Psychology, SZ

Outline Clinical Characteristics of Schizophrenia (5 marks) The characteristics of Schizophrenia (SZ) can be categorised into two different types Type ! symptoms ("ositi#e Symptoms) and Type $ (%egati#e symptoms)& Type ! characteristics include things such as delusions' hallucinations and paranoia& "atients may e(perience things such as hearing #oices' which are often said to be from )od or the *e#il& Type $ symptoms howe#er show more catatonic beha#iour' for e(ample a loss of dri#e' a lack of emotion or catatonic stupor& On the other hand' there are some patients who e(perience both type ! and type $ symptoms' these are therefore categorised as *isorganised as they will ha#e disorganised beha#iour and speech& There is a !+ chance of de#eloping SZ if neither of your parents is carrying the gene' howe#er this increases to $,+ if one parent is diagnosed' and to -.+ if both parents are& /t is said to occur within men when they are $5 or younger' howe#er it occurs at an older age of $50-5 for women& *iscuss psychological e(planations of Schizophrenia /n the !15,2s and .,2s it was belie#ed that if you belonged to a dysfunctional family that you were more likely to suffer from SZ due to the dysfunction of communication within the family& 3ccording to the different psychological e(planations of SZ this is because of the high emotional tension and the many secrets and close alliances that are kept in the family& One psychological e(planation of SZ was put forward by 4ateson et al (!15.) who looked at childhood as a base for de#eloping SZ' for e(ample the interactions children ha#e with their mothers& 5is e(planation' the *ouble 4ind theory' states that SZ can occur due to conflicting messages gi#en from parents to their children' for e(ample when a parent e(presses care but does so in a critical way& This means that the child will become confused as the message they are gi#en is conflicting' as one message effecti#ely in#alidates the other& 3s a result' the child is left with self doubt and e#entual withdrawal& 6(periences such as these are said to cause SZ as they pre#ent the de#elopment of an internally coherent construction of reality' in the end they are likely to e(perience SZ type symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations' and in some cases' paranoia& This theory therefore suggests that the home en#ironment and the relationships a child has with their parents through messages plays a role in the de#elopment of SZ& This is because there is no clear template of a lo#ing relationship7 instead the child is always unsure if they ha#e done something wrong due to the conflicting messages they are gi#en& 3 strength of this theory is the supporting e#idence from 4erger& 5e found that SZ patients reported a higher recall of double bind statements (conflicting messages) by their mothers than non SZ patients& 5owe#er this reliability of this study was criticised as patients recall may be affected by their SZ& There are said to be problems as it is called a retrospecti#e recall' as the data is unreliable& 8or e(ample' delusions may occur meaning that the patients are recalling things that didn2t happen& 3nother criticism of the *ouble 4ind theory is the inability to replicate the findings across studies& This is because of indi#idual differences' and the

