LO2 Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia
A severe psychological disorder that
touches every aspect of a persons life
Characterized by disturbances in thought
and language, perception and attention,
motor activity and mood, and by social
withdrawal and absorption in daydreams
or fantasy

Delusions
1. Delusions of Grandeur
2. Delusions of Persecution
3. Delusions of Reference

Delusions of Grandeur
A person may believe that he is a
famous historical figure
Grand, illogical plans for saving the
world

Delusions of Persecution
May believe that they are sought
by the Mafia, CIA, FBI, or some
other group.

Delusions of Reference
A neutral event is believed to have
a special and personal meaning.

Schizophrenia
Often include hallucinations (imagery in
the absence of external stimulation that
the person cannot distinguish from reality)
Individuals may become wild or so slowed
that the person is said to be in stupor
People with this disorder tend to withdraw
from social contacts, and become wrapped
up in their own thoughts and fantasies

Symptoms
1. Positive Symptoms
2. Negative Symptoms

Positive Symptoms
Excessive and sometimes bizarre
symptoms
Includes hallucinations, delusions and
looseness of associations
More likely to experience an abrupt onset
of the disorder
Tend to preserve their intellectual abilities

Positive Symptoms
Respond more favorably to antipsychotic
medication
May involve deficiency in the brain
mechanisms

Negative Symptoms
Lack of emotional expression and
motivation, loss of pleasure in activities,
social withdrawal and poverty of speech
Tend to experience a more gradual
development of the disorder and severe
intellectual impairments in attention,
memory and so on

Negative Symptoms
Respond more poorly to antipsychotic
drugs
May reflect structural damage to the brain

TYPES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
1. Paranoid Schizophrenia
2. Disorganized Schizophrenia
3. Catatonic Schizophrenia

Paranoid Schizophrenia
Have systematized delusions and
related auditory hallucinations
Usually have delusions of grandeur
and persecution
May show agitation, confusion and
fear, and may experience vivid
hallucinations that are consistent
with their delusions

Disorganized Schizophrenia
Show incoherence, loosening of
associations, disorganized behavior,
disorganized delusions, fragmentary
delusions of hallucinations, and flat
or highly inappropriate responses
Extreme social impairment is
common

Catatonic Schizophrenia
Show striking impairment in motor
activity
Characterized by slowing of activity
into a stupor that may suddenly
change into an agitated phase
Waxy flexibility
Mutism

Explaining Schizophrenia
1. Biological Perspective
2. Psychological Perspective
3. Sociocultural Perspective

Biological Perspective
Schizophrenia appears to be a brain
disorder
Studies have focused on the amount of
gray matter in the brain, the size of
ventricles (hollow spaces), activity levels in
the brain, and brain chemistry

Biological Perspective
Major deficits in schizophrenia: problems
in attention, working memory, abstract
thinking and knowledge
Many have smaller brains
Larger ventricles in the brain
Lower level activity in the frontal region of
the brain

Biological Perspective
Differences in brain structure and functions
are complications during pregnancy and
birth, and birth during winter
1 parent 10% chance
2 parents 35% - 40%
Twin studies 45% (MZ) and 17% (DZ)
Increased concentrations of dopamine at the
synapses in the brain and also large numbers
of dopamine receptors

Sociocultural Perspective
Poor quality housing
Treatment of schizophrenia: alleviation of

poverty and other social ills

Critics suggest that low socioeconomic
status may be a result, rather than a cause,
of schizophrenia
Quality parenting

Biopsychosocial Perspective
Genetic factors create a predisposition
toward or vulnerability to schizophrenia
Complications of pregnancy and birth,
stress, quality of parenting, and social
conditions