· brain defects or injury: Defects in or injury to certain areas of the brain have also been linked to some mental illnesses. · prenatal damage: Some evidence suggests that a disruption of early fetal brain development or trauma that occurs at the time of birth -- for example, loss of oxygen to the brain -- may be a factor in the development of certain conditions, such as autism. · substance abuse: Long-term substance abuse, in particular, has been linked to anxiety, depression, and paranoia. · other factors: Poor nutrition[->1] and exposure to toxins, such as lead, may play a role in the development of mental illnesses. PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS: · severe trauma suffered as a child, such as emotional, physical or sexual abuse.
The biological approach is a way of looking at abnormality that assumes that psychological disorders are physical illnesses with physical causes. According to the biological approach, the cause of a psychopathology is to with genetics, neurotransmitters, infection or brain injury. Faulty genes are known to cause some diseases that have psychological effects, such as Huntington’s disease (leads to a deterioration of mental abilities), and Schizophrenia (leading to symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions and disorganised behaviour.) A key study into the genetic basis of schizophrenia was done by Gottesman et al, who did a meta-analysis of 40 twin studies. It was found that having an identical twin with schizophrenia gave you a 48% chance of developing the condition.
Outline and evaluate the key features of the biological model of Psychopathology. In the Biological Model, it is stated that mental disorders have a physical or organic cause and can be seen as ‘diseases of the mind’. This is reflected in the use of the language, for example, ‘mental health’, ‘patient’, ‘diagnosis’ and ‘cure’. As in general medicine, it uses a classification system to identify mental illness on the basis of ‘symptoms’ that cluster together and which enable psychiatrists to make a diagnosis, eg. of depression or schizophrenia.
Outline and evaluate the biological approaches to causes of abnormality (12marks) The biological approach to abnormality sees mental disorders as caused by abnormal physiological processes such as genetic and biochemical factors. The physical features of the causes of a mental disorder according to the biological approach suggest that abnormality could be affected by brain damage. Abnormal behaviour may occur if the brain’s structure is damaged in some way. Once the disease or brain damage has caused the mental deterioration there is nothing can really be done to stop the damage going any further. Extreme use of alcohol and other drugs can damage the brain and can sometimes cause hallucinations or other symptoms of a mental disorder but is only usually caused by excessive use of alcohol and drugs.
Parkinson’s disease; the brain changes caused by Parkinson’s disease begin in a region that plays a key role in movement. As the brain changes, the disease will begin to affect mental functions, including memory and the ability to pay attention, make sound judgements and plan steps needed to complete a task. Parkinson’s disease is a fairly common neurological disorder in older adults, estimated to affect nearly 2% of those over 65. Huntington’s disease; this disease is a progressive brain disorder caused by a single defective gene on chromosome 4. Symptoms of the disease include abnormal involuntary movements, a severe decline in thinking and reasoning skills, irritability, depression and mood changes.
The biological explanations for depression centre on the mood disorder being biologically caused. Genetic factors suggest that you are born with a biological weakness which makes you unable to resist stressors, which consequently leads to depression. This is known as the diathesis stress model. The main piece of research that supports this comes from the Maudsley Hospital twin register, where concordance rates of 46% were found in MZ twins and 20% in DZ twins. This suggest that depression must be passed on through genes if there is a high concordance rate between twins which share the same genetic makeup both having depression.
It is released by one nerve ending also known as synapses, and is picked up by another nerve ending. After a message is sent, enzymes in the brain clean the serotonin out of the synapses. C. Main Idea: Patients with OCD have damaged receptor sites and is blocked to prevent sertonin to function potentially. D. Big Point: As Medline Plus explains, on September 25, 2007, recent data shows, that about 7 millions Americans are diagnose with OCD. About the age of 20 to 30 is when the symptoms are noticed by the abnormalities in the brain.
(Mental Health America) The biological factor responsible is yet unknown, however scientists believe the illness has a biological cause involving some type of disturbance in the brain. (Mueser, Jeste, V., 2008) This idea is based on the most widely accepted biological theory known as Dopamine Hypothesis. An imbalance in the neurotransmitter dopamine is believed to exist in schizophrenia. Dopamine is known to be an important neurotransmitter that controls thoughts and feelings, both of which are disturbed in schizophrenia. The imbalance of these chemicals affects the way a person’s brain responds to stimuli, which would explain why a person with schizophrenia might be overwhelmed by sensory information (loud music or bright lights), which other people can easily cope with.
Loss of SMN1 gene results in loss of function of specific proteins required for RNA processing. This abnormal RNA processing seems to have a toxic effect on the lower motor neurons and results in their progressive degeneration in the spinal cord and also in the brainstem motor nuclei of cranial nerves 5,7,9 and 12. Werdnig-Hoffman paralysis or SMA type I can also be related to / can also cause congenital heart defects in severe cases. Studies have shown that patients with a single SMN2 copy, have higher incidence of getting an atrial septal defect (ASD) or ventricular septal defect (VSD). Patients with only 2 copies of SMN2, have higher incidence of getting minor cardiac anomalies including patent foramen ovale (PFO) and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
Cognitive functions are associated with certain areas of the brain. With the case of Phineas Gage this shows how brain damage can affect a person's cognitive functioning. Though Phineas Gage survived his accident it showed that with certain parts of the brain becoming injured a person's cognitive function is affected. References Kotowicz, Z. (2007).