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History of Schizophrenia Diagnosis. Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926): dementia praecoxEugen Bleuler (1857-1939): schizophreniaThe Broadened U.S. ConceptIncreased frequency of diagnosisProcess-reactive dimensionOther U.S. diagnostic practicesDiagnose schizophrenia whenever delusions or hallucinations were presentPatients having a personality disorder were also diagnosed as schizophrenic.
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1. Schizophrenia
2. History of Schizophrenia Diagnosis Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926): dementia praecox
Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939): schizophrenia
The Broadened U.S. Concept
Increased frequency of diagnosis
Process-reactive dimension
Other U.S. diagnostic practices
Diagnose schizophrenia whenever delusions or hallucinations were present
Patients having a personality disorder were also diagnosed as schizophrenic
Emil Kraepelin - Dementia Praecox included several diagnostic concepts - dementia paranoides, catatonia, and hebephrenia - that had been regarded as distinct entities by clinicians in the previous few decades. Although these disorders were symptomatically diverse, Kraepelin believed they shared a common core - an early onset (praecox) and a deteriorating course marked by a progressive intellectual deterioration (dementia). Among the major symptoms Kraepelin saw in dementia praecox were hallucinations, delusions, negativism, attentional difficulties, stereotyped behavior, and emotional dysfunction.
Bleuler broke with Kraepelin on two major points: he believed that the disorder did not necessarily have an early onset, and he believed that it did not inevitably progress toward dementia. In 1908 Bleuler proposed his own term, schizophrenia, from the Greek words schizein meaning “to split” and phren, meaning “mind,” to capture what he believed was the essential nature of the condition. The common property of schizophrenia, according to Bleuler, was the “breaking of the associative threads” (i.e., threads which joined words and thoughts). Thus, goal directed, efficient thinking and communication were possible only when these hypothetical structures were intact.
In the US, psychiatrists followed Bleuler and began to diagnose more and more patients with schizophrenia. The reason for the expansion was the expansion of the term schizophrenia. In the 60’s and 70’s, the process-reactive dimension was another key means of maintaining the broad concept of schizophrenia. In process schizophrenia, the symptoms came on gradually, whereas in reactive schizophrenia the symptoms came on suddenly following a stressor. People with good premorbid functioning (i.e., reactives) had good prognosis.
Hallucinations and delusions are present in a number of disorders (e.g., mood disorders).
Emil Kraepelin - Dementia Praecox included several diagnostic concepts - dementia paranoides, catatonia, and hebephrenia - that had been regarded as distinct entities by clinicians in the previous few decades. Although these disorders were symptomatically diverse, Kraepelin believed they shared a common core - an early onset (praecox) and a deteriorating course marked by a progressive intellectual deterioration (dementia). Among the major symptoms Kraepelin saw in dementia praecox were hallucinations, delusions, negativism, attentional difficulties, stereotyped behavior, and emotional dysfunction.
Bleuler broke with Kraepelin on two major points: he believed that the disorder did not necessarily have an early onset, and he believed that it did not inevitably progress toward dementia. In 1908 Bleuler proposed his own term, schizophrenia, from the Greek words schizein meaning “to split” and phren, meaning “mind,” to capture what he believed was the essential nature of the condition. The common property of schizophrenia, according to Bleuler, was the “breaking of the associative threads” (i.e., threads which joined words and thoughts). Thus, goal directed, efficient thinking and communication were possible only when these hypothetical structures were intact.
In the US, psychiatrists followed Bleuler and began to diagnose more and more patients with schizophrenia. The reason for the expansion was the expansion of the term schizophrenia. In the 60’s and 70’s, the process-reactive dimension was another key means of maintaining the broad concept of schizophrenia. In process schizophrenia, the symptoms came on gradually, whereas in reactive schizophrenia the symptoms came on suddenly following a stressor. People with good premorbid functioning (i.e., reactives) had good prognosis.
Hallucinations and delusions are present in a number of disorders (e.g., mood disorders).
3. DSM-IV Diagnosis Schizophrenia
Symptoms > 6 months
Schizophreniform disorder
Symptoms 1 month - 6 months
Brief psychotic disorder
Symptoms 1 day - 1 month
4. Prevalence of Schizophrenia
1-2% of U.S. population
2 million diagnosed in U.S.
