Discuss issues surrounding the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Discuss issues surrounding the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia. There are many issues when it comes to the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia, one of them being the reliability of the major classification systems, the DSM and ICD. Early versions of the DSM were deemed unreliable, even now when the newer versions are now said to have increased reliability there is little evidence to prove that the DSM is used with high reliability by mental health clinicians. This unreliable source of diagnosis may cause some patients to be misdiagnosed and due to this misdiagnosis many terrible situations may occur, they will be mistreated and therefore will be given drugs and exercises which are completely irrelevant to what they need to do, this could cause great harm to both their physical and mental well being, the misdiagnosis can also affect how they are in real life for example they will be labelled schizophrenic and therefore will struggle with everything in life, such as getting a job or even being themselves for they believe what they have been told to be true. There is also an issue with the treatment of schizophrenia due to the significant difficulty in predicting the outcome or the response, because every case of schizophrenia is different in their own way then there is no telling what the same treatment will do to one patient in comparison with another
Outline and evaluate psychological explanations of schizophrenia
Outline and evaluate psychological explanations of schizophrenia The incidence of schizophrenia is not distributed evenly across the population. The highest rates of schizophrenia are found in urban areas, among people of the lowest socioeconomic group. The incidence of schizophrenia among the very poor is four times greater than in the highest socio economic grou0p. Two hypotheses have been suggested to explain these findings: the social causation hypothesis and the social drift hypothesis. According to the social causation hypothesis, it is the experience of being a member of a low socioeconomic status group that explains the higher incidence of schizophrenia. Unemployment, poverty, high crime rate and poor housing induce a great deal of stress and feelings of alienation, which in turn make people more vulnerable to schizophrenia. Whilst the social drift hypothesis, it is accorded that this hypothesis people with schizophrenia drift down the social ladder into the lowest socioeconomic group. As a result of their disorder they may be unemployed or be restricted to low paid and unskilled jobs. Support for the social causation hypothesis comes from findings that schizophrenia is almost seven times more common in African-Caribbean people than in white people - although the incidence of schizophrenia in Caribbean countries is similar to that of white people in this country
Classification and Diagnosis of Depression
Outline the clinical characteristics of depression (5) The clinical characteristics of depression are sad depressed mood, most of the day, nearly every day for two weeks, or loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities. There is also difficulties in sleeping (insomnia); not falling asleep initially; not returning to sleep after awakening in the middle of the night, and early morning awakenings; or, in some patients, a desire to sleep a great deal of the time. A shift in activity level and feeling lethargic or agitated is also a common symptom. Poor appetite and weight loss or increased appetite and weight gain is a physical symptom of depression. You may also experience loss of energy and great fatigue. A negative self concept, self blame and feelings of worthlessness and guilt with further evidence being difficulty in concentrating, such as slowed thinking and indecisiveness. Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide is the main symptom and finally apathy (no interest or pleasure in activities). There are two types of unipolar depression according to the classification systems. The first is major depressive disorder and the other is dysthymic disorder. Patients with MDD require five symptoms, suicidal thoughts. The symptoms are severe but can be short lived. On the other hand DD requires three or more symptoms, including depressed mood but not suicidal thoughts. Patients
Describe & evaluate explanations of schizophrenia (1 bioloigcal & 1 psychological).
SCHIZOPHRENIA DESCRIBE & EVALUATE EXPLANATIONS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA (1 BIOLOIGCAL & 1 PSYCHOLOGICAL). One explanation of schizophrenia is genetics. Gottesman (1991) summarized about 40 twin studies; the concordance rate was 48% for monozygotic twins, and 17% concordance for dizygotic twins. This suggests that there is a link between genes and schizophrenia, but this does not apply to the whole population, as twins are not typical of the general population. Twin studies only take very small sample sizes. Also the twins share the same environment, which could also be the reason why both twins develop schizophrenia. Gottesman also reviewed concordance rates in family studies. If both your parents have schizophrenia, then you have a 46% chance of developing schizophrenia as well, if one parent has schizophrenia it is 16%, if a sibling has it then the concordance rate is 8% and the concordance rate is 1% for a random individual. This suggests that the stronger the genetic link the greater the chance that you will get schizophrenia. However, the fact that family members who are more similar genetically tend to spend more time together means that environmental factors are also indicated in this evidence. The concept that genetic factors are important in producing schizophrenia is supported by adoption studies. Tienari (1991) managed to find 155 schizophrenic mothers who had given up
Social Work & Schizophrenia
Service User Group - Individuals with Schizophrenia Schizophrenia can be described as a chronic, debilitating disorder, characterized by an inability to distinguish between what is real and what is not (Tartakovsky, 2009). The individual usually experiences symptoms such as hallucinations and delusional thoughts, and they are unable to think rationally, communicate properly, make decisions or remember information. Some other symptoms include disorganised speech, disorganised behaviour, flat emotions, apathy and loss of drive. There are a number of theories that attempt to explain the onset of schizophrenia. This is an area of great debate. Many of the theories that have been put forward in the past have not yet been fully supported by strong scientific research. It is probable that there are a number of different causes. Modern techniques have demonstrated that some affected people have changes in the structure of their brains. There is also evidence that some of these individuals may have been affected by infections before they were born. Occasionally the disorder appears to run in families affecting many family members. The 'Diathesis-Stress Model' balances the cause of schizophrenia between internal and external influences. It emphasizes the impact that the environment can have on people who are deemed genetically vulnerable to developing schizophrenia.
