What is schizophrenia?
A psychotic disorder where people loose their sense of self and reality.
What is the ICD
A manual listing hundreds of mental disorders with their associated symptoms used by medical professionals to diagnose mental health problems.
What are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
- hallucinations (unusual SENSORY experiences).
- delusions (firm, illogical BELIEFS)
- disorganised speech/ thought disorders (incoherent, rambling, jumping topics, making little sense).
- catatonic behaviours (extreme physical behaviour such as stillness, rigidity, excitement or repetitive movements)
What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
- Avolation
- Alogia
- Anhedonia
-Asociality
What is avolition?
complete lack of motivation to complete purposeful tasks or engage in daily activities.
Such as personal hygiene/ work.
What is alogia?
Reduction in quantity and quality of speech, resulting in slow/ simple/ vague responses.
Anhedonia?
Reduced ability to experience pleasure, resulting in reduced emotional expression.
Not smiling/ using facial expressions.
Asociality?
A tendency to avoid social interaction, preferring to spend time alone.
What is the prevalence of schizophrenia?
Around 1% of the British population is diagnosed with schizophrenia. (Over 600k people in the UK).
What is a statistic about schizophrenia around age and sex? (Age, prevalence, recovery, gender, ethnicity)
Age- adult onset disorder, normally diagnosed before the age of 40
Prevalence- 1% of the population are diagnosed with schizophrenia
Recovery- 10 years after diagnosis: 25% full recovery, 25% much improved, 25% need support, 15% hospitalised and 10% dead
Sex- equal in women and men, usually woman in 30s and men in 20s
Ethnicity- Caribbean and African heritage more likely to be diagnosed than white. Asian heritage lower average rates.
How much more likely are working class people to suffer from schizophrenia than higher social groups?
About 5x more likely
Do people who develop schizophrenia in the middle class or upper class tend to stay in the social class they were born into?
No, they often have moved to a lower class by the time they contact psychiatric services.
Why might individuals with mental health problems face financial challenges?
- difficulty finding employment due to workplace discrimintaion
- costs of treatment
- also needing to pay for basic family needs
Describe the social drift theory of schizophrenia.
- people with schizophrenia get caught in a cycle which leads to a downward spiral into poverty and loss of status
- the cycle involves DISENGAGEMNENT of individuals who don’t feel a part of society, possibly due to their symptoms that they’re suffering from.
- They begin to drop out and stop following societal norms which results in them facing rejection from society
- Rejection by society leads to further disengagement, which results in further disengagement and so on…
- It’s very difficult to recover from being at the bottom of society, and when they also have schizophrenia it’s hard for them to get better.
SDT criticism 1: problems establishing cause and effect.
- an alternative theory (social causation theory) suggests that being in a lower class drives people to develop schizophrenia, rather than the other way round.
- Living at the bottom of society involves factors (e.g. poverty, deprived area, more discrimination) which could lead to stressors that trigger schizophrenia.
SDT criticism 2: physical factors associated with low social classes may be the cause of schizophrenia.
- low social classes may experience more poverty and children may have poor diet and nutrition can increase chances of developing schizophrenia
- complications in pregnancy and birth can increase a child’s chances of developing schizophrenia.
- more likely to be issues for lower class families which explains why people with schizophrenia are found more in this class.
SDT criticism 2: bias in diagnosis.
- psychiatrists are more likely to diagnose people from lower social classes with schizophrenia
- they might assume that lower class is more prone to everyday stresses but the rich may just be seen as eccentric
- psychologists are often from higher classes so less likely to relate and understand working class problems
SDT criticism 4: too much focus on the role of society.
- family conflict and stress can contribute to disorder as linked by evidence
SDT criticism 5: ignores biological factors.
- evidence suggest that the disorder starts with genes that affect the way the brain works.
What is the role of dopamine and what happens if theres too much?
- dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for attention, mood, movement and perception.
- it affects the way the brain functions
- Too much dopamine means too many messages being fired around and movements can become erratic, people may experience hallucinations and delusions.
What happens to the dopaminergic neurones that transmit dopamine of people with schizophrenia and what does it result in?
- fire too much or too easily
- can lead to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia
What does having high numbers of dopamine (D2) receptors on certain neurones result in with people with schizophrenia?
- more dopamine binds to those receptors
- therefore more triggers neurones firing across synapses more frequently
- results in positive symptoms of schizophrenia
What do test show about the brain activity of people with schizophrenia?
- blood flow is lower in the frontal cortex region of the brain
- that area is less frequently activated when certain tasks are carried out.
- also smaller in volume and less grey matter -> neurons less densely packed
What is the prefrontal cortex and how is it like in people with schizophrenia?
-the control centre of the brain
- less frequently activated during takes and restricted blood flow
- why people lose control of psychological functioning and struggle to be organised. (Negative symptoms)
