Atypical Psychology: Describe and Evaluate Perspectives of Psychological Disorders (Studies and Theories).

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Atypical Psychology: Describe and Evaluate Perspectives of Psychological Disorders (Studies and Theories).

In this assignment the Author intends to describe the dopamine hypothesis and its relationship to Schizophrenia, describe the biological and/or physiological theory of depression, evaluate the theories and offer alternative explanations for both schizophrenia and depression and finally conclude by writing an essay identifying three psychological disorders.

The Dopamine Hypothesis

According to the biochemical theory of schizophrenia and /or the dopamine hypothesis the causes of schizophrenia like symptoms is essentially an excess of the neurotransmitter dopamine. (Coordination Group Publications 2009).

'This was based on observations that an overdose of amphetamine causes schizophrenia like symptoms in normal participants (e.g., Snyder et al., 1974) and when given to schizophrenic patients, amphetamines tend to exaggerate their symptoms (Snyder et al., 1974). Amphetamines enhance the synaptic activity of dopamine.' (Snyder, 1976). (Keiron Walsh 2008).

The primary evidence for this hypothesis comes from three main sources; the first is post mortems on schizophrenics which have shown unusually high levels of dopamine, especially in the limbic system (Iverson, 1979). The second is anti-schizophrenic drugs such as chlorpromazine which are thought to work by inhibiting the ability of the dopamine