Primary diagnosis in 40% state/county hospital admissions
Low SES 3-8x higher prevalence
5. Prevalence of Schizophrenia
Median age at diagnosis = mid-20’s
Men = Women prevalence
Men earlier diagnosis
Worse premorbid history
Worse prognosis
6. Prognosis of Schizophrenia
10% continuous hospitalization
< 30% recovery = symptom-free for 5 years
60% continued problems in living/episodic periods
7. Schizophrenia Characteristic Symptoms: Two or more of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less if successfully treated):
delusions
hallucinations
disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence)
grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
negative symptoms, i.e., affective flattening, alogia, or avolition
Social/occupational dysfunction
Continuous signs for 6 months, at least 1 month of symptoms Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, emotion, and behavior - disordered thinking in which ideas are not logically related; faculty perception and attention; bizarre disturbances in motor activity; and flat or inappropriate affect.
Schizophrenic patients withdraw from people and reality; often into a fantasy life of delusions and hallucinations.
NO ESSTENTIAL SYMPTOM must be present for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Thus schizophrenic patients differ from one another more than do patients with other disorders.Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, emotion, and behavior - disordered thinking in which ideas are not logically related; faculty perception and attention; bizarre disturbances in motor activity; and flat or inappropriate affect.
Schizophrenic patients withdraw from people and reality; often into a fantasy life of delusions and hallucinations.
NO ESSTENTIAL SYMPTOM must be present for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Thus schizophrenic patients differ from one another more than do patients with other disorders.
8. The DSM-IV Diagnosis DSM narrowed the range of individuals who could be diagnosed with schizophrenia in two ways:
Explicit and detailed criteria
Excluding other disorders
Schizoaffective disorder
Schizophreniform disorder
Brief psychotic disorder
Delusional disorder Schizoaffective disorder - a mixture of symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorder
The DSM-IV requires at least six months of disturbance for the diagnosis. The six month period must include at least 1 month of the active phase. These criteria eliminate people who have a brief psychotic episode, often stress related, and then recover quickly.
An acute schizophrenic episode is now called either Schizophreniform disorder or brief psychotic disorder.
Schizophreniform disorder has the same symptoms as schizophrenia, but lasts from one to six months.
Brief psychotic disorder lasts from one day to one month and is often brought on by extreme stress.
Delusion Disorder - the person is troubled by persistent persecutory delusions or by delusional jealousy, the unfounded conviction that a spouse or lover is unfaithful. Other delusions are those of being followed, delusions of erotomania (believing that one is loved by some other person, usually a complete stranger with a higher social status), and somatic delusions (believing that some internal organ is malfunctioning). Unlike paranoid schizophrenia, the person with delusional disorder does not have disorganized speech or hallucinations and his or her delusions are less bizarre.Schizoaffective disorder - a mixture of symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorder
The DSM-IV requires at least six months of disturbance for the diagnosis. The six month period must include at least 1 month of the active phase. These criteria eliminate people who have a brief psychotic episode, often stress related, and then recover quickly.
An acute schizophrenic episode is now called either Schizophreniform disorder or brief psychotic disorder.
Schizophreniform disorder has the same symptoms as schizophrenia, but lasts from one to six months.
Brief psychotic disorder lasts from one day to one month and is often brought on by extreme stress.
Delusion Disorder - the person is troubled by persistent persecutory delusions or by delusional jealousy, the unfounded conviction that a spouse or lover is unfaithful. Other delusions are those of being followed, delusions of erotomania (believing that one is loved by some other person, usually a complete stranger with a higher social status), and somatic delusions (believing that some internal organ is malfunctioning). Unlike paranoid schizophrenia, the person with delusional disorder does not have disorganized speech or hallucinations and his or her delusions are less bizarre.
9. Course of Schizophrenia
Prodromal phase
Active phase
Residual phase
10. Symptom Distinction Positive symptoms
Deviant behaviors present
Negative symptoms
Normal behaviors absent
Poor premorbid history
Poorer prognosis
Spouses less satisfied
11. Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia Disorganized Speech (thought disorder): problems in the organization of ideas and in speaking so that a listener can understand
Delusions: Beliefs contrary to reality, firmly held in spite of evidence to the contrary (themes: control, grandeur, persecution)
Hallucinations: sensory experiences in the absence of any stimulation from the environment Positive Symptoms comprise excesses, such as disorganized speech, hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre behavior.