Psychology, SZ

fact that as most of the memories were from childhood' you cannot go back in time to assess the #alidity of the recollections& 3n additional criticism is the fact that the 5awthorne 6ffect may ha#e occurred& 3s it was an obser#ation of the families' there is no proof that the parents will act as they normally do around their families' therefore the #alidity of the results reduces as the results will not show a true picture of how they really are as a parent& 3lso' the families are studied retrospecti#ely' meaning they are studied long after the mental disorder may ha#e affected the family system& This means that #arious family routines will ha#e been disrupted so you will be unable to see how the family acted before a child de#eloped SZ& This is because li#ing with someone with SZ is difficult and distressing for all the family as it has an impact on e#eryone' not 9ust the patient of SZ& 3 final criticism is that it is said to be an unconstructi#e theory as the theory blames the parents and families for a child de#eloping SZ& 4y suggesting that a parent has caused SZ is at least unhelpful and at most highly destructi#e' as they not only ha#e to cope with li#ing with someone with SZ' but they are then told that it is their fault' which will lead them to feel guilty and hurt as they are blamed for a poor upbringing& 3 second psychological e(planation of SZ is 6(pressed 6motion& This was de#eloped in the late !1:,2s when psychologists were more interested in how the family might play a part in the course' rather than the cause of SZ& 8or e(ample' 4rown found that patients who returned to homes where there was a high le#el of e(pressed emotion' for e(ample lots of hostility' criticism and o#er in#ol#ement' they showed a greater tendency to relapse in comparison to those who returned to homes where there was a lower le#el of e(pressed emotion& This was supported by ;inszen who found this to be four times more likely& This study suggests that a high le#el of emotion in the family en#ironment plays a role in the SZ patients2 disorder becoming worse& There is also support for this e(planation from <aughn and ;eff who also found that the le#el of e(pressed emotion had an affect on relapse rates amongst discharged patients& 5owe#er they also studied the amount of face to face contact patients spent with relati#es after discharge' and they found an increase in relapse rates as face to face contact increased' and e#en more so with higher le#els of e(pressed emotion& This study suggests that the more time a SZ patient spends with a family with high le#els of 66 means that they are more likely to relapse& On the other hand' this study has not been replicated therefore the #alidity of their results is =uestioned& There is a lot of supporting research for this e(planation' for e(ample from >alafi and Torabi (!11.) who studied e(pressed emotion within families in an /ranian Culture' where mothers are e(tremely o#er protecti#e and submissi#e' and fathers are more re9ecting as they are not able to comfort their child as it is seen as weak in their culture& They found a higher pre#alence of e(pressed emotion was one of the main causes of relapse' as there is a lot of negati#ity in the families which in the end leads to high le#els of stress which they find it #ery difficult to cope with& This suggests that a mi(ture of emotion from parents in the /ranian culture plays a role in the SZ patient relapsing&

Psychology, SZ

5owe#er this theory was criticised as it is not clear whether 66 inter#ention was the key element of the therapy or whether aspects of the family inter#ention might ha#e helped& Therefore this leads to confusion and e#entual withdrawal& Therefore there are other aspects of inter#ention that could be useful as it is unclear as to whether 66 is helping the family as a unit& 3 second criticism is that many patients with SZ are either estranged from their families or ha#e minimal contact' and yet there is no e#idence that such people are less prone to relapse& Therefore it is unclear whether there is an impact& On the other hand' there are se#eral strengths to this theory& 8or e(ample' there is a lot of supporting research conducted to make the theory more #alid& The 66 is a well established ?maintenance@ model of SZ and many prospecti#e studies ha#e been conducted which support the 66 hypothesis across many cultures' therefore the theory is also applicable cross culturally& This is also because negati#e emotion will most likely be found in many different cultures& There has also been an argument as to whether the 66 model is a cause or an effect of SZ& The 66 model has becoming widely accepted that research is now focussing on relati#es of those with SZ in order to understand better which aspects of high and low 66 relate to relapse& There is e#idence to support that the family members are not held responsible for a person de#eloping SZ' for e(ample they tend to attribute positi#e symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions to the person2s mental illness& 4ut on the other hand' there is also e#idence that some attribute negati#e symptoms' for e(ample social withdrawal' to the person2s personality characteristics and in the end they are said to become o#er critical in an attempt to change those beha#iours& O#erall' it was concluded by ;opez that families characterised by negati#e affect (criticism) has much higher relapse rates in comparison to those with positi#e affect (warmth)& Overall, an excellent piece of work as always, X. You have thoroughly mentioned all relevant research and remembered to elaborate after each study. (Target ! "y overall concern is that you need to cut down on some pieces of research and criticism. (Target ! #lso, you need to remember that you could a synoptic explanation (an alternative explanation . #s there are $ marks allocated for this you can really buffer up your mark. "arks #%& ! 'linical 'haracteristics ()* #%& ! +)&% #%, ! &%)&% -ynopticity ! %)* .lease see comment above about synopticity. Overall "arks, 24/30

= A* /ell 0one.

Psychology, SZ