Abnormal Psychology- Schizophrenia

Abnormal Psychology – Schizophrenia Introduction There are a number of problems with defining psychological abnormality. They include problems with cultural relativity and social norms, what is normal within one culture or society may be considered abnormal within another. There are also problems with statistics as some abnormalities have too few or too many statistics to compare and the statistics may not always be reliable. Under the medical model all psychological disorders are considered illnesses. There are two classification systems to diagnose different disorders.These are the International Classification of Diseases & Health Related Problems (ICD) and Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The most up to date editions currently in use are ICD-10 and DSM-IV although DSM-V is due to be released in May 2013. (Jabr, F (2013)) Schizophrenia According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) schizophrenia is a severe form of mental illness. It is a treatabl e psychological condition that affects 24 million people worldwide. It mainly affects 15-35 year olds and is more likely to occur in males but anyone of any age or gender, can develop the condition.It affects thinking, perceptions and language and causes the patient to hear voices and to have hallucinations and delusions. Symptoms ICD-10 diagnostic criteria †¢ At least one of: o Thought echo, thought insertion/withdrawal/broadcast o Passivity, delusional perception o   Third person auditory hallucination, running commentary o Persistent bizarre delusions †¢ or two or more of: o Persistent hallucinations o Thought disorder o Catatonic behaviour o Negative symptoms o Significant behaviour change †¢ Duration o    More than 1 month †¢ Exclusion criteria o Mood disorders, schizoaffective disorder Overt brain disease o Drug intoxication or withdrawal (Wing, J. K. & Agrawal, N. (2009)) Behavioural Explanations and Therapies The behavioural approach suggests that sch izophrenia is simply learned behaviour learned through operant conditioning. Sammons (2008) suggests that the reason schizophrenia tends to run in families is due to children learning the behaviour from their parents. Social learning theory also suggests that although there may be some symptoms present once a patient is around others with schizophrenia they learn symptoms by seeing others demonstrate them.It is difficult to explain how the hallucinations and delusions suffered by a schizophrenic can be explained as learned behaviour; true behaviourists think this is irrelevant as they are only concerned with the physical behaviours not what is happening in the mind. Paul and Lentz (1977) carried out a study into operant conditioning as a treatment for schizophrenia. They set up a token economy on a hospital ward where they rewarded patients for appropriate behaviour by giving them tokens that they could exchange for luxury items.It was found that only 11% of the patients in the test group continued to require drugs for their symptoms compared to 100% of the control group. (AQA, (2010)) This demonstrates that operant conditioning as a treatment is very effective; however behaviourists do not care whether the patient is still hearing voices as long as they behave like they are not. In the Paul and Lentz study the patients may still hear voices but have simply learned that if they behave as though they are not they will be rewarded. This means that the schizophrenia has not actually been cured. Biological Explanations and TherapiesThere have been a number of studies conducted that suggest there is a biological cause for schizophrenia. Through family resemblance studies it has been discovered that a normal person with no family history of schizophrenia has around a 0. 2-2% chance of developing the condition, whereas a person with one schizophrenic parent has a 13% chance of developing it. The chances increase to 46% if both parents have the condition. (Head, P (20 12)) This information may not be reliable as it was based on information from records and memories and memories can easily be distorted or misinterpreted.The Copenhagen High –risk study looked at children aged 10-18 and classified them into low risk, of developing schizophrenia, and high risk groups. They removed the risk of environmental factors that could distort the results by grouping the children by age, gender, residence and economic status. This made the study highly reliable as it meant the only factor that should affect results was genetics. The study found that only 1. 