The purpose of the research is to evaluate if a correlation exists between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairments on ARMS (at-risk mental state) patients as compared to FEP (first-episode psychosis) patients. The experimental hypothesis predicted that cognitive impairments and depressive symptoms shared an association to ARMS patients, while biological symptoms would relate to the negative symptoms of those with schizophrenia. The research holds importance due to the fact that few studies exist on the correlation between depressive symptoms and cognitive functions. My reasoning to choose this article is depression doesn’t always get taken seriously, and it’s good to have tangible research to show the effects of depression on cognition …show more content…
and behavior. The variables involved clinical symptoms, medications, and cognitive profiles of ARMS and FEP patients, and a control group for comparison.
The clinical symptoms were measured with the PANSS positive: positive and negative syndrome scale, BDI-II: Beck depression inventory-2nd edition, GAF: Global Assessment of Functioning, SFS: social functioning scale, and the BACS: brief assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. The Japanese National Adult Reading Test (NART) measured premorbid IQ. The research involves quasi-independent variables because the medications and the mental state were preexisting before the study. Both clinical and cognitive assessments were used to measure the difference between the ARMS, FEP, and control groups. The differences would be the dependent variables. The method was a quasi-experimental method because the researchers could select participants but not control variables for all participants. The sample includes 50 individuals with ARMS, 50 patients with FEP, and 30 healthy control (HC) participants. Both the ARMS and FEP groups were picked from the Sendai At-Risk Mental State and First Episode (SAFE) clinic at a hospital known for early psychosis. The HC participants were selected from a university in the area. The target population are those with cognitive disability between the ages of 14 to 35 years old and how that relates to depressive
symptoms. The composite Z-scores were used to examine the standardized scores of the FEP and ARMS patients, and the control group on the BACS. A z-score of -2.82 (z=-2.82, SD=1.88) for the ARMS group means that the composite score was 2.82 standard deviations below the mean. A z-score of -2.85 (z=-2.85, SD=1.43) for the FEP group means the composite score was 2.85 standard deviations below the mean. The difference between the FEP, ARMS, and control group was P=0.001. This means the p-value shows significant differences between the groups. The difference between the FEP and ARMS group was P=0.995. The p-value does not show great differences between the FEP and ARMS group. Group differences were being analyzed to make findings more precise for correlations between groups. The statistical findings show that the ARMS and FEP group’s cognitive scores were much lower than the control group, while the ARMS and FEP groups did not show significant differences between them. Using the provided statistics the ARMS and FEP group’s cognitive shortfalls are comparable. In the ARMS group depressive symptoms seem to correlate with impaired cognitive functions, and negative symptoms share a strong correlation to the FEP group and cognitive impairment. The results could be interpreted that while cognitive deficits and depressive behavior of ARMS and FEP patients show some correlation, further study into the underlying biological processes needs to be studied. There is a strong correlation between negative symptoms and cognitive impairments in psychosis to changes in the brain. Brain alteration in FEP is much greater than those in ARMS. New inquiries involve further study of someone’s emotional state before and after psychosis, a longitudinal study of the same group, and comparison of further studies once they become available.
Rupke, S., Blecke, D., & Renfrow, M. (2006, January 1). Cognitive therapy for depression. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16417069?dopt=Abstract
-Lieberman JA, Stroup TS, McEvoy JP, Swartz MS, Rosenheck RA, Perkins DO, Keefe RS, Davis SM, Davis CE, Lebowitz BD, Severe J, Hsiao JK. Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia. N Engl J Med. 2005. Web.
Through my extensive research on depression I have learned a lot of new things. I have learned about the many forms of depression and treatment for depression. I have also learned a little about what is believed to go on chemically in the brain of a clinically depressed person. I was also able to partially determine what sort of role genetics, chemicals and personal influences in the brain. Though I was unable to determine exactly how environmental and personal stress can cause a chemical imbalance in a person, I was even able to speculate about this issue and determine some theories of my own on why and how this may happen.
According to Gamble and Brennan (2000), the effectiveness of medication for schizophrenia to relieve patients from psychotic symptoms is limited. Although patients have adequate medication, some received little or no benefit from it and almost half of them still experience psychotic symptoms. They are also more likely to suffer relapse (Gamble and Brennan, 2000). Furthermore, Valmaggia, et al. (2005) found that 50% of patients who fully adhere to anti-psychotic medication regimes still have ongoing positi...
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What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is brain disorder that makes it hard to see the difference between reality and imagination, have normal emotional responses, and act normal in social situations. Schizophrenia is relatively young, it has only been around for less than 100 years. It was first discovered by Dr. Emile Kraeplin in 1887. He believed it was a mental illness. A few documents take Schizophrenia’s origins back to Egypt during the Pharaoh’s rule around 1550 B.C. People originally thought schizophrenia was simply madness, and usually associated it with madness, even though it is quite different from madness. Symptoms of this disease include Positive symptoms, which are: hallucinations, or things that someone can see, feel, smell, or hear that do not really exist. Many people hear voices inside their heads, see people that are not there, or smell odors no one else smells. Delusions are another symptom, also known as bizarre beliefs, these may include paranoid delusions also, which are delusions that tell the person that others are trying to hurt them. Thought Disorders are a symptom in which the person thinks unusually or dysfunctionally. Movement disorders may be present in schizophrenic people, they may seem like twitches or small, sharp, and sudden movements. Schizophrenia’s “negative symptoms” are harder to recognize. These include the flat affect, in which the persons face doesn’t move and the voice is droning. The lack of pleasure in life is another once, along with the lack of ability to start and sustain activities, and little speech. These symptoms prevent or block the person from living a normal life because they cause social, physical, and emotional, and mental problems. This may lead to psychosis, insanity, or ...
Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disorder that strikes teens and young adults crippling their brain and fragmenting their mind. Victims of schizophrenia remain in endless mental agony constantly confused and in terror. They suffer constantly from hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. Approximately 1% of the world population live with this disorder making it one of the most common mental disorders in the world. Despite the numbers, there is no known cause or cure for schizophrenia. So what is the disorder, why is it so hard to eliminate, and why do so many people fall victim to the fragmented mind?
Schizophrenia is a devastating and costly mental disorder that affects 1% of population worldwide. Patients manifest clusters of positive, negative and cognitive symptoms in early twenties and are often left with life-long severe mental disability and social stigma. Cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia are considered core symptoms of this disorder, and can manifest at the initial stage (Elvevåg and Goldberg, 2000). Atypical antipsychotics ameliorate positive symptoms but may only modestly improve cognitive symptoms (Richelson, 2010). In addition to this, some of the typical antipsychotics are even have deteriorative effects on cognitive symptoms (Heaton and Crowley 1981). To find the appropriate treatments for cognitive deficits of schizophrenia, it is important to know the underlying pathophysiology.
Schizophrenia is a common disease; it is a serious disorder of the mind and bran but is actually very treatable it actually ranks in the top 10 causes of disability in developed countries worldwide. Schizophrenia is a completely brain based disorder, that causes hallucinations, and affects multiple brain functions, like the thinking clearly, managing how you feel, making decisions and how to relate to other people. People with schizophrenia also have to face illusions daily, which are very vivid false beliefs, which might cause them to think that people are following them or looking directly at them. Schizophrenia is a horrible disorder for the majority of people who face it, and very can also be enormously costly for families and even society in general. Even though it is treatable there is no current cure for schizophrenia the only thing now is that it must be managed through therapy. There are over fifteen modern medications for that could treat schizophrenia that were developed by different biotechnology and pharmaceutical businesses. The costs from schizophrenia was estimated to be in the range of $61.7 billion, and $22.6 billion direct health care costs in 2011. The most accepted theory of why people have schizophrenia is that it’s result of a simply genetics from the environmental exposures and stress during pregnancy or childhood are what generally causes the disorder to form. Researchers note several key strand genes that when damaged seem to create a pre problem or increase for the risk of schizophrenia. The genes, in mixture with known environmental exponentials are thought to be the reason that it is a result in schizophrenia. The genes that are projected to enhance the risk of obtaining schizophrenia are the Dysbin...
When people think about mental illness they think about people with mental voices or psychopathic killers like Michael Myers from the movie Halloween , but not all mental illnesses or disorders are so not visible or easily distinguished. Psychological disorders can vary from as minor as drinking problems to as severe as depression and anxiety. Though all mental illnesses are severe and harmful in many ways psychiatrist and doctors still are yet to find permanent cures. There is research linked to genes, hormone problems, brain development, and environment that trigger mental disorders but no research yet indicates the true cause.
The biologic basis of Clinical Depression originates in the brain. Your brain is made up of a complex network of nerve cells, called neurons and of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters transmit messages from one neuron to another. Two of these neurotransmitters are not produced in sufficient quantities in a depressed person’s brain. Because of this lack, too few messages get transmitted between neurons and the symptoms of depression occur. In Clinical depression the chemicals in the brain are out-of-balance. New technology allows researchers to take pictures of the brain that show activity levels in the brain. These imaging techniques such as f-MRI and PET scan actually create images of how active different parts of the brain are. Some studies with these kinds of techniques have suggested that the patterns of activation in the brains of depressed people are different than those who are not. These tests can help doctors and researchers learn more about depression and other mental illnesses. Since this research is fairly new, it is not yet used to diagnose clinical depression.
Katon, W., and Sullivan, M. D., (1990) Depression and Chronic Mental Illness. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, v.51. pgs. 8-19
Mental illnesses are diseases that plague a being’s mind and corrupts one’s thoughts and feelings. Schizophrenia is one of the many disastrous illnesses that consume one’s life, is known as a real disease that deserves much attention. Experts believe that what causes the illness is a defect in the gene’s of the brain, and little signs of schizophrenia are shown until about one’s early adult years. Some effects of schizophrenia can either be negative or positive, but even if the effects could be either one, people should still be aware that there is something puzzling and alarming happening in the mind of a schizophrenic patient.
Teplin, L. A., Abram, K. M., & McClelland, G. M. (1994). Does psychiatric disorder predict