Disorganized Speech includes:
Incoherence - although the patient may make repeated references to central ideas or a theme, the images and fragments of thought are not connected; it is difficult to understand exactly what the patient is trying to tell the interviewer.
Loose Associations (or derailment) - the patient has difficulty sticking to one topic. They drift off on a train of associations evoked by an idea from the past.
Disturbances in speech were at one time considered the principal clinical symptom of schizophrenia, and they remain one of the criteria for diagnosis. But evidence indicates that the speech of many schizophrenic patients is not disorganized, and the presence of disorganized speech doe not discriminate well between schizophrenic patients and other psychoses, such as mood disorders. For example, many manic patients exhibit loose associations as much as do schizophrenic patients.
Delusions - Lack of insight is common in schizophrenic patients (e.g., they don’t realize that their behavior is bizarre). Some common delusions:
Being the unwilling recipient of bodily sensations imposed by an external agency.
Having thoughts placed in one’s mind by an external source
Having one’s thoughts stolen by an external source
Believing that one’s thoughts are being broadcasted or transmitted, so that others know what you are thinking.
Hallucinations - are thought to be particularly important diagnostically because they occur more often in schizophrenia than in other psychotic disorders. Some patients report hearing their own thoughts spoken by another voice or hearing voices arguing.
Positive Symptoms comprise excesses, such as disorganized speech, hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre behavior.
Disorganized Speech includes:
Incoherence - although the patient may make repeated references to central ideas or a theme, the images and fragments of thought are not connected; it is difficult to understand exactly what the patient is trying to tell the interviewer.
Loose Associations (or derailment) - the patient has difficulty sticking to one topic. They drift off on a train of associations evoked by an idea from the past.
Disturbances in speech were at one time considered the principal clinical symptom of schizophrenia, and they remain one of the criteria for diagnosis. But evidence indicates that the speech of many schizophrenic patients is not disorganized, and the presence of disorganized speech doe not discriminate well between schizophrenic patients and other psychoses, such as mood disorders. For example, many manic patients exhibit loose associations as much as do schizophrenic patients.
Delusions - Lack of insight is common in schizophrenic patients (e.g., they don’t realize that their behavior is bizarre). Some common delusions:
Being the unwilling recipient of bodily sensations imposed by an external agency.
Having thoughts placed in one’s mind by an external source
Having one’s thoughts stolen by an external source
Believing that one’s thoughts are being broadcasted or transmitted, so that others know what you are thinking.
Hallucinations - are thought to be particularly important diagnostically because they occur more often in schizophrenia than in other psychotic disorders. Some patients report hearing their own thoughts spoken by another voice or hearing voices arguing.
12. Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia Avolition: or apathy; a lack of energy and a seeming absence of interest in routine activities
Alogia: a negative thought disorder:
poverty of speech
poverty of content
Anhedonia: inability to experience pleasure
Flat or Blunted Affect: virtually no stimulus can elicit an emotional response
Asociality: severe impairments in social relationships Avolition - Patients may be inattentive to grooming and personal hygiene. They may have difficulty persisting in daily activities, and end up sitting around and doing nothing.
In poverty of speech the amount of speech is greatly reduced.
In poverty of content the amount of discourse is adequate but it conveys little information and tends to be vague and repetitive.
The concept of Flat Affect refers only to the outward expression of emotion and not to the patient’s inner experience, which may not be impoverished at all.
Other symptoms:
Catatonia - motor abnormalities such as complex sequences of finger, hand, and arm movements; unusual increase in the overall level of activity;or in catatonic immobility, patients abopt unusual postures and maintain them for a long period of time. Waxy flexibility - another person can move the patient’s limbs into strange positions that the patient will maintain for long periods of time.
Avolition - Patients may be inattentive to grooming and personal hygiene. They may have difficulty persisting in daily activities, and end up sitting around and doing nothing.
In poverty of speech the amount of speech is greatly reduced.
In poverty of content the amount of discourse is adequate but it conveys little information and tends to be vague and repetitive.
The concept of Flat Affect refers only to the outward expression of emotion and not to the patient’s inner experience, which may not be impoverished at all.
Other symptoms:
Catatonia - motor abnormalities such as complex sequences of finger, hand, and arm movements; unusual increase in the overall level of activity;or in catatonic immobility, patients abopt unusual postures and maintain them for a long period of time. Waxy flexibility - another person can move the patient’s limbs into strange positions that the patient will maintain for long periods of time.
