1. Instructor name Class Title, Term/Semester, Year Institution © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Introductory Psychology Concepts Schizophrenia

2. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2 Schizophrenia: A Split Between Thoughts, Emotions, and Behavior Psychiatric mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, which results in significant social or occupational dysfunction. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia

3. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 3 Main Symptoms of Schizophrenia Delusions Attention Difficulties Hallucinations Disturbed Speech Emotional Disturbances Disordered Thinking Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia are tormented by bizarre and intrusive thoughts and images.

4. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 4 Types of Schizophrenia Disorganized (hebephrenic) schizophrenia Inappropriate laughter and giggling, silliness, incoherent speech, infantile behavior, strange and sometimes obscene behavior. Paranoid schizophrenia Delusions and hallucinations of persecution or of greatness, loss of judgment, erratic and unpredictable behavior. Catatonic schizophrenia Major disturbances in movement; in some phases, loss of all motion, patient frozen into a single position, remaining that way for hours or days; in other phases, hyperactivity and wild, violent movement. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia

5. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 5 Types of Schizophrenia (continued) Undifferentiated schizophrenia Variable mixture of major symptoms of schizophrenia; classification used for patients who cannot be typed into any of the more-specific categories. Residual schizophrenia Minor signs of schizophrenia after a more-serious episode. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia

6. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 6 Possible Causes of Schizophrenia Psychoanalytic: Suggests that schizophrenia is a form of regression to earlier experiences and stages of life. Freud: people with schizophrenia lack egos strong enough to cope with unacceptable impulses. Behavioral: Suggests that the disorder is created through learned classical conditioning, observational learning, or operant conditioning. Cognitive: Suggests that schizophrenia results from overattention to stimuli in the environment. People with the disorder may be receptive to everything in their environment, unable to screen out unimportant stimuli. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia

7. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 7 Possible Causes of Schizophrenia (continued) Brain Abnormalities: Brain scans have indicated a number of structural abnormalities in the brains of schizophrenic patients. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia One difference between the brains of a person with schizophrenia and without is enlarged ventricles (butterfly-shaped spaces seen in the middle of the MRIs). Schizophrenic brainNonschizophrenic brain ventricles

8. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 8 Possible Causes of Schizophrenia (continued) Biological hypothesis: The brains of people with schizophrenia may harbor either a biochemical imbalance or a structural abnormality. The dopamine hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia occurs when there is excess activity in the areas of the brain that use dopamine as a neurotransmitter. Drugs that block dopamine action in brain pathways can be highly effective in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia. Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia

9. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 9 Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Possible Causes of Schizophrenia (continued) Genetic: Strong evidence exists for a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. Specific genes and their roles in creating the disposition are unknown. Twin studies show that identical twins have higher concordance rates than fraternal twins. Adoption studies show much higher concordance with biological parents than with adoptive parents.

10. © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 10 Introductory Psychology Concepts: Schizophrenia Genes and schizophrenia The degree of risk for developing schizophrenia correlates highly with the degree of genetic relationship with someone who has that disorder. Data summarizes results of 40 concordance studies conducted in many countries. SOURCE: Based on Gottesman, 1991 Relationship Genetic relatedness Unrelated person in the general population Nephew/niece Sibling Offspring of 1 schizophrenic patient Fraternal twin Offspring of 2 schizophrenic patients Identical twin 0% 25% 50% 50% with each parent 100% 102030405060 Lifetime risk 1% 3% 10% 13% 17% 46% 48%