Two Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
There are many biological explanations of schizophrenia. In this essay
I will concentrate on the genetic explanation and biochemical
explanation of the disorder. There are many studies that look in to
genetics and the link to schizophrenia. This is dues to an original
finding that schizophrenia runs in families and therefore suggests
that genes are responsible for the disorder. I study was preformed by
Janicak et al 2001; they found that monozygotic twins have a 48%
concordance rate. This is considerably less in dizygotic twins where
the concordance rate falls to 17%. This would suggest there is a
strong case for genetics being involved with schizophrenia. However if
the disorder was caused entirely by genetics then we would expect a
100% concordance with monozygotic twins. A supporting study is one by
Kety et al. 1988. This study found 14% of biological relatives of
schizophrenic adoptee were schizophrenic, and only 2.7% of adoptive
relatives. This backs up the claim for geneti...
Schizophrenia as a Biological Disorder As well as the biological approaches there are physiological, psychological and environmental explanations. New theories of schizophrenia are constantly being developed each having their own advantages and disadvantages. How do we know however, which one is correct? The biological explanation suggests that schizophrenia is produced by an unfortunate combination of genes or is due to physical problems in the brain. Researchers favouring the biological
will begin by describing the major symptoms of catatonic schizophrenia, outlining and critically considering the difficulties associated with diagnosis. It will then describe and evaluate the biological explanations of catatonic schizophrenia including genetics, brain structure and biochemical explanations. Next it will discuss and evaluate the psychosocial explanations of catatonic schizophrenia including psychodynamic and cognitive explanations. Finally it will describe and evaluate the major approaches
Past, Future, Now: Assessing Schizophrenia According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, schizophrenia is characterized by the development of two or more symptoms in a one-month period. At least one of the two symptoms must be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech. Schizophrenia has always been a disorder shrouded in mystery. There have been many hypotheses from varying perspectives offering up causation for it and some have research, while some lack support. It is important when
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
Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a specific type of psychosis. It is a disorder distinguished by disturbances within thought patterns, attention and also emotion. It can also result in a complete lack of emotional expressiveness, or on occasions inappropriate ones. Every now and then it may cause disturbances in the patient’s movement and or behaviour, resulting in an unkempt appearance. For quite a long time schizophrenia was perceived as a ‘functional disorder’ with some doctors saying it
logical explanation. When discussing psychological disorders the images that come to mind are often the happy smiling faces of individuals with autism, passing out hugs freely or even of a close neighbor who takes medication to manage depression and everyone seems to have the obsessive-compulsiveness of a family member to some degree. However, there exists others psychological disorders that are just as familiar, yet seemingly more sinister. Such as schizophrenia and dissociative
What are the core assumptions and key features of the biological and psychoanalytic perspectives in psychology? In what ways are they similar and how do they differ? The biological perspective within psychology aims to explain behaviours using scientific reason, as oppose to formulating unsubstantiated beliefs. Biological psychology may be seen as a point of view in which the reasons behind how we think, and act are attributed to physiological mechanisms such as brain functioning (Kalat, 2016, pg
Past, Future, and Now: Assessing Schizophrenia Katie Hilderbrand Salem College – Mary Jacobsen Past, Future, Now: Assessing Schizophrenia Schizophrenia has always been a disorder shrouded in mystery. The misconceptions combined with a lack of knowledge of the disorder lead to a stigma to be placed upon people with the disorder. I. Historical and Current Views Schizophrenia has always been a disorder associated with madness (Reed, 2004). In every century, people with this disorder have been
The biological approach within psychology aims to explain human interactions in terms of chemical processes that occur within the body, for example, the key features addressed are: interactions between different areas of the brain, hormone secretion and the role of genetics. On the other hand, the psychoanalytical approach proposed by Sigmund Freud highlights the importance of the unconscious mind and its influence on human behaviour – particularly that which is pathological. Rene Descartes was
Different classes and subclasses exist in disorders of lifespan and schizophrenia (Munson, 2001). Categorizing disorders into classes, helps psychologist resolve issues of what type of problem psychologist are dealing with to ensure correct course of help is made (Hansell & Damour, 2005). Psychologist need to define and outline symptoms that are categorized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR) ((Hansell & Damour, 2005). Developments of the mind including disorders, continuously
A Closer Look into Schizophrenia and John Nash A. Symptoms and Diagnoses In the beginning of the movie, A Beautiful Mind, it is not clear that John Nash is suffering from schizophrenia; however, as the movie progresses it becomes clear that John has some sort of psychotic disorder. Although all of the symptoms John had from the beginning of the film were within the diagnoses of schizophrenia, the university setting and him being a candidate for Ph.D. in mathematics made it seem that his social
Clozapine and the Treatment of Schizophrenia Clozapine, marketed by the trade name of "Clozaril," is a member of the dibenzodiazepine class of antipsychotic medication, and is one of many types of neuroleptic drugs. Clozapine is an atypical medication because it differs from the older conventional drugs such as Halodol or Lithium. The difference between atypical and the older drugs is because there less neuroleptic activity as a result of more specific receptors utilized. The atypical
paranoid schizophrenia for several decades of his life. Nash displayed erratic behavior and suffered from auditory hallucinations. He believed he was receiving messages from outerspace and was convinced that there was conspiracy to undermine the American government. On one occasion, Nash burst into the office of the New York Times and accused them of preventing him from receiving important encrypted messages only he could decipher. Nash’s wife admitted him to a psychiatric hospital only two years after
To think how far we have come with medicine and technology is astounding. Looking into the biological model of abnormalities we learn that the focus is to connect a medical prospective to the variations in abnormal behavior. The text uses the case of Philip Berman, a person who exhibits a wide range of emotion when triggered with certain topics
abnormality we mean the biological model, what the individual is born with either with reference to their brain or even genetics. The biological explanation would suggest that the individual's mental disorder is a cause of biological malfunctioning. They see that environmental factors are of little importance when taking the biological approach. Reasons for abnormal behaviour could vary from possible genetic predisposition or an imbalance of brain chemistry. The two main treatments suggested