13. Subtypes of Schizophrenia
Paranoid
Delusions/Hallucinations have single theme =
Persecution/Grandiosity
No thought disorder
Better prognosis
14. Subtypes of Schizophrenia
Catatonic
Hallmark = motor behavior
Catatonic stupor
Catatonic excitement
15. Subtypes of Schizophrenia
Disorganized (Hebephrenic)
Grossly disorganized cognition, affect, behavior
Poor prognosis
16. Subtypes of Schizophrenia
Undifferentiated
Does not meet criteria for other subtypes
17. Diagnosis in First Episode (Lieberman et al., 1992)
1% Catatonic
3% Disorganized
19% Paranoid
54% Undifferentiated
18. Etiology of Schizophrenia
19. Summary of Family and Twin Studies
20. Biochemical Factors in Schizophrenia Problems with biochemical research
Dopamine Activity
Effects of phenothiazines
Amphetamine psychosis
Problems with Dopamine Hypothesis
HVA not found in greater amounts in schizophrenics
Phenothiazines rapidly block dopamine receptors, but effect on symptoms is slow
Excess or oversensitive dopamine receptors Problems with biochemical research:
1. An aberrant biochemical found in schizophrenic patients and not in controls may be produced by a third variable rather than by the disorder
2. Drug therapy (for which most patients take) has both short and long-term effects on neural transmission. Therefore biochemical findings may be due to effect of treatment
3. Institutionalized patients make smoke more, drink more coffee, and have a less nutritionally adequate diet than controls.
Dopamine Activity - based on knowledge that drugs effective in treatment (of positive symptoms) alter d opamine activity. The phenothiazines lower dopamine activity. Phenothiazine molecules fit into and therefore block postsynaptic receptors in dopamine tracts.
Amphetamine Psychosis - produced by chronic abuse of amphetamines. The amphetamines cause the release of catecholamines into the synaptic cleft and prevent their inactivation. We can be relatively confident that the psychosis-inducing effects of amphetamines are due to their impact on dopamine rather than on norepinephrine, because phenothiazines are antidotes to amphetamine psychosis.
Problems with the Dopamine Hypothesis:
1. The major metabolite of dopamine, homovanillic acid (HVA) is not found in greater amounts in schizophrenics than controls.
2. Takes several weeks for phenothiazines to work but rapidly blocks dopamine receptors
3. Research suggests that dopaminergic receptors are more likely locus of disorder than with dopamine itself.
Recent evidence suggests that other neurotransmitters, including serotonin and glutamate, may also play a role in schizophrenia.Problems with biochemical research:
1. An aberrant biochemical found in schizophrenic patients and not in controls may be produced by a third variable rather than by the disorder
2. Drug therapy (for which most patients take) has both short and long-term effects on neural transmission. Therefore biochemical findings may be due to effect of treatment
3. Institutionalized patients make smoke more, drink more coffee, and have a less nutritionally adequate diet than controls.
Dopamine Activity - based on knowledge that drugs effective in treatment (of positive symptoms) alter d opamine activity. The phenothiazines lower dopamine activity. Phenothiazine molecules fit into and therefore block postsynaptic receptors in dopamine tracts.
Amphetamine Psychosis - produced by chronic abuse of amphetamines. The amphetamines cause the release of catecholamines into the synaptic cleft and prevent their inactivation. We can be relatively confident that the psychosis-inducing effects of amphetamines are due to their impact on dopamine rather than on norepinephrine, because phenothiazines are antidotes to amphetamine psychosis.
Problems with the Dopamine Hypothesis:
1. The major metabolite of dopamine, homovanillic acid (HVA) is not found in greater amounts in schizophrenics than controls.
2. Takes several weeks for phenothiazines to work but rapidly blocks dopamine receptors
3. Research suggests that dopaminergic receptors are more likely locus of disorder than with dopamine itself.
Recent evidence suggests that other neurotransmitters, including serotonin and glutamate, may also play a role in schizophrenia.
21. The Brain and Schizophrenia
Autopsy studies indicate structural problems in the limbic areas and the prefrontal cortex
CT scan and MRI studies reveal enlarged ventricles, suggesting deterioration or atrophy of brain tissue.
