Psychology 2220A/B Chapter 18: Chapter 18 for final

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2220A/B
• Professor: Dr.Yves Bureau

Document Summary

Psychiatric disorders: disorders of psychological function that require treatment, diagnosis is guided by the dsm of the american psychiatric association (currently the dsm v) Causal factors in schizophrenia: evidence for a genetic contribution. Inherit an increased risk for the disorder: multiple causes, several different chromosomes have been implicate, associated with various early insults: infections, autoimmune reactions, toxins, traumatic injury, stress. It appears that interference with the normal development of susceptible individuals may lead to development of the disorder. In general, the higher affinity a drug has for dopamine receptors, the more effective it is in treating schizophrenia: haloperidol is an exception. While most antipsychotics bind to d1 and d2 receptors, it and the other butyro-phenones bind to d2: chlorpromazine antagonizes dopamine activity by binding and blocking dopamine receptors. It may be best to think of schizophrenia as multiple disorders with multiple causes dopamine at d2 receptors is just one important factor in the disease.