Family therapy is based on the theory that schizophrenia is associated with schizophrenogenic mothers, double bind communication, expressed emotion, or other dysfunction in the family. The technique alleviates negative symptoms such as poor motivation, and nurses subsequently view patients more positively, which raises staff morale and has beneficial outcomes for patients. They are also encouraged to evaluate the content of their delusions or of any internal voices they hear and to consider ways in which they might test the validity of their faulty beliefs. Out-dated views that were once accepted are no longer tolerated by families and are now seen as destructive rather than productive, Briefly outline how cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is used to treat schizophrenia and explain one limitation of using CBT to treat schizophrenia. If the distress caused to the child is severe and long-lasting, he/she may . Assessment: The therapist encourages the patient to explain their concerns. As this is not the case family dysfunctions cannot be the sole cause ofthe illness. In a token economy, tokens are given to reward people in psychiatric institutions for performing socially desirable behaviours, the aim being to encourage self-care. In a follow up study they rejected genuine patients whom they assumed were part of the deception. VAT reg no 816865400. (2003) studied DNA from human families affected by schizophrenia and found that those with the disease were more likely to have a defective version of a gene, called PPP3CC which is associated with the production of calcineurin which regulates the immune system. desire): in which a person becomes totally apathetic and sits around waiting for things to happen. This requires honesty, patience and unconditional acceptance. Paul and Lentz (1977) Token economy led to better overall patient functioning and less behavioral disturbance, More cost-effective (lower hospital costs). Substance abuse: Amphetamine and Cannabis and other drugs have also been identified as triggers as they affect serotonin and glutamate levels. Even newer antipsychotic drugs, such as risperidone and olanzapine are safer, and they also may be better tolerated. Clozapine targets multiple neurotransmitters, not just dopamine, and has been shown to be more effective than other antipsychotics, although the possibility of severe side effects in particular, loss of the white blood cells that fight infection. [2 marks] Since the mid-1950s antipsychotic medications have greatly improved treatment. Token economies aim to manage schizophrenia rather than treat it. Antipsychotic drugs are used to reduce the intensity of symptoms (particularly positive symptoms). Last chance to attend a Grade Booster cinema workshop before the exams. Addington and Addington (2005) claim that CBT is of little use in the early stages of an acute schizophrenic episode, but perhaps more useful when the patient is more calm and beginning to worry about how life will be after they recover. Tel: +44 0844 800 0085. They believed that schizophrenia was a result of social pressures from life. 11 Explain how family dysfunction might be involved in schizophrenia. In London the rate remained at 20%, suggesting neither group had a valid definition of schizophrenia. Alogia aka speech poverty is a thought disorder were correct words are used but with little meaning. Voices are usually heard coming from outside the persons head giving instructions on how to behave. David Rosenhan (1973) famous experiment involving Pseudopatients led to 8 normal people being kept in hospital despite behaving normally. It is not clear which comes first. Note: you may come across the terms DSM-IV and ICD-10. Gottesman (1991) has found that schizophrenia is more common in the biological relatives of a schizophrenic, and that the closer the degree of genetic relatedness, the greater the risk. Psychological therapies are very rarely used alone, but sometimes patients may just take drugs without any other therapy. The understanding and treatment of schizophrenia have been greatly hampered by uncertainty about etiological factors and controversy about diagnostic boundaries. Family therapy is a form of therapy carried out with members of the family with the aim of improving their communication and reducing the stress of living as a family. Predictive validity. Delusions of Grandeur). These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. For example in some Asian countries people are not expected to show emotional expression, whereas in certain Arabic cultures public emotion is encouraged and understood. They involve modifying/interfering with the action of neurotransmitters, in order to increase (agonists) or decrease (antagonists) their activity. Reliability is the level of agreement on the diagnosis by different psychiatrists across time and cultures; stability of diagnosis over time given no change in symptoms. However, one explanation for this is mutation in parental DNA. Researchers estimate up to 1 percent of adults worldwide have schizophrenia.. What . For example Hogarty (1991) produced a type of therapy session, which reduced social conflicts between parents and their children which reduced EE and thus relapse rates. Delusions are false beliefs. Company Reg no: 04489574. Here are a series of suggested answers for the Schizophrenia topic questions in AQA A Level Psychology Paper 3 (Section B) in June 2018. Get Revising is one of the trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. Just challenging the dysfunctional thoughts through disputing may not be enough to change them if the thoughts have a biological basis. This suggests that the biological account cannot give a full explanation of the disorder. Atypical antipsychotics such as Clozapine bind to dopamine, serotonin and glutamate receptors. This suggests that there may be problems of demand characteristics. This suggests that gaining an insight into family relationships allows psychiatric professionals to help improve the quality of patients