9% of children in the low risk group developed schizophrenia whereas 16. 2% of the high risk children did.This shows support for the genetic explanation for schizophrenia. Iverson (1979) carried out post-mortem studies. He found that there are high levels of dopamine in brains of schizophrenics. It is suggested that schizophrenia is caused by high levels of dopamine in the brain or more dopamine recep tors in their brains. This is supported by the success of chlorpromazine drugs as a treatment for the condition. There are however problems with this explanation. One problem is that there is no evidence that excess dopamine causes schizophrenia.It could be that schizophrenia causes excess dopamine. (AQA, 2010) Biological treatments for schizophrenia are anti psychotic drugs and chlorpromazine which blocks dopamine receptors in the brain. These drugs have been proven to work as they reduce the number of patients spending a long time in hospital; however drugs are not a cure. They only control the symptoms if a patient stops taking these drugs the symptoms will soon return. This is known as the ‘revolving door syndrome. ’ There can be a number of reasons for this to happen; firstly a patient may ave a fear of getting well. The patient may find it difficult to imagine life without schizophrenia or enjoy some part of it. Another reason is that the patient may stop taking t he drugs they are prescribed due to side effects. (Fritscher, L (2012)) The side effects of these drugs can include drowsiness, dizziness, disturbed vision, weight gain, blood clots and tremors. (Net doctor (2012)) Patients may feel that the side effects are worse than the original illness and stop taking the prescribed medication which then starts the cycle again. Psychodynamic Explanations and TherapiesThe psychodynamic explanation for schizophrenia is that the Ego is being over taken by either the Id or Superego. Freudians would suggest that there has been a problem in childhood, most likely a problem with the mother, the ego doesn’t develop as well as it should which means the id can easily take control. (Sammons (2008)) The Ego looses control and the patient will enter a child like state, known as ‘primary narcissism’, which causes fantasy to be confused with reality and delusions of self importance which cause the patient to be highly demanding similar to a baby.Hallucinations and delusions are caused by the Ego trying to regain control and reality. There are problems with the psychodynamic approach; firstly there is no scientific evidence to support the explanations. Secondly it has generally been regarded that since anti psychotic drugs work to treat the symptoms that the biological explanation is more reliable. (Sammons (2008)) Freud did not see any point in treating schizophrenics as he believed that it had been caused by the broken ego which is the part of the psyche that he would engage with, as this was so badly damaged he believed there was no way to cure schizophrenia.More recently the main psychodynamic treatment for schizophrenia has been psychotherapy. Rosen (1946) brought patients into a child like state to be able to then nurture them to redevelop a strong ego and ultimately rebalance the psyche. There have been problems with this form of treatment as it is out of date and the results that were found by Rosen are less li kely to be effective today as the definition of schizophrenia has changed and the cases Rosen treated would not be considered to be schizophrenic today. Also Drake & Sederer (1986) actually found that his form of therapy could worsen symptoms and prolong the patients stay in hospital. Cognitive Explanations and Therapies The cognitive approach agrees with the biological evidence that there is a high genetic contribution to schizophrenia but realises that there must also be other causes and it is important to take these into account. The cognitive model suggests that although genes can create a disposition to develop schizophrenia it only actually develops as a response to stresses such as trauma or infections.Cognitive psychologists fail to take environmental factors such as family and lifestyle into account. Cognitive psychologists believe that the faulty thought patterns are what cause schizophrenia and not a result of the condition. It is suggested that there is a fault with the way in which