123 School Work

Abnormal Psychology notes

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  ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
  The scientific study of abnormal behavior in order to describe, predict, explain, and exert some control over abnormal patterns of functioning.
  Deviance - extreme, unusual, perhaps even bizarre
  Distress - unpleasant and upsetting to the individual
  Dysfunction - disruptive to the person's ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive manner
  Danger - to themselves or others
  
  SCHIZOPHRENIA
  1 - 2 % op the population meets the DSM-IV criteria for
  Psychosis
  Lack of contact with reality
  ex. Mania, organic brain syndrome, brief psychotic reaction (response to particular condition or physiological states), psychotic depression and schizophrenia
  Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
  Delusions
  Beliefs that have no basis in reality and are often absurd.
  Disorganized Thinking and Speech
  Peculiar excesses of verbal expression
       loose associations - rapidly shifting from one topic to another
       perseveration - repeating words and statements over and over again
       neologisms - making-up words
       clang - using rhymes to guide statements
  Hallucinations
  Perceptions that occur in the absence of external stimuli. Can be auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory, or tactile.
  Inappropriate Affect
  Emotions unsuited to the situation
  Psychomotor Symptoms
  Loss of spontaneous movement or the development of odd gestures, Catatonia psychomotor symptoms of schizophrenia
  Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
  Poverty of Speech
  Decreased command and productivity of speech
  Blunted and Flat Affect
  Showing little or no emotion
  Disturbance in Volition
  Feeling drained of energy
  Disturbed Relationship With Others
  Withdrawing emotionally and socially from others
  Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia
  Disorganized
  Catatonic
  Paranoid
  Undifferentiated
  Residual
  Type I Schizophrenia
  Many positive symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations - may be due to biochemical abnormalities in the brain; good response to medication
  Type II Schizophrenia
  Negative symptoms may be due to structural abnormalities in the brain; poor response to medication
  Other Types of Psychosis
  Brief Reactive Psychosis
  Criteria A without negative symptoms, last one day to a month
  Schizophreniform - one to five months
  Delusional Disorder
  Non-bizarre delusions, no criteria A, except for the delusional behavior is not odd.
  Views on the Etiology of Schizophrenia
  Sociocultural View
  Society defines and maintains it, but note that schizophrenia symptoms are the same cross culturally and schizophrenia occurs in all cultures at a consistent rate
  Biological View
  Genetic (concordance)
  Relative of schizophrenics have higher rates schizophrenia than the general population. Identical twins have a higher rate of concordance for schizophrenia than fraternal twins, and have a higher risk of getting schizophrenia if one of the two gets it (40-60%). Adults of schizophrenia who were adopted at birth are more likely to have a biological parent with schizophrenia than adopted parents.
  Biochemical abnormalities
  Neurotransmitter dopamine may fire too often and transmit too many messages; may be due to too much L-dopa in schizophrenics; this hypothesis seems too fit Type I schizophrenics (they respond to treatment)
  Abnormal brain structures
  Enlarged ventricles, damaged frontal lobes or cerebrum linked to more negative symptoms in Type II schizophrenics...