There appears to be a tendency for schizophrenia to run in families. This suggests that genes play a role. Gottesman found that schizophrenia is more common among biological relatives of a person with schizophrenia and also that the closer the degree of genetic relatedness, the greater the risk. Gottesman conducted family studies and showed that when both parent are schizophrenic the children have a 46% concordance rate, however, if only one parent had it, it dropped to 16% and dropped to a further 1% when the sibling of the child had schizophrenia. This suggests that a genetic factor is involved.
Essay Plan Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia 1. Describe in some detail the genetic factors- family studies- Gottesman found that schizophrenia is more common among biological relatives of a person with schizophrenia and also that the closer the degree of genetic relatedness, the greater the risk. For instance, children with 2 schizophrenic parents have a concordance rate of 46%, children of one schizophrenic parent 13% and siblings 9%. Although this could be due to common rearing patterns or other factors not relating to heredity. Twin studies- Joseph calculated concordance rates of 40.4% for MZ twins and 7.4% for DZ twins.
It was found that having an identical twin with schizophrenia gave you a 48% chance of developing the condition. This reduced to 17% in non-identical twins. They concluded that schizophrenia has a strong genetic basis, however, if it was entirely down to genetics, we would expect this figure to be 100% for identical twins. The meta analysis was carried out on field experiments, so has high ecological validity. The fact that both twins wouldn’t always develop schizophrenia means that another factor must be involved, for example family environment.
Another big theoretical view is the dopamine theory much research has been done on the neurotransmitter dopamine. According to the dopamine theory, people with schizophrenia use an abundance of dopamine, although they may not make more of it. Researchers suggest that people with schizophrenia have a large concentration of dopamine at the synapses in the brain, this maybe linked to the confusion that characterizes people with schizophrenia. Treatment for schizophrenic symptoms varies from patient to patient depending on how bad a persons schizophrenic symptom are, but the normal for people with mild schizophrenia is counseling and therapy plus medications that help control the symptoms. Some other forms of treatment is rehab, and family therapy also other people suffering from the same disorder also sometimes hospitalization is required to make sure that the medication works and the symptoms will go away.
Some psychologists say that schizophrenia can be inherited from their parents. Twin research has shown that identical twins have a greater risk of developing schizophrenia, if their twin has the
A family study conducted by Gottesman reported that the rate of schizophrenia in the general population is 1% whereas the rate in people where both parents suffer in 46%. He also found that if one parent suffered the rate was 13%. Gottesman concluded that the closer the bloodline the higher the risk. He and Shields then conducted a study on the concordance rates of schizophrenia in 40 sets of twins. They found that in dizygotic twins the rate
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that most often requires multiple therapies that help a person manage their mental disease. For the larger portion of individuals with schizophrenia a combination of psychotropic medication and a psychosocial therapy is most successful (Townsend, 2008). Schizophrenia has been reviewed and presented in steps for nursing to help diagnose people. The cause of the mental disease remains a puzzle to psychiatrists, but identifying the type and care needed for people is clear. Schizophrenia can be managed, but it requires the assistance of medication and possibly other therapies.
Discuss issues surrounding the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia. There are two different classification systems in place to diagnose schizophrenia, the ICD-10 and the DCM. The key difference between the two classification systems is that the DCM measures symptoms over the course of 6 months, whereas the ICD-10 measures them over only one month. This poses a question of reliability, as there is a great lack of consistency between the two systems. Beck et al (1961) looked at inter-rater reliability between 2 psychiatrists who both looked at the same 154 patients, and found that the inter-rater reliability was low at 54%, meaning that the two systems may produce different results when it comes to the classification of schizophrenia.
Bateson et al (1956) suggested that children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop schizophrenia e.g. a mother hugs her child but then disapprovingly tells him off for being “clingy”. This is known as the double-bind theory. There is evidence to support the double-bind theory. Berger found that schizophrenics reported a higher recall of double-bind statements by their mothers than non-schizophrenics.
Those with a family history of schizophrenia are more likely to develop the illness than those without a family history. Environmental factors also play a role. Large amounts of stress are usually the main trigger for those who develop schizophrenia. Also, those who live in an urban environment are more likely to develop schizophrenia than those in more rural environments. Researchers are currently using this information to search for ways to prevent