptual Symptoms
     • Auditory Hallucinations = Hearing things which aren't true. People often hear voices saying abusive things
     • There are other types of hallucinations
   • Social Symptoms
     • Social Withdrawal = Not taking part in social situations or enjoying them
     • Avoiding eye contact
   • Cognitive Symptoms
     • Delusions = Believing things which aren't true
       • Delusions of grandeur = They're more important than they are
       • Paranoia = Suspicious of others
       • Delusions of control = Their behaviour is being controlled by somebody else
     • Language Impairments = Irrelevant and incoherent speech.
       • May repeat words people have said
       • Speech poverty = Very brief replies
   • Emotional Symptoms
     • Avolition = Lack of drive, motivation or care
     • Lack of interest in personal hygiene or care
     • Lack of emotion
     • Inappropriate emotions
   • Behavioural Symptoms
     • Psychomotor Disturbances
       • Not having control of your muscles
       • Catatonia = Sit in an awkward position for a long period of time
       • People are conscious when this happens and can recall what happens around them
     • Stereotyped behaviours
   • Positive Symptoms = Behaviours and experiences which aren't the norm
     • Hallucinations
     • Delusions
   • Negative Symptoms = These symptoms are a lack of experiences or behaviours which are normally there
     • Speech poverty
     • Avolition
     • Lack of ability
   • DSM
     • The DSM states that the individual should show at least two of the symptoms
       • At least one must be positive
         • Must be active for the first 6 months
     • Reliability = Each clinicians should reach the same diagnosis of the same patient
       • Cultural Bias = Harrison et al showed there was an over-diagnosis of schizophrenia in West Indian patients in Bristol. There's been no legitimate evidence as to why this is the case. Therefore, there must be a misinterpretation. This makes us question the reliability of the results as it could be argued that the results may be due to racism
       • Copeland et al found that 69% of American psychiatrists in the study diagnosed a particular patient as having schizophrenia compared to only 2% of British psychiatrists who saw the same video
       • Gender Bias = Loring and Powell conducted a study where 290 psychiatrists were asked to diagnose the same two patients. When they were told the patient was male, 56% diagnosed the patient as having schizophrenia. If they were told the patient was female, this dropped to around 20%, despite symptoms being identical.
     • Validity
       • Descriptive Validity = How similar individuals diagnosed with the disorder are
       • Aetiological Validity = How similar is the cause of the disorder for each sufferer
       • Predictive Validity = How useful the diagnostic categories are for predicting the right treatment
       • Rosenhan conducted a study where people with no mental health problem got themselves admitted into a psychiatric unit by saying they heard voices. Once they'd been admitted they behaved normally. However, their behaviour was still seen as a symptom of their disorder by the staff in the unit
       • Symptom Overlap = Symptoms are also found in other disorders. Most commonly depression