schizophrenics process information and that it is difficult for them to filter out irrelevant information. Hemsley (1993) suggested that schizophrenics have problems processing information in their memories and new information coming in. It is also suggested that there is a problem with the functioning of the in built schemas.Hemsley explains that the reason schizophrenics hear voices is because they do not realise that their thoughts come from memories and therefore believe them to be voices. There is however very little evidence to support Hemsley’s ideas except for some research on animals which cannot be directly compared with human behaviour. Frith (1992) suggested that people with schizophrenia find it difficult to distinguish whether the information is coming from an internal or external source. He believed that most of the symptoms of schizophrenia can be explained by problems in three different cognitive processes.The first is the inability to generate w illed action. The second is the inability to monitor willed action, and the third is the inability to monitor the beliefs and intentions of others. Frith suggests that these problems come from faulty wiring in the brain. There is evidence to support this from his study where he gave specific tasks to schizophrenics and monitored the cerebral blood flow. He found that this was different to what he would expect to see in a person without schizophrenia. The cognitive explanation of schizophrenia is very popular in terms of helping ordinary eople understand the condition. It is also made more reliable by the fact that they take into account other factors such as genetics as well as psychological factors. The cognitive approach also has limitations as although it does well to explain the symptoms of schizophrenia it cannot explain the causes alone without looking at the biological model. PAGE 13-14 Conclusions In conclusion there are a wide range of explanations for schizophrenia includi ng genetics, environment and traumatic experiences. There are also a wide range of treatments including drugs, psycho therapy and behavioural therapy.All of these explanations and therapies have credit on their own but also have limitations. The best way to treat schizophrenia is through a combination of treatments such as drugs used with cognitive-behavioural therapy. Most people with schizophrenia are managed through treatments however many people will relapse. This would then trigger a new round of treatments. Continued support even after recovery helps to reduce the chances of relapse. (NHS choices (2012)) References o AQA, (2010) schizophrenia: Explanations and treatments [online] available from: www. aqabpsychology. co. k/2010/07/schizophrenia-explanations-and-treatments [accessed 5. 2. 2013] o Fritscher, L (2012) Revolving Door Syndrome [online] available from http://phobias. about. com/od/glossary/g/Revolving-Door-Syndrome. htm [accessed 11. 2. 2013] o Head, P (2012) Biologi cal Explanations of Schizophrenia [online] available from: http://www. springwood. norfolk. sch. uk/Downloads/Psychology/BIOLOGICAL%20EXPLANATIONS%20OF%20SCHIZOPHRENIA. pdf [Accessed 6. 2. 2013] o Jabr, F (2013) The Newest Edition of Psychiatry’s â€Å"Bible,† the DSM-5, Is Complete [Online] available from: http://www. scientificamerican. om/article. cfm? id=dsm-5-update [Accessed on 11. 2. 2013] o Net Doctor (2012) Chlorpromazine – Side Effects [online] available from: http://www. netdoctor. co. uk/brain-and-nervous-system/medicines/chlorpromazine. html. [Accessed 11. 2. 2013] o NHS Choices (2012) Schizophrenia – Living with [online] available from: http://www. nhs. uk/Conditions/Schizophrenia/Pages/living-with. aspx [accessed 6. 2. 2013] o Sammons (2008) Schizophrenia [online] available from: http://www. psychlotron. org. uk/resources/abnormal/A2_AQB_abnormal_schizophreniaPsyBehActivity. pdf [accessed 5. 2. 2013] Wing, J. K & Agrawal, N. (2009) Concepts of Schizophrenia [online] Available from: (http://www. health. am/psy/more/icd-10-and-dsm-iv-concepts-of-schizophrenia/ [accessed: 2. 2. 2013] Bibliography o Mcleod, S. (2008) Abnormal Psychology [online] available from; www. simplypsychology. org/abnormal-psychology. html [accessed 5. 2. 2013] o WHO (2012) Mental Health – Schizophrenia [online] available from: www. who. int/mental_health/management/schizophrenia/en/ [accessed 5. 2. 2013] http://alevelpsychologynotes. blogspot. co. uk/2007/10/schizophrenia. html by TAZMANIAN_DEVIL a 2007

