This is a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown of thought processes and by poor emotional responsiveness.It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction.
A person diagnosed with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations (most reported are hearing voices), delusions (often bizarre or persecutory in nature), and disorganized thinking and speech. The latter may range from loss of train of thought, to sentences only loosely connected in meaning, to incoherence known as word salad in severe cases.
Social withdrawal, sloppiness of dress and hygiene, and loss of motivation and judgment are all common in schizophrenia.Genetics, early environment, neurobiology, and psychological and social processes appear to be important contributory factors; some recreational and prescription drugs appear to cause or worsen symptoms.Current research is focused on the role of neurobiology, although no single isolated organic cause has been found.
There are many approches to describe Schizophrenia.Although fact is
still unkown but researches were been made to describe it.
There are two main approches to describe Schizophrenia:
1. Bio-determinal
approach also known as Biological theories
2. Social Based Approach
also known as Sociological theories
Biological
Theories of Schizophrenia
In these kind of theories the determinants of mental illness are
internal (physical body).There are two major theories:
Neurodevelopmental
Theorey of Schezophernia
The neurodevelopmental theory of schizophrenia has been of great
importance focusing most etiologic research over the past two decades.
According to this theory there is deviance in early brain development
whose full adverse consequences emerge only in adolescence or early adulthood
(2-4).
In its simplest form this theory posits that schizophrenia is the
behavioral outcome of an aberration in neurodevelopmental processes that begins
long before the onset of clinical symptoms and is caused by a combination of
environmental and genetic factors
Early Onset Schizophrenia (EOS)
Early Onset Schizophrenia (EOS) is a rare and severe formof
schizophrenia in which onset occurs during childhood (COS) or adolescence (AdOS)
up to the age of 17 years.Only around 4% of schizophrenia patients will
experience an early onset. Longitudinal studies have shown diagnostic stability
to be high in EOS at around 80-90% (6, 7).
Studies investigating prognosis in this group used a range of variables
to assess outcome; typical indicators include presence of symptoms, length of
remission, number and duration of hospitalizations, educational and
occupational impairment and social disability. Evidence from studies that
followed up EOS patients over 40 years confirm that outcome on such measures is
consistently worse for EOS compared to adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS) (7-9), with
some evidence that COS, with an onset before age 12, is associated with the worst
clinical and psychosocial outcomes (10).
EOS is clinically and neurobiologically continuous with AOS, but is
associated with greater neurodevelopmental deviance early in life (11, 12). EOS
could therefore provide an opportunity to learn more about the neurodevelopmental
aspects of schizophrenia.
This paper presents a selective overview of research on the neurodevelopmental
aspects of EOS: namely, premorbid development, cognitive function, genetics and
neurobiology. Particular attention is given to research on developmental delay
and impairment in the areas of motor, social and language function.
The Dopamine Theorey of Schezophernia
The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia or the dopamine
hypothesis of psychosis is a model attributing symptoms of schizophrenia
(like psychoses) to a disturbed and hyperactive dopaminergic signal
transduction. The model draws evidence from the observation that a large number
of antipsychotics have dopamine-receptor antagonistic effects.
Evidence for the dopamine hypothesis
Amphetamine, cocaine and similar drugs increase levels of dopamine in
the brain and can cause symptoms which resemble those present in psychosis,
particularly after large doses or prolonged use. This is often referred to as
"amphetamine psychosis" or "cocaine psychosis," but may
produce experiences virtually indistinguishable from the positive symptoms
associated with schizophrenia. Similarly, those treated with dopamine enhancing
levodopa for Parkinson's disease can experience psychotic side effects
mimicking the symptoms of schizophrenia. Up to 75% of patients with
schizophrenia have increased signs and symptoms of their psychosis upon
challenge with moderate doses of methylphenidate or amphetamine or other
dopamine-like compounds, all given at doses at which control normal volunteers
do not have any psychologically disturbing effects.
