Schizophrenia is undoubtedly one of the most common psychological disorders which according to epidemiology, affects at least 1 in 100 individuals (Kolb & Whishaw, 2011), equating to 24 million people worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2012). Research has demonstrated that symptoms of the illness usually become apparent in late adolescence or early adulthood (Bear, Connors, & Paradiso, 2007), with males typically experiencing an earlier onset in comparison to their female counterparts (Kalat, 2012). Psychological disorders as such have detrimental consequences for their sufferers, in which an individual uncontrollably loses contact with reality, accompanied by the experience of irrational ideas and the presence of distorted perceptions (Kolb & Whishaw, 2011). As a result of the impairment of an individual’s ability to recognise reality, “functioning in society can be very problematic” (Toates, 2007, p. 540), which in turn has been the driving force behind attempts to establish the aetiology of schizophrenia. However, the pathology of mental illness has rarely revealed a single fundamental cause, thus the complexity of schizophrenia and its constituents may suggest that it is multifarious in its origin (Kolb & Whishaw, 2011). The causes of schizophrenia and the related psychotic illness have been the subject of much debate, in which biological and environmental factors have gained prominence in contemporary theorising; many of which will subsequently be discussed. This essay will commence by providing a description as to what schizophrenia is alongside a concise outline of its origin. The characteristics which contribute to its classification as a chronic mental illness will then be presented among a variety o... ... middle of paper ... ...owell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., & Toga, A. W. (2004). Mapping changes in the human cortex throughout the span of life. The Neuroscientist, 10, 372-392. Stahl, S. M., & Mignon, L. (2010). Antipsychotics: Treating psychosis, mania and depression (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Toates, F. (2007). Biological psychology (2nd ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Thompson, P. M., Vidal, C., Giedd, J. N., Gochman, P., Blumenthal, J., Nicolson, R., Toga, A. W., & Rapoport, J. L. (2001). Mapping adolescence brain changes reveals dynamic wave of accelerated gray matter loss in very early-onset in schizophrenia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(20), 11650-11655. World Health Organisation (2012). Mental health. Retrieved March 21, 2012, from http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/schizophrenia/en/
Tsuang, M. T., Faraone, S. V., & Glatt, S. J. (2011). Schizophrenia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Classical antipsychotic treatments are commonly used to treat schizophrenic patients with major positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as Thorazine, Haldol, and Stelazine (Gleitman et al., 2011). Antipsychotic treatments are usually administered with a variety of psychosocial treatments including social skills training, vocational rehabilitation, supported employment, family therapy, or individual therapy (Barlow & Durand, 2014). This is to reduce relapse and help the patient improve their skills in deficits and comply in consuming the
Lehman, A, Dixon, L, Perkins, D (2004). Treatments of Patients with Schizophrenia: Second Edition. https://www.alliancebhc.org/wp-content/uploads/Schizophrenia-Adult-1.pdf
-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.
Stanley, J., Gannon, J., Gabuat, J., Hartranft, S., Adams, N., Mayes, C., Shouse, G. M.,
A Comparison of Biological and Psychological Explanations of Schizophrenia Both the biological and the psychological explanations of schizophrenia are supported by empirical evidence which justify their explanations. However ,within the biological explanation there is the genetic explanation which is used largely based on scientific research such as that of Gottesman’s research using meta-analysis which looked at the family (including twin) relationships and concordance rates of schizophrenia. The studies used Gottesman’s research was scientifically based and because of the large number of studies and therefore the sample used, the biological research can be credited for being representative. However, research into the psychological explanation such as the family theory and the Schizoprenogenic Mother is based on uncontrolled clinical observations as is the double bind communication.
Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2010). Psychology. (2nd ed., p. 600). New York: Worth Pub.
Cox-Foster, D. L., Conlan, S., Holmes, E. C., Palacios, G., Evans, J. D., Moran, N. A.,…
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...
Forsyth, K., Taylor, R., Kramer, J., Prior, S., Richie, L., Whitehead, J., Owen, C., & Melton, M.
...ected over another because it has less chance of damaging a diseased liver, worsening a heart condition, or affecting a patient’s high blood pressure. For all the benefits that anti-psychotic drugs provide, clearly they are far from ideal. Some patients will show marked improvement with drugs, while others might be helped only a little, if at all. Ideally, drugs soon will be developed to treat successfully the whole range os schizophrenia symptoms. Roughly one third of schizophrenic patients make a complete recovery and have no further recurrence, one third have recurrent episodes of the illness, and one third deteriorate into chronic schizophrenia with severe disability (Kass, 206).
There is a definite biological basis for this disease, although it is not totally understood. For a long time schizophrenia was a mystery to doctors and scientists. Virtually any patient with a psychological disorder used to be placed under the expansive umbrella that defined the disease. Poor parenting was a misleading, early excuse for the troubles caused by what is now known to be substantially based in genetics. The most current idea of origin is that this disorder occurs during the crucial beginning months of life, those spent within the womb. Neither ...
Antipsychotic drugs are used to control psychotic disorders. Individuals that have psychotic disorders such as, bipolar (manic depression) and schizophrenia use this medication frequently. Furthermore, antipsychotic drugs can help with severe anxiety and depression. Antipsychotic medication control hallucinations, delusions, insomnia, anxiety, and agitation in patients. There are many people with dementia whom are also prescribed antipsychotic drugs. These medications are also used to control and manage agitated dementia patients. Some antipsychotic medications that are given to people with dementia are risperidone, trazodone, and loxapein.
Lehmann, H.E., & Ban, T.A. (1997). The history of the psychopharmacology of schizophrenia. Can J Psychiatry: 42:152–62. [PubMed]
New drugs are being made in order to address the issue of undesirable and intolerable side effects of conventional antipsychotic drugs. Works Cited Comer, R. J. & Co., Inc. (2011). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology. New York, NY. Worth Publishers Nasar, S. (2001).A beautiful mind: the life of mathematical genius and Nobel laureate John Nash.