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

2. 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.”

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Other biological features
Reduced blood flow in frontal lobe during reasoning task
Dopamine hypothesis supported by drug effects
Amphetamine psychosis from too much dopamine
Parkinsonian tremors from too little: chlorapromazine side effect

8. 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

9. 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