lives. One biological explanation for schizophrenia is that it is passed on through the genes. But in fact some Schizophrenics are successfully treated whereas others are not. Communication skills training teach family to listen, to express emotions and to discuss things. Therefore it appears that several neurotransmitters may be involved in the development of schizophrenia, meaning the dopamine hypothesis is too simplistic. Catatonia- staying in position for hours/days on end, cut off from the world. basis. Many people who experience feelings of persecution have a general tendency to assume that other people cause the things that go wrong with their lives. They did not believe that schizophrenia was a disease. Chronic schizophrenics achieved 3lbs of weight loss a week. The validity of schizophrenia as a single disorder is questioned by many. they said an event was real but it was in their head. Falloon et al (1996) stress such as divorce or bereavement, causes the brain to be flooded with neurotransmitters which brings on the acute episode. High dopamine activity leads to acute episodes, and positive symptoms which include: delusions, hallucinations, confused thinking. The reason for this is because the research is carried out in highly controlled environments, which specialist, high tech equipment such as MRI and PET scans. b) Explain one reason why there might be a problem of bias and generalisation in this study. Keywords: psychosocial dysfunction, family burden, schizophrenia, OCD. There is no such thing as a normal schizophrenic exhibiting the usual symptoms. It is, therefore, very important to offer the most appropriate and effective type of treatment. While schizophrenia has a strong genetic component, some individuals with genetic susceptibilities to the disorder nonetheless remain healthy. The researchers found that the males had a genetic condition which became later known as "Brunner syndrome" (it is important to note that females only carry this condition, as it only affects the MAOA production gene on the single X chromosome in males). Boston Spa, This has the effect of reducing dopamine production, and reduces positive symptoms such as hallucinations. , AQA A level Psychology paper 3 7182/3 14th June 2019 , AQA A Level Psychology Paper 3 7182/3 - 16 Jun 2022 [Exam Chat] , AQA A Level Psychology 2022 Predictions (Paper 3) . There is a sizeable minority who do not respond to drug treatment. Where two conditions are frequently diagnosed together it calls into question the . Benzel et al. [4 marks], Briefly outline family dysfunction as an explanation for schizophrenia. Lobban (2013) reports that other family members felt they were able to cope better thanks to family therapy. Get Revising is one of the trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. Comorbidity is when the same person has two or more disorders at the same time. This suggests that the cognitive approach is oversimplistic when consider the explanation of schizophrenia. Conversely, antipsychotic drugs work by binding to dopamine receptors and reduce symptoms. Research in Hampshire, by Kingdon and Kirschen (2006) found that CBT is not suitable for all patients, especially those who are too thought disorientated or agitated, who refuse medication, or who are too paranoid to form trusting alliances with practitioners. A dysfunctional family is one that has at its core destructive and harmful parenting and a lack of concern for the child. Parents who have already suffered their child going through the dis-order and have to look after them with care go into more trauma by being blamed for the condition. Slater & Roth (1969) say that hallucinations are the least important of all the symptoms, as they are not exclusive to schizophrenic people. Found that changes in behavior achieved through token economies do not remain when tokens are withdrawn, suggesting that such treatments address effects of schizophrenia rather than causes. First, the adoptees study method, the index offspring of adopting-away schizo Work out ways to recognise negative thoughts and test faulty beliefs when they arise, and then challenge and re-think them. (Total 16 marks) Cognitive approaches examine how people think, how they process information. The adoptive families were investigated thoroughly using joint and individual interviews and psychological tests. Comorbidities were also found with epilepsy being the . Family dysfunction refers to the workings of dysfunctional families, and the effects of being brought up in one, contributing to schizophrenia. This causes the neurons that use dopamine to fire too often and transmit too many messages. In CBT, schizophrenia patients are encouraged to trace back the origins of their symptoms in order to get a better idea of how the symptoms might have developed. [4 marks], a) this study is about differences between two conditions/groups so the Mann-Whitney is appropriate it is not about correlation/relationship between two variables so Spearman's is not appropriate. As there is strong evidence that relapse is related to stress and expressed emotion within the family, it seems likely that CBT should be employed alongside family therapy in order to reduce the pressures on the individual patient. There is other evidence to support difficult family relationships in childhood are associated with increased risk of schizophrenia in adulthood. This manages schizophrenia because it maintains desirable behavior and no longer reinforces undesirable behavior. The schizophrenic twin generally had more enlarged ventricles and a reduced anterior hypothalamus. Full Text. We are committed to engaging with you and taking action based on your suggestions, complaints, and other feedback. Treatment: In an interactionist approach, treatments will take more than one form. Although this study showed that children with a biological parent were still at greater risk even if they had been adopted into families with no history of schizophrenia, all reported cases of schizophrenia occurred in families rated as