Mexican Immigration essays

Mexican Immigration essays Since September11th our nations immigration awareness has heightened to a degree not seen since WWII. The citizens of America now look at every immigrant, whether legal or illegal like a suspect. Weve cracked down on the countries outside of the North American continent, but what about Mexico? In this paper, Ill take a look on my plan for Mexico. On how we can reduce the number of Mexicans coming into America, and increase their morale at the same time. Ive seen such articles as Bush Hopes to Mend Mexico Ties (USA Today, January 12th, 2004) or Employers praise Bushs guest workers plan (USA Today, January 8th, 2004) however I have yet to see anything actually being done. A plan is a plan, not an action. Make it an action. And if these so called plans have been put into motion, why not report it to the people. If the people of America believe immigrants coming up from Mexico in such large numbers are hurting us, why not inform the people that something is trying to be done about it. Which brings me to another item of debate, if we can go into Iraq and liberate their people, why cant we go into Mexico and help the people? The people of Mexico do not need a complete government renovation like Iraq did. They just need someone to bluntly tell them that this way isnt working. Just helping industries is not the answer. You have to help the actual people. Mexico has several natural resources such as petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, and timber. And doesnt the world need more of those resources? I believe we do. We should work with the Mexican government to come up with some plans and actions that we can take to put some life back into the people. Currently the Mexican government is working on boosting their economy, by welcoming privatized industries; however, progress is going extremely slow. If America were to invest s...

Free Essays on Importancia De La Familia

Podrà ­a decirse con certeza que la familia es para el hombre algo totalmente necesario y por ende, se asume que es la forma que mejor permite al ser humano desenvolverse en la sociedad, puesto que entrega los valores, el apoyo y el carià ±o bsicos para toda persona. El vivir en familia es algo que se tiene completamente asumido; nadie nos pregunta al nacer si lo deseamos o no, sino que simplemente es algo impuesto. En el texto de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, â€Å"Del Contrato Social†, el autor se refiere a la familia como primer modelo de sociedad polà ­tica, y primera instancia en que el hombre enajena su libertad, aunque por utilidad propia. Aquella descripcià ³n hizo que me planteara la verdadera razà ³n de ser de una familia, es decir,  ¿Cul es la funcià ³n que la familia debiera cumplir en nuestras vidas? y yendo ms a fondo,  ¿Podemos decir que estamos sacrificando nuestra libertad individual al vivir de esta manera? En primer lugar, serà ­a irreal pretender que a edades en que ni siquiera tenemos capacidad de dominio de nuestros actos, nos pudià ©ramos desenvolver completamente solos. Es inevitable entregar entonces nuestro cuidado a un ser mayor, y porquà © no hacerlo a nuestros padres, que son las personas que nos trajeron al mundo, y por ende, siempre estarn velando por lo que sea mejor para nosotros. Desde este punto de vista, sà ­ renunciamos a parte de nuestra libertad personal, pero lo hacemos por necesidad, o como decà ­a Rousseau, en funcià ³n de nuestra propia utilidad. Muchas veces debemos obedecer ciertas reglas que nos imponen los padres, y sobretodo cuando no estamos de acuerdo con ellas, sentimos que se nos est privando de nuestra libertad. Sin embargo, se debe tener una visià ³n ms amplia, entender que ellos estn viendo las cosas desde una perspectiva ms sabia, y que todo lo que hacen lo hacen por nuestro propio bienestar. Ms aà ºn en la adolescencia, tendemos a creer que sabemos las cosas mejor que na... Free Essays on Importancia De La Familia Free Essays on Importancia De La Familia Podrà ­a decirse con certeza que la familia es para el hombre algo totalmente necesario y por ende, se asume que es la forma que mejor permite al ser humano desenvolverse en la sociedad, puesto que entrega los valores, el apoyo y el carià ±o bsicos para toda persona. El vivir en familia es algo que se tiene completamente asumido; nadie nos pregunta al nacer si lo deseamos o no, sino que simplemente es algo impuesto. En el texto de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, â€Å"Del Contrato Social†, el autor se refiere a la familia como primer modelo de sociedad polà ­tica, y primera instancia en que el hombre enajena su libertad, aunque por utilidad propia. Aquella descripcià ³n hizo que me planteara la verdadera razà ³n de ser de una familia, es decir,  ¿Cul es la funcià ³n que la familia debiera cumplir en nuestras vidas? y yendo ms a fondo,  ¿Podemos decir que estamos sacrificando nuestra libertad individual al vivir de esta manera? En primer lugar, serà ­a irreal pretender que a edades en que ni siquiera tenemos capacidad de dominio de nuestros actos, nos pudià ©ramos desenvolver completamente solos. Es inevitable entregar entonces nuestro cuidado a un ser mayor, y porquà © no hacerlo a nuestros padres, que son las personas que nos trajeron al mundo, y por ende, siempre estarn velando por lo que sea mejor para nosotros. Desde este punto de vista, sà ­ renunciamos a parte de nuestra libertad personal, pero lo hacemos por necesidad, o como decà ­a Rousseau, en funcià ³n de nuestra propia utilidad. Muchas veces debemos obedecer ciertas reglas que nos imponen los padres, y sobretodo cuando no estamos de acuerdo con ellas, sentimos que se nos est privando de nuestra libertad. Sin embargo, se debe tener una visià ³n ms amplia, entender que ellos estn viendo las cosas desde una perspectiva ms sabia, y que todo lo que hacen lo hacen por nuestro propio bienestar. Ms aà ºn en la adolescencia, tendemos a creer que sabemos las cosas mejor que na...

