Week 5 Chapter 17 Notes.docx

Week 5: Chapter 17 Notes cont’d The Nature and Causes of Psychological Disorders pp. 571- 587 Definitions - substance-related disorders: psychological disorder that are characterized by addiction to drugs or alcohol or by abuse of drugs or alcohol - Substance-Related Disorders Definitions - substance-related disorders: psychological disorder that are characterized by addiction to drugs or alcohol or by abuse of drugs or alcohol Notes - 27% of individuals have reported symptoms of substance-related disorders - strong association between substance abuse and depressive disorders Possible Causes - genetic and physiological  people raised in a squalid environment are more likely to abuse drugs  two types of alcoholics: anti-social and pleasure-seeking tendencies (people who cannot abstain but drink consistently), and anxiety-ridden (can go without drinking for long periods of time but cannot control themselves once they start)  binge drinkers start later in life, whereas steady drinkers start at an early age  binging is influenced by heredity and environment  steady drinkers may have unresponsive brains to danger and to social disapproval, due to an undersensitive punishment mechanism and reinforcement system  binge drinkers have an oversensitive punishment system - cognitive causes  people develop patterns of heavy drug use because of what they believe about the personal benefits of using drugs  ex. people that believe alcohol will help them cope with negative emotions, also will expect alcohol will make them more likeable, social, or attractive  people abuse alcohol sometimes to obtain these perceived positive effects  alcohol may be abused to moderate both negative and positive shortcomings  the influence of alcohol provides an escape from bad personal feelings, negatively reinforcing the use of drugs Schizophrenic Disorders Definitions - schizophrenia: a serious psychological disoreder characterized by thought disturbances, hallucinations, anxiety, emotional withdrawal, and delusions - positive symptoms: symptoms of schizophrenia that may include thought disorder, hallucinations, or delusions - thought disorder: a pattern of disorganized, illogical, and irritational thought that often accompanies schizophrenia - delusions of persecution: the false belief that other people are plotting against one - delusions of grandeur: the false belief that one is famous, powerful, or important - delusions of control: the false belief that one’s thoughts and actions are being controlled by other people or forces - hallucinations: perceptual experiences that occur in the absence of external stimulation of the corresponding sensory organ - negative symptoms: symptoms of schizophrenia that may include the absence of normal behaviours: flattened emotion, poverty of speech, lack of initiative and persistence, social withdrawal - paranoid schizophrenia: a form of schizophrenia in which the person suffers from delusions of persecution, grandeur or control - disorganized schizophrenia: a type of schizophrenia characterized primarily by disturbances of thought and a flattened or silly affect - catatonic schizophrenia: a for of schizophrenia characterized primarily by various motor disturbances, including catatonic postures and waxy flexibility - undifferentiated schizophrenia: a type of schizophrenia characterized by fragments of the symptoms of different types of schizophrenia - residual schizophrenia: a type of schizophrenia that may follow an episode of one other types and is marked by negative symptoms but not by any prominent positive symptom - reactive schizophrenia: according to Bleuler, a form of schizophrenia characterized by rapid onset and brief duration; he assumed that the cause was stressful life situations - process schizophrenia: according to Blueler, a form of schizophrenia characterized by gradual onset and a poor prognisis - dopamine hypothesis: the hypothesis that the positive symptoms of schizophrenia are caused by overeactivity of synapses in the brain that use dopamine - double-bind: the conflict caused for a child when he or she is given inconsistent messages or cues from a parent - expressed emotion: expressions of criticism, hostility, and emotional over- involvement by family members toward a person with schizophrenia Notes - most common of the psychotic disorders Description - usually appears in late teens to early thirties - characterized by two categories of symptoms: positive (known by their presence ex. thought disorder)  delusions are beliefs contrary to fact  hallucinations are perceptions of the stimuli that are not actually present, feel real to person suffering from them  hallucinations are usually negative, threatening - the other category is negative symptoms  absence of normal behaviours (flattened emotional response, lack of initiative, inability to feel pleasure, social withdrawal)  not specific in schizophrenia Types of Schizophrenia - five types: paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated and residual - descriptions in definitions Possible Causes - appears to result from one or more inherited biological predispositions activated by environmental stress - Genetic causes  high heritability of a tendency toward schizophrenia  identical twins are much more likely to be concordant for schizophrenia than fraternal  carrying a schizophrenic gene does not mean the person will develop schizophrenia  likelihood of schizo increases if a person has relatives with it but it is still rare 63% of people who suffer from it do not have a first or second-degree relaice who also has the disorder  certain environments can trigger various disorders  certain drugs can stimulate dopamine synapses which triggers schizophrenic genes - Physiological Causes- Neurological Disorders  studies have indicated that the cause of brain damage in schizophrenia may be a viral infection that triggers an autoimmune diesease