Class notes
Psychiatric conditions Week 9
- Course
- Institution
Covers: - An introduction to Schizophrenia - Treating Schizophrenia - An introduction to Mood disorders - The chemistry and treatment of mood disorders (Highlight removed)
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
lunamimi
Content preview
Psychology and the Brain: Week 9Psychiatric conditions – An introduction to
Schizophrenia
History:
Although there are records of Schizophrenia-like symptoms throughout history, medical
records did not show clear cases until around between 1797 and 1809.
- At this time schizophrenia was not considered as an individual condition
- Instead considered as umbrella related to a neurodegenerative process - dementia
The term Schizophrenia was not introduced until 1908 by Bleuler.
• “Schizo” means split – but not split personality but split from reality – difficulty
separating what’s real and what’s not
• Chronic mental health condition affecting 0.5-1% of the population.
• It is characterised by psychotic symptoms, emotional dysregulation and cognitive
deficits.
• Onset is typically later in women (~30 years) compared to men (15-25 years).
• It also tends to be less severe in women, with less pronounced brain abnormalities
and less resistant to treatment.
Positive symptoms – additional to normal functioning
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Disordered thoughts
Negative symptoms – lack of normal and typical functioning
- Reduced speech (alogia)
- Social withdrawal (asociality)
- Lack of emotion
- Diminished ability to start and continue activities (avolition)
- Decreased ability to find pleasure in everyday activities (anhedonia)
Cognitive deficits:
- Memory
- Attention
- Planning
- Decision making
, Psychology and the Brain: Week 9
The course of Schizophrenia:
- Starts earlier than formal diagnosis following psychotic symptoms
Premorbid phase - before someone becomes ill
(Childhood)
Prodromal phase (brief positive symptoms and
some functional decline)
(Childhood/Adolescence)
Psychotic phase (florid positive symptoms)
(Adolescence/young adult)
Stable phase (negative symptoms,
cognitive/social deficits and functional decline)
(Adolescence/young adult)
- Diagnosis often given during stable phase
After the initial episode there are several possible courses for the condition:
• 8% will experience several psychotic episodes with functional impairment in
between and no return to normality.
• 22% will experience one psychotic episode only and no further functional
impairment.
• 35% will have several psychotic episodes with a return to normality in between.
• 38% will experience several psychotic episodes with increasing functional
impairment in between and no return to normality.
- Focus now is on identifying people before onset of symptoms – Clinically High Risk.
- Better to treat/intervene before the stable phase – premorbid phase
- Look at hose at high clinical risk to be treated earlier
Having schizophrenia increases a person's
Increased
risk of: family stress
• unemployment
• poverty Physical,
• homelessness verbal or Reduced
emotional employability
abuse
Stigma
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lunamimi. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.83. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67474 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now