Discuss the Psychological Explanations for Schizophrenia

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Discuss the psychological explanations for schizophrenia. (8+16 Marks) One psychological explanation for schizophrenia is the psychodynamic explanation. The perspective suggests that schizophrenia is caused by an inability to test reality, for example: being unable to distinguish between the internal and external world. The psychodynamic approach suggests that this inability comes from childhood experiences. The explanation suggests that the primary caregiver is responsible for helping the infant overcome its anxieties and if the care is inadequate then a child will not develop a proper sense of self. Therefore during adolescence when threats to the self occur the symptoms of schizophrenia begin to develop. However, the psychodynamic explanation to schizophrenia has many problems, for example: Freud claimed that schizophrenia is caused by over-whelming anxiety and is a defence mechanism involving regression into an early stage of development. Freud suggested that one of the positive symptoms of the disorder, hallucinations are the ego’s attempt to restore contact with reality. However there isn’t any research evidence to support Freud’s theory and psychoanalysis is not an effective treatment for schizophrenia suggesting that the psychodynamic theory does not explain the causes of schizophrenia. Another explanation of schizophrenia is family models. The double bund theory suggests that a child has repeated experiences of contradictory messages from family members. For example a parent might say “you look sleepy and you need to go to bed now”. This suggests concern for the child’s welfare, but the tone of voice and body language could suggest hostility and desire to get the child out of the way. The theory suggests that repeated exposure to these contradictory messages causes the child to resort to self-deception and to develop a false concept of reality and an

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