disturbed. It is also important to note that two-thirds of people with schizophrenia have no relative with a similar diagnosis and therefore have no one to inherit it from. Laing and others rejected the medical / biological explanation of mental disorders. Eg. To improve how the family communicated and handled the situation. For example, it suggests that schizophrenic behavior is the cause of environmental factors such as cognitive factors. There are serious ethical concerns in blaming the family, particularly as there is little evidence upon which to base this. First, cognitive deficits which are impairments in thought processes such as perception, memory and attention. You MUST revise everything because the exam board could choose any question, however, it does make sense to spend more time on those topics which have not appeared for a while. There are also delusions of being paranoid, worrying that people are out to get them. Refer to evidence in youranswer. CBT may involve challenging the validity of beliefs, which may interfere with freedom of thought. This suggests the doctors had no valid method for detecting schizophrenia. Visual - Evaluation of the dopamine hypothesis for schizophrenia 3. A second weakness of the cognitive model is that it is reductionist. The entire evaluation of Schizophrenia (AQA A-level Psychology) 33.39 5.49. Ventricles are fluid filled cavities (i.e. delusions. Research by Miyakawa et al. The severity of the side-effects is a weakness as patients will be reluctant to take them, or may even die as a result of the effect. Background: Social dysfunction is an important outcome for schizophrenia and can be measured by the evaluation of social skills. They arrest dopamine production by blocking the D2 receptors in synapses that absorb dopamine, in the mesolimbic pathway thus reducing positive symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations. Culture One of the biggest controversies in relation to classification and diagnosis is to do with cultural relativism and variations in diagnosis. In most cases the original typical antipsychotics have more side effects, so if the exam paper asks for two biological therapies you can write about typical anti-psychotics and emphasise the side effects, then you can write about the atypical antipsychotics and give them credit for having less side effects. This suggests that the research therefore does not protect individuals from harm. Information transfer teaching the patient and the family the actual facts about the illness, its causes, the influence of drug abuse, and the effect of stress and guilt. Heather (1976) there is only a 50% chance of predicting what treatment a patient will receive based on diagnosis, suggesting that diagnosis is not valid. This makes it more difficult to confidently diagnose schizophrenia. This means it cannot be used to treat schizophrenia by itself. This suggests that there is wider academic credibility for enlarged ventricles determining the likelihood of schizophrenia developing. Toyokawa, Et. Also, research by Sherrington et al. Visual - Evaluation of the icd and dsm as tools to diagnose schizophrenia. These include reduced levels of emotional expression, disorganised speech and delusions. Refer to one or more typesof family dysfunction in your answer. 2. a taxonomic category below an order and above a genus. Imagined stimuli could involve any of the senses. Drugs such as Chlorpromazine also have a sedative effect, meaning that they calm patients down and reduce anxiety. Help the patient realise it is normal to have negative thoughts in certain situations. Both aspect of diathesis-stress must be present to develop the disorder. Some sufferers only take a course of antipsychotics once, while others have to take a regular dose in order to prevent symptoms from reappearing. MZ twins may have the same genetic vulnerability but can be triggered by different stressors. double-bind, high expressed emotion - . The focus of a token economy is on shaping and positively reinforcing desired behaviors and NOT on punishing undesirable behaviors. Objectives: To compare social skills in patients with schizophrenia classified according the degree of treatment response and severity of psychopathology with normative controls by using the Del Prette Social Skills Inventory (SSI). A final weakness of the dopamine hypothesis is that it is biologically deterministic. To educate relatives about schizophrenia. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. blended family a family unit composed of a married couple and their offspring including some from previous marriages. Schizophrenia is a multi-factorial trait as it is the result of multiple genes and environmental factors. found 108 separate genetic variations were associated with increased risk of schizophrenia. Jack's experiences can be linked to the family dysfunction explanation. Is it the cognitive deficits which causes the schizophrenic behavior or is the schizophrenia that causes the cognitive deficits? Family dysfunction - the double-bind theory Bateson et al. These machines take accurate readings of brain regions such as the frontal and pre-frontal cortex, the basil ganglia, the hippocampus and the amygdale. Example Answers for Schizophrenia: A Level Psychology, Paper 3, June 2019 (AQA) Exam Support. Christopher Frith (1979) argues schizophrenia is the result of a faulty attention system. A second strength of the research into expressed emotion (EE) is that it has practical applications. Symptom targeting: a specific symptom is selected for which a particular coping strategy can be devised In other words the illness only manifesters itself under appropriate environmental conditions, genetics was not enough on its own. B.A., History and Educational Psychology, University of Exeter. tutor2u is the leading support service for A-Level, GCSE, BTEC and IB students and teachers preparing for assessments, mocks and final exams. EE is a family communication style that involves criticism, hostility and emotional over-involvement.