Biological therapies for schizophrenia

Yesterday (Tues 9th) we started to look at the biological therapies for schizophrenia - namely traditional and atypical antipsychotics (drugs). We looked at the way the work and evaluated whether they were effective or appropriate as treatments. 

Here is the plan for next week:

Tues twilight - Biological therapies - ECT, plus revision for the timed essay
Wed P1: TIMED ESSAY:

'Outline and evaluate psychological explanations of schizophrenia (8+16)

40 minutes, no books or notes.

Wed P2: Some sort of festive quiz or similar.

Iman is on cake on Tuesday.

Psychological therapies for schizophrenia

We've looked at two psychological therapies for schizophrenia - psychoanalysis and CBT. Both are almost always used in conjunction with the biological therapies ie antipsychotic medication. It's important to be able to evaluate these therapies in terms of their effectiveness (do they work?) and their appropriateness (are they suitable for schizophrenia?), so make sure you make the most of this.

The psychoanalysis ppt is here. The CBT ppt is here. The two papers for and against the use of CBT are here and here. 

Psychological explanations of schizophrenia

Today we consolidated and went over the psychological explanations again. I introduced you to the burger technique, which is a good way of making sure you get the most AO2 marks from every study in an essay.

We started an essay - 'Discuss two or more psychological explanations of schizophrenia'. This is due in on Wednesday 3rd December. Use the skeleton plan provided. A copy of this is here.

Psychological explanations of schizophrenia.

Today we looked at various psychological explanations for schizophrenia. We talked about double binds, expressed emotion and life events. None of these are satisfactory in themselves in explaining the origins of the disorder but can all play a role in the diathesis-stress model, which talks about the interation of nature and nurture and which we discussed at length. 

Today's powerpoint is here. I set an essay on the biological explanations of schizophrenia; this is due next Tuesday and a suggested plan is here. 

Psychodynamic explanations of schizophrenia

Today we started looking at the psychological explanations of schizophrenia, and covered the psychodynamic (Freudian) view. We looked at some classic Freudian theory about the tripartite personality (this means it is in three parts). We then looked at how schizophrenia may develop in childhood, according to Freud. We then evaluated the theory.

Today's powerpoint is here (only the first few slides - we'll cover the rest tomorrow). 

Cake, version 2

Unfortunately, we have had to schedule a twilight (3-4pm) lesson onto your timetable, on Tues week A in R23. In order to make the experience more positive I propose a CAKE ROTA, whereby someone brings cake in every week to share. If you don't want to be on the rota, that is fine, but you're not then allowed to eat other people's....... Here is the updated rota:

Date	Cake bringer
30th Sep	Mrs Watson
14th Oct	Curtis
4th Nov	Daniel
18th Nov	Louis
2nd Dec	Ciin
16th Dec	Iman
13th Jan	Emily
27th Jan	Mehwish
10th Feb	Marco
3rd March	Jardel

PLEASE make a note of your date. Daniel, you're on next.

See me if you want to be taken off the rota. It's fine to buy a packet of biscuits!

Mrs Watson

The dopamine hypothesis

We are slowly working our way through the biological explanations of schizophrenia. We've finished the genetic explanations - ask me for a worksheet if you missed Tuesday's twilight lesson as I don't have an electronic version. I recommend that you learn one twin study, the Gottesman meta-analysis and one adoption study - these are all the sheet we used in the lesson. Be able to comment on the pros and cons of using this type of research evidence.

So, the highest genetic component to schizophrenia is only around 50% - showing that genetics certainly isn't the whole story. We now move onto the dopamine hypothesis, which states that schizophrenia is a result of increased dopamine levels. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. 

The powerpoint is here (same powerpoint as last week - we are slowly working our way through it). 

Biological explanations of schizophrenia

Today we started to look at the first biological explanation of schizophrenia - genetics. We discussed MZ and DZ twins, and the problems in trying to disentangle genetic from environmental influences. We looked at the Gottesman meta-analysis and the graph with the concordance rates on is in the powerpoint, which is here. 

Our first timed essay is on Wednesday 15th October during P1. You will have 40 minutes in exam conditions. I handed out suggestion skeleton plans which we filled in today. A copy is here. 

Don't forget our next lesson is the twilight, on Tues 14th.

Issues in diagnosing schizophrenia

Today we started to discuss some of the reasons why schizophrenia is so difficult to diagnose. The reasons can be divided into reasons of reliability (whether or not doctors agree on a diagnosis) or validity (are we actually diagnosing schizophrenia?).

Here is the original Rosenhan article (On being sane in insane places); do have a read.

Here is today's powerpoint.

Do ask if you have any questions about anything.

Cake

Unfortunately, we have had to schedule a twilight (3-4pm) lesson onto your timetable, on Tues week A in R23. In order to make the experience more positive I propose a CAKE ROTA, whereby someone brings cake in every week to share. If you don't want to be on the rota, that is fine, but you're not then allowed to eat other people's....... Here is the rota:

30th Sep	Mrs Watson
14th Oct	Curtis
4th Nov	Daisy
18th Nov	Daniel
2nd Dec	Louis
16th Dec	Ciin
13th Jan	Iman
27th Jan	Emily
10th Feb	Mehwish
3rd March	Marco
17th March	Jardel

PLEASE make a note of your date.

See me if you want to be taken off the rota. It's fine to buy a packet of biscuits!

Mrs Watson

Introduction to Schizophrenia

Here is the TED talk I mentioned in class, containing a fascinating first-person account of a journey through starting to hear voices to being diagnosed with schizophrenia and her subsequent experiences. You MUST watch this....it is all too easy to treat schizophrenia as an exercise in academic study, and learn to list the 'symptoms' without really thinking them through - it is a lot harder to look at the patients as individuals with their own histories and experiences.

Here is today's powerpoint. Here is the other one.

DON'T FORGET, your next lesson with me will be on Tues 30th September from 3-4pm in R23