Discuss biological explanations of schizophrenia
'Research into schizophrenia shows that there is a major genetic component but the fact that concordance rates between identical twins is never 100% means that there must be environmental contributions.' Discuss biological explanations of schizophrenia. (30 marks) Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder involving the loss of contact with reality and a range of symptoms. There is considerable evidence that genetic factors are involved. This view considers that certain individuals possess certain genes which predispose them to schizophrenia. This means that it is inherited and we would expect to find that relatives have similar chances of developing the disorder. Indeed research has found that first degree relatives of people with schizophrenia are 18 times more likely to be affected than the general population. Monozygotic twins would be expected to have the same chance of having schizophrenia as they carry the same genes. Research by Gottesman and Shields has found high concordance rates (where both twins have the disorder) in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic. However if schizophrenia was solely caused by genes then we would expect a 100% concordance in monozygotic twins. Since this is not found then other factors must play a part. Mz twin studies have the advantage of controlling for genetics but the disadvantage of not controlling for environment. One way to get
Outline and evaluate two or more therapies used in the treatment of schizophrenia.
Treating Schizophrenia 'Therapies can be time-consuming and, in some cases, uncomfortable for the client. It is, therefore, very important to offer the most appropriate and effective type of treatment.' Outline and evaluate two or more therapies used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Different people choose different therapies for schizophrenia because the difference in treatments is so vast with different levels of intensity and effectiveness. Treatments are usually selected by which the patient feels most comfortable with. There are two main types of therapies, Biological and Psychological. Antipsychotic medication is a biological therapy. These are drugs that are effective in treating the most disturbing forms of psychotic illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Antipsychotic medication helps the person with the disorder function as well as possible in their life. Conventional antipsychotics (for example chlorpromazine) are used primarily to combat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations. The basic mechanism of conventional antipsychotics is to reduce the effects of dopamine and so reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, hence their alter ego, dopamine antagonists. They bind to dopamine receptors but do not stimulate them, thus blocking their action. By reducing stimulation of the dopamine system in the brain, antipsychotics can
Discuss two or more biological therapies for schizophrenia
Discuss two or more biological therapies for schizophrenia (9 + 16) Biological therapies for schizophrenia come in two forms: antipsychotic medication, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Considering the eclectic nature of schizophrenia as a disorder, the debate over appropriate and effective treatment is heated, and many psychologists are still unclear over which is the ideal method for tackling the disorder. Antipsychotic medications are commonly divided into two categories: conventional and atypical. Conventional antipsychotics bind to dopamine receptors but do not stimulate them, blocking the way for displaced dopamine to cause a chemical imbalance in a schizophrenic's biology. By reducing the effects of dopamine, positive symptoms such as hallucinations can be reduced, in line with the view of the dopamine hypothesis. Whilst atypical antipsychotics also act on the dopamine system, it is debated whether the drugs' ability to reduce negative symptoms such as avolition stems from a varying way of dealing with the dopamine system, or, alternatively, the additional effect of blocking serotonin. Kapur and Remington suggested in 2001 that whilst conventional antipsychotics block dopamine receptors long-term, atypical medication does so temporarily, before dissociating to allow normal transmission of the chemical. The differing ways in which the drugs work is central to the
Compare and contrast one biological explanation and one psychological of depression.
Depression Compare and contrast one biological explanation and one psychological of depression Depression has been described, as 'the common cold of all psychological disorders' as 7 to 12 per cent of men and 20 to 25 per cent of women will suffer from depression in their lifetime. There are two main types of depression, these are Major or Unipolar Depression and Manic Depression or Bipolar depression, bipolar depression is said to be 10 per cent of cases of depression, and occurs equally in both males and females. Other types of depression include, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Premenstrual Depression and Postpartum Depression. Whereas some psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia has onset in adolescents, depression can occur at any time. In addition, depression is diagnosed if there are five symptoms, which have lasted a minimum of 2 weeks. The clinical characteristics of depression are some of the following; disturbed appetite, sufferers often suffer from insomnia, a lack of sleep, or hypersomnia where the sufferer has too much sleep. In the cases of manic or major depression, sufferers may experience hallucinations or delusions. Other symptoms include; disturbed thinking, apathy, social withdrawal, anhedonia and possible suicidal thoughts. A biological explanation for depression is the genetic explanation. This theory suggests that you are more
Explain different psychological approaches to health practice.
Unit 8: Psychological Perspectives for Health and Social Care. P2: Explain different psychological approaches to health practice. There are six different psychological approaches in psychology. I have talked about these in great detail in my previous assignment P1, I will now discuss the different psychological approaches to health practice. The six psychological approaches are; Behaviourist perspective*, Social learning theory, Psychodynamic perspective, Humanistic perspective, Cognitive perspective* and the Biological perspective. The behaviourist perspective is all about believing that learning has occurred when you can see the changes in behavior. The behavioral learning model is the result of conditioning. Conditioning suggests that a reward following a desirable response acts as a reinforcer and increases the likelihood that the desirable response will be repeated. Reinforcement is the most important part of the behaviorist approach. A paediatric nurse in a healthcare setting provides reinforcement at each step of the process. For example, when a child is having to get a blood test done and is afraid and refusing to do so calmly, the nurse will look for a positive behavior and then gives the patient immediate reinforcement by saying, “you are such a big boy, well done!” or “you did an excellent job with that!”. Another time the behaviourist theory is used