Some functional neuroimaging studies have also shown that, after taking
amphetamine, patients diagnosed with schizophrenia show greater levels of
dopamine release (particularly in the striatum) than non-psychotic individuals.
However, the acute effects of dopamine stimulants include euphoria, alertness
and over-confidence.
Evidence against the dopamine hypothesis
Further experiments, conducted as new methods were
developed (particularly the ability to use PET scanning to examine drug action
in the brain of living patients) challenged the view that the amount of
dopamine blocking was correlated with clinical benefit. These studies showed
that some patients had over 90% of their D2 receptors blocked by
antipsychotic drugs, but showed little reduction in their psychoses. This
primarily occurs in patients who have had the psychosis for ten to thirty
years.
At least 90-95% of first-episode patients, however,
respond to antipsychotics at low doses and do so with D2 occupancy
of 60-70%. The antipsychotic aripiprazole occupies over 90% of D2
receptors, but this drug is both an agonist and an antagonist at D2
receptors.
Furthermore, although dopamine-inhibiting medications
modify dopamine levels within minutes, the associated improvement in patient
symptoms is usually not visible for at least several days, suggesting that
dopamine may be indirectly responsible for the illness.
Sociological
Theories of Schizophrenia
In these theories determinants of mental illness are
external (in environment or person’s social situation).These theories don’t
explain fully all causes of mental illness.However, demonstrate that mental
illness is not randomly distributed among the population but tends to occur
more in disadvantaged groups.Three main theories are mentioned here:
Stress
Theory
Stress has both physiological and psychological
components. We respond to external events or even imagined events with a
generalized set of responses called General Adaptation Syndrome or the stress
response, but our responses are to some degree tailored to the nature of
the event.
Selye studied animals exposed
to negative stimuli and found 3 stages of response:
Flight
or fight
The Alarm Phase- The body
mobilizes the sympathetic nervous system to meet the immediate threat, the release of adrenal
hormones, epineprine and norepinephrine, occurs with any intense emotion and
produces a boost in energy and tense muscles reduced sensitivity to pain, the
shutting down of digestion, along with a rise in blood pressure.
Decades earlier a psychologist Walter Cannon (1929)
called this reaction "fight or flight", which is still used today.
Resistance
The Resistance Phase- Your body
attempts to resist or cope with a persistent stressor that cannot be avoided.In
this phase the physiological responses of the alarm phase continue. However,
these very responses make the body more vulnerable to other stressors.
For Example, when your body has mobilized to fight off
the flue, you may find you are more easily annoyed by minor frustrations. Eventually
the body will adapt to the stressor and return to normal.
Exhaustion
The Exhaustion Phase- Persistent
stress lowers the body of energy, and increases vulnerability to physical problems
and eventually illness.
The same reactions that allow the body to respind
effectively in the alarm and resistance phases are unhealthy as long-range
responses. Tense muscles can cause side effects such as headaches and neck pain
along with increased blood pressure ad digestive disorders.
Hans Selye believed there was no such thing as a stress
free live. Some stress can be positive and productive, even if it
requires the body to produce short-term energy. Selye also believes that some
negative stress is unavoidable.
Treatment/prevention
implications of stress theory
·
Changing environment Eliminate/reduce stressors
·
Give a stronger sense of control
·
Increase social support
Structural
Strain Theory
Society’s organization puts some groups at an economic
disadvantage and Economic disadvantage is a strain that leads to higher rates
of psychological breakdown
According to Webster’s dictionary strain (in the form of
a verb) means to be subjected to tension or stress.
Strain may be either:
- Structural: This refers to the processes at the societal level which filter down and affect how the individual perceives his or her needs, i.e. if particular social structures are inherently inadequate or there is inadequate regulation, this may change the individual's perceptions as to means and opportunities.
- Individual: This refers to the frictions and pains experienced by an individual as he or she looks for ways to satisfy his or her needs, i.e. if the goals of a society become significant to an individual, actually achieving them may become more important than the means adopted.