Belkiz Feedaway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Belkiz Feedaway - Essay Example Assuming that I sell the portable feeding chair at the price of US$150 each, the company will have a demand of as much as 500 pieces of portable feeding chair per month. In case I decided to sell the portable feeding chair at the price of US$350 per chair, the company will be able to sell only 200 pieces of its portable feeding chair per month. (See Graph I – Investment on Price Elastic Product (Portable Feeding Chair) below) A portable feeding chair made out of strong recyclable cardboard is considered as a homogenous product. It means that the product itself can be easily copied by other cardboard manufacturers. For this reason, it is not advisable on the part of Belkiz Feedaway to sell its product as inelastic product. By maintaining the price elasticity of demand, the company will be able to continuously sell the product all year round. To determine the best pricing strategy for Belkiz Feedaway’s portable feeding chair, there is a strong need for the marketing manager to conduct a market analysis which includes market segmentation, targeting, and positioning of the product in the market. Since a portable feeding chair is designed for toddler’s use, the target markets for this product are couples or single parent with new born child. Based on statistics of newborn children each year, the company could estimate roughly how big its potential market is within the United States. Since this product is relatively new in the market, the company can take advantage of pricing the product not too high and not too low. Since there are no other substitute for this product in the market as of the present time, the company has more bargaining power over its target consumers. With regards to product pricing, it is important to consider the volume of portable feeding chair the company can produce. Even though demand for the product is high, the availability of supply could also affect the pricing of the product until such point that the

Thorstein Veblen Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Thorstein Veblen Paper - Essay Example In his first, famous book, the theory of Leisure Class, he coined the system of spending as being â€Å"conspicuous consumption†. He was intensely critical of businessperson concerning their greedy and the tendency of spending money for things, which are not even productive. Thorstein Veblen described the wealthy class using hyperbole and some humours in order to show hierocracies of people who are wealthy. This paper will try to analyze the impacts of economics that Thorstein Veblen has contributed to, in the field of the economics (Peil, 2009, p.121). Impact of Thorstein Veblen in the field of economics Veblen in the field of economics makes his readers aware of American small-scale, which was intensely competitive was giving its ways for the large-scale monopoly trusts. He further explained by emphasizing that the monopolistic practices administered prices, which meant that, there was a charge in what the traffic will bear; as well as, the limitations of producing high qual ity for the sake of raising the prices and maximizing the profits. However, the case of the emergence of the leisure class which led to wasteful as well as, conspicuous consumption for status. ... While technological knowledge to be the common stock that is held as well as, carried forward by the community collectively, but it is not a creative achievement of the individuals who are working in isolation of self-sufficiently (Veblen, 2004, p. 103). Veblen continued to argue that every new invention in addition to innovation comes in, to a given degree, which is made by individuals. However, he is a social individual because every change made must always be made by individuals who are immersed in a community plus exposing to disciplines of the group life because it runs in the community and all life are group life. Subsequently, welfares that are generated by the social wealth are substitutes to the material output; however, it is a necessary condition, which is suggested to be for the long-term developments of the material output (Krugman, 2009, p.124) The bonds of interaction may be fragile, while the human society may be at a lower level of development if there fails to be st ructures of the community as well as, trust. Technology knowledge has become a common theme that is used in economics today. However, the study shows that, in some states for example Kerala, which is in India, the social wealth provided a foundation for high standards of living but less Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. A similar notion that seemed to have the same meaning to that of Veblen was developed. The notion was all about the social structures of schools accumulations. The institution is that to be suitable for providing a reproductive foundation for the growth and accumulation, since social wealth is able to promote growth at the same time to be essential to dimensions of the quality life. He explains further by analyzing that when

