Abnormal Psychology (Chapter 18) Third Lecture Outline: Schizophrenia Personality Disorders Childhood disorders

Someone with schizophrenia “Sometimes the voices are friendly; however, most often they are cruel and taunting. Hearing voices for the first time was very scary to me. I call my voices "superiors"; they are of demonic nature and continuously telling me "I'm evil and worthless". They often command me to hurt myself. I do as they say because they threaten to kill me or bury me alive; their terror controls my behavior.” “I also have visual hallucinations in which I see things that apparently no one else sees. I look at people's faces and they suddenly disintegrate or are so distorted that they appear in horrifying form, wicked,and I see the evilness of the devil locked within their eyes. I may look at you and project someone's else's picture on your face; everything becomes confusing and quite frustrating.”

Schizophrenia Negative symptoms: Behavior deficits blunting of emotions language deficits apathy and social avoidance Positive symptoms: Behaviors present delusions: disordered thinking hallucination: unusual sensory experience other bizarre behavior

Diagnositic criteria Adaptive functioning impaired Two or more of the following: delusions hallucinations disorganized or incoherent speech grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior negative symptoms of anhedonia Six months of symptoms Rule out other disorders and drugs

Types of Schizophrenia Paranoid: Delusions are grandiose or persecutory; not disorganized or catatonic, e.g., tin foil in attic Disorganized: Speech, behavior, and/or affect is inappropriate, not catatonic e.g., roams the streets mumbling Catatonic: Motor disturbance such as catalepsy (waxy flexibility) or frozen Videotape #98: Cases

Biological basis of schizophrenia Schizophrenia “runs in families” General population rate: 1 to 2 % twin studies: monozygotic twins (100% genes), 44% concordant dizygotic twins (50% genes) are 15% concordant consaguinity studies: other relatives 5-10% adoption studies: twins adopted away still have higher concordance than base rate

Other biological features Reduced blood flow in frontal lobe during reasoning task http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research/sc6a.htm Dopamine hypothesis supported by drug effects Amphetamine psychosis from too much dopamine Parkinsonian tremors from too little: chlorapromazine side effect

Personality Disorders Stable & extreme personality features that affect happiness or adjustment Examples: Paranoid: suspicious of others Schizoid: Can’t form/sustain relationships Schizotypal: Bizarre or magical behavior Borderline: Mood and self-image unstable Narcissistic: Self-centred, no empathy Histrionic: Dramatic, manipulative, shallow

Examples of childhood disorders Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Innattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity Conduct disorders stealing, truancy, fighting, swearing, destructive behavior Pervasive Developmental Disorder (Autism) communication deficts, perserveration, echolalia, memory