Question

Applied Psychology

The purpose of this assignment is to review some of the psychological disorders that psychologists and other mental health professionals may be working with in their profession. For this assignment, please use the National Institute of Mental Health (information on psychological disorders and treatment). Describe at least one major psychological disorder.

What is the disorder?

The types if any

Possible causes

Signs and symptoms

Diagnosis

Treatment (medications and psychotherapy)

Answer 1

Here we are going to discuss Schizophrenia. The characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia involve a range of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dysfunctions, but no single symptom is pathognomonic of the disorder. According to DSM-IV, schizophrenia was divided into four subtypes. But according to DSM-V it has no divisions now. Possible causes for schizophrenia are :

Genetic Factors : There is a genetic contribution for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia occur at an increased rate among the biological relatives of patients with schizophrenia.In the case of monozygotic twins who have identical genetic endowment, there is an approximately 50 percent concordance rate for schizophrenia. This rate is four to five times the concordance rate in dizygotic twins or the rate of occurrence found in other first-degree relatives.

Biochemical Factors : Excessive dopamine release in patients with schizophrenia has been linked to the severity of positive psychotic symptoms.Current hypotheses posit serotonin excess as a cause of both positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Psychoanalytic Theories : Sigmund Freud postulated that schizophrenia resulted from developmental fixations early in life. These fixations produce defects in ego development, and he postulated that such defects contributed to the symptoms of schizophrenia. Ego disintegration in schizophrenia represents a return to the time when the ego was not yet developed or had just begun to be established.

Learning Theories : According to learning theorists, children who later have schizophrenia learn irrational reactions and ways of thinking by imitating parents who have their own significant emotional problems. In learning theory, the poor interpersonal relationships of persons with schizophrenia develop because of poor models for learning during childhood.

Family Dynamics : a specific family pattern plays a causative role in the development of schizophrenia. Some patients with schizophrenia do come from dysfunctional families, just as do many nonpsychiatrically ill persons.

Double Bind family is a family in which children receive conflicting parental messages about their behavior, attitudes, and feelings. So, children withdraw into a psychotic state to escape the unsolvable confusion of the
double bind.

Expressed Emotion, where parents or other caregivers may behave with overt criticism, hostility, and overinvolvement toward a person with schizophrenia.

Signs and symptoms :

A. Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1 -month period (or less if successfully treated). At least one of these must be (1 ), (2), or (3):

1. Delusions.
2. Hallucinations.
3. Disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence).
4. Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior.
5. Negative symptoms (i.e., diminished emotional expression or avolition).
B. For a significant portion of the time since the onset of the disturbance, level of functioning in one or more major areas, such as work, interpersonal relations, or self-care, is markedly below the level achieved prior to the onset (or when the onset is in childhood or adolescence, there is failure to achieve expected level of interpersonal, academic,
or occupational functioning).
C. Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months. This 6-month period must include at least 1 month of symptoms (or less if successfully treated) that meet Criterion A (i.e., active-phase symptoms) and may include periods of prodromal or residual symptoms. During these prodromal or residual periods, the signs of the disturbance may be manifested by only negative symptoms or by two or more symptoms listed in Criterion A present in an attenuated form (e.g., odd beliefs, unusual perceptual experiences).

D. Schizoaffective disorder and depressive or bipolar disorder with psychotic features have been ruled out because either 1 ) no major depressive or manic episodes have occurred concurrently with the active-phase symptoms, or 2) if mood episodes have occurred during active-phase symptoms, they have been present for a minority of the total duration of the active and residual periods of the illness.

E. The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition.

F. If there is a history of autism spectrum disorder or a communication disorder of childhood onset, the additional diagnosis of schizophrenia is made only if prominent delusions or hallucinations, in addition to the other required symptoms of schizophrenia, are also present for at least 1 month (or less if successfully treated).

Diagnosis : The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria include course specifiers (i.e., prognosis) that offer clinicians several options and describe actual clinical situations. The presence of hallucinations or delusions is not necessary for a diagnosis of schizophrenia; the patient’s disorder is diagnosed as schizophrenia when the patient exhibits two of the
symptoms listed in symptoms 1 through 5 of Criterion A (e.g., disorganized speech). Criterion B requires that impaired functioning, although not deteriorations, be present during the active phase of the illness. Symptoms must persist for at least 6 months, and a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder or mood disorder must be absent.

Treatment : Although antipsychotic medications are the mainstay of the treatment for schizophrenia, research has found that psychosocial interventions, including psychotherapy, can augment the clinical improvement. Just as pharmacological agents are used to treat presumed chemical imbalances, nonpharmacological strategies must treat nonbiological issues. The complexity of schizophrenia usually renders any single therapeutic approach
inadequate to deal with the multifaceted disorder.Patients with schizophrenia benefit more from the combined use of antipsychotic drugs and psychosocial treatment than from either treatment used alone.