Recruitment, Selection, Training and Development Essay

Recruitment, Selection, Training and Development - Essay Example The credit crunch has implications both on recruitment and selection on one hand and training and development on the other hand of human resources across organisations in the United Kingdom such as Standard Chartered (Amyx, 2004, pp121-9). The rate of unemployment increases releasing the tensions associated with shortage of skills. But where the skill shortages result from the constraints of supply side, then the tension remains. Similarly, the skills arose from buoyant demand will disappear (Venugopal Reddy, 2010, pp256-289). The tight search for talents will continue after recession at a comparatively lower level. Additionally, the management of talents is focused on the retention of strategic personnel. The rate of growth for wages will be moderate, but will shrink mostly in sectors where a significant proportion of the pay benefits comprise bonuses due to the need to reduce costs (Allison, 2013, pp178-234). The company will have to revise its current salary schemes as it tries to look for cheaper means to finance its activities. The earnings of the public sector will trigger industrial unrest as negotiations for wages will become more difficult with the trade unions. Marx explains the credit crisis from the perspective of the business cycle. The business cycle refers to the booms and slumps in an economy. He explains the occurrence of the boom as when invest heavily while anticipating generation of huge profits. This results into competition among the firms. Consequently, output expands rapidly. The investments by firms to widen their profit bases again create an opportunity for other firms which supply them with capital goods, for example machinery, and other products. The economy experiences booms as more output is produced and reduced unemployment rates (Amyx, 2004, pp121-9). This boom does not last as accumulation of capital with time reduces the profits made by the companies. According to Marx, the

Parenting Skills Essay Example for Free

Parenting Skills Essay 1. What role do you think discipline plays in developing a child’s self-esteem? What forms of discipline best serve the self-esteem of the child or adolescent? 2. List and discuss how activities, clubs, or sports, impact the self-esteem of children and parents. Provide at least two activities, clubs, or sports in your answer. Discussion Answers 1. I think that discipline done correctly could help in a child’s self-esteem. When you discipline a child make sure that they understand WHY and it makes them feel trustworthy, and included. If you treat discipline like a dictatorship the child feels like you’re abusive and they are stupid and untrustworthy. people with low self-esteem generally Fail to achieve their goals, Are not able to pursue accomplishments in a responsible and disciplined manner, Have poor communication skills, Have a pessimistic view on life, Are prone to anxiety, depression, hostility, loneliness, shame, and guilt, Form unhealthy, destructive relationships with others, and Make decisions in life more to please others than to adhere to their own interests and value systems. I think that discipline done correctly could help in a child’s self-esteem. When you discipline a child make sure that they need to understand what is happening and they need to feel included. If you treat discipline like a dictatorship the child feels like you’re abusive. people with low self-esteem generally fail to achieve their goals, have poor communication skills, have a negative view on life and are prone to anxiety, depression, loneliness, and guilt. Also, form unhealthy, destructive relationships with others, and make decisions in life more to please others. 2. Parents should encourage children to participate in sports and clubs that are productive and give a feeling of accomplishment. However, it is not always advantageous for a parent to push a child toward a particular sport or activity because sometimes the parents will push their children towards their dream sports or activities they wanted to do as a child. 3. parents should encourage children to participate in sports and clubs that are productive and give their children a feeling of accomplishment. However, it is not always advantageous for a parent to push a child toward a particular sport or activi ty.