In
criminology, the strain theory states that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit
crime
Treatment/prevention implications of Structural Strain
Theory
·
To prevent psychological breakdown, need large scale
interventions—e.g., guaranteed income.
·
However, Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance
Experiments showed minimal benefit from income guarantee in preventing symptoms
of psychological distress
Labeling
Theory
Labeling theory had its origins in Suicide, a book by French sociologist
Émile Durkheim. He found that crime is not so much a violation of a penal code
as it is an act that outrages society. He was the first to suggest that deviant
labeling satisfies that function and satisfies society's need to control the behavior.
Howard Becker who first began describing the process of
how a person adopts a deviant role in a study of dance musicians.He later
studied the identity formation of marijuana smokers. This study was the basis
of his Outsiders published in 1963. This work became the manifesto of
the labeling theory movement among sociologists. In his opening, Becker writes:
“social
groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction creates deviance”
and by applying those roles to particular people and
labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a
quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the
application by other of rules and sanctions to an 'offender.' The deviant is
one to whom that label has been successfully applied; deviant behavior is
behavior that people so label.
While society uses the stigmatic label to justify its
condemnation, the deviant actor uses it to justify his actions. He wrote:
"To put a complex argument in a few words: instead of the deviant motives
leading to the deviant behavior, it is the other way around, the deviant
behavior in time produces the deviant motivation
Modified
labeling theory
Bruce Link and colleagues have conducted several studies
which point to the influence that labeling can have on mental patients. Through
these studies, which took place in 1987, 1989, and 1997, Link advanced a
"modified labeling theory" indicating that expectations of labeling
can have a large negative effect, that these expectations often cause patients
to withdraw from society, and that those labeled as having a mental disorder
are constantly being rejected from society in seemingly minor ways but that,
when taken as a whole, all of these small slights can drastically alter their
self concepts. They come to both anticipate and perceive negative societal
reactions to them, and this potentially damages their quality of life.
Modified Labeling theory has been described as a
"sophisticated social-psychological model of 'why labels matter' ".
In 2000 results from a prospective
two-year study of patients discharged from a mental hospital (in the context of
deinstitutionalization)
showed that stigma was
a powerful and persistent force in their lives, and that experiences of social rejection were
a persistent source of social stress.
Efforts to cope with labels, such as not telling anyone,
educating people about mental distress/disorder, withdrawing from stigmatizing
situations, could result in further social isolation and reinforce negative
self-concepts. Sometimes an identity as a low self-esteem
minority in society would be accepted.The stigma was associated with diminished
motivation and ability to "make it in mainstream society" and with
"a state of social and psychological vulnerability to prolonged and
recurrent problems".
There was an up and down pattern in self-esteem, however,
and it was suggested that, rather than simply gradual erosion of self-worth and
increasing self-deprecating
tendencies, people were sometimes managing, but struggling, to maintain
consistent feelings of self-worth. Ultimately, "a cadre of patients had
developed an entrenched, negative view of themselves, and their experiences of
rejection appear to be a key element in the construction of these self-related
feelings" and "hostile neighbourhoods may not only affect their
self-concept but may also ultimately impact the patient's mental health status
and how successful they are".
Drawbacks of labeling theory
This theory doesn’t explain initial causes of deviant
behavior so theory has limited usefulnessand.
References
The
Neurodevelopmental Theory of Schizophrenia:
Evidence from
Studies of Early Onset Cases
Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci
- Vol. 47 - No 2 (2010)
McDonald C, Murray RM. Early and late environmental risk
factors for
schizophrenia.
Brain Res
Rev 2000;31:130-137.
Strain Theory Revisited:
Economic Goals, Educational Means, and Delinquency
Margaret
Farnworth; Michael J. Leiber
American Sociological Review, Vol. 54, No. 2. (Apr., 1989), pp. 263-274.
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