PET scans suggest atrophy in the prefrontal areas. The most consistent finding from postmortem studies of the brains of schizophrenics is structural problems in temporal-limbic areas, such as the hippocampus and amygdala and in the prefrontal cortex
CT and MRI studies have shown that some schizophrenic patients, especially males, have enlarged lateral ventricles and reduced volume in limbic structures, suggesting deterioration or atrophy of brain tissue
The extent to which the ventricles are enlarged, however, is modest and many schizophrenics do not differ from normals in this respect. Furthermore, enlarged ventricles are not specific to schizophrenia, as they are also evident in the CT scans of patients with other psychoses, such as mania.
Studies of twins who are discordant for schizophrenia indicates that these abnormalities are not genetic
A variety of data suggest that the prefrontal cortex is of particular importance. PET scans have shown low metabolic rates in the prefrontal cortexes of schizophrenics.
In 1957, Helsinki experienced an epidemic of influenza virus. Researchers studied the rates of schizophrenia among adults who had been exposed during their mother’s pregnancy. People who have been exposed to the virus during the second trimester of pregnancy had much higher rates than those who had been exposed in either of the other trimesters or nonexposed controls. Cortical development is in a critical stage of growth during the second trimester.
This brain injury may interact with normal development and that the prefrontal cortex is a brain structure that matures late, typically in adolescence.The most consistent finding from postmortem studies of the brains of schizophrenics is structural problems in temporal-limbic areas, such as the hippocampus and amygdala and in the prefrontal cortex
CT and MRI studies have shown that some schizophrenic patients, especially males, have enlarged lateral ventricles and reduced volume in limbic structures, suggesting deterioration or atrophy of brain tissue
The extent to which the ventricles are enlarged, however, is modest and many schizophrenics do not differ from normals in this respect. Furthermore, enlarged ventricles are not specific to schizophrenia, as they are also evident in the CT scans of patients with other psychoses, such as mania.
Studies of twins who are discordant for schizophrenia indicates that these abnormalities are not genetic
A variety of data suggest that the prefrontal cortex is of particular importance. PET scans have shown low metabolic rates in the prefrontal cortexes of schizophrenics.
In 1957, Helsinki experienced an epidemic of influenza virus. Researchers studied the rates of schizophrenia among adults who had been exposed during their mother’s pregnancy. People who have been exposed to the virus during the second trimester of pregnancy had much higher rates than those who had been exposed in either of the other trimesters or nonexposed controls. Cortical development is in a critical stage of growth during the second trimester.
This brain injury may interact with normal development and that the prefrontal cortex is a brain structure that matures late, typically in adolescence.
22. The Brain and Schizophrenia Evidence supports the hypothesis that a viral infection occurring during the mid trimester of fetal development may cause this brain damage
It has been suggested that this early brain injury remains silent until the prefrontal cortex matures, typically in adolescence.
23. Psychological Stress and Schizophrenia Social Class - the highest rates of schizophrenia are found in central city areas inhabited by people in having the lowest SES
Sociogenic hypothesis
Social-selection theory
Family and Schizophrenia
Schizophrenogenic mother
Expressed emotion
High Risk Studies Sociogenic hypothesis - the degrading treatment a person receives from others, the low level of education, and the lack of both rewards and opportunities is so stressful that the person develops schizophrenia. Also, biological variables, such as poor nutrition in pregnant women, could explain the relationship between schizophrenia and social class
Social-selection theory - during the course of their developing psychosis, people with schizophrenia may drift into the poverty-ridden areas of the city. Their cognitive and motivational problems may so impair their earning capabilities that they cannot afford to live elsewhere. Or they may choose to move to areas where little social pressure will be brought to bear on them and where they can escape intense social relationships.
Studies seem to support the social-selection theory most.
Schizophrenogenic mother - cold and dominant, conflict-inducing parent who was said to produce schizophrenia. While studies do not support this theory, research does indicate that deviant communication and psychopathology in families are related to the development of schizophrenia in those at risk.
Expressed-emotion (EE) - critical comments made about the patient an expressions of hostility or emotional overinvolvement. EE predicts relapse after hospitalization.
Mednick and Schulsinger conducted the first high-risk study of schizophrenia, following 207 young people with schizophrenic mothers and 104 low-risk subjects. Variables predicting schizophrenia in the high-risk group differed for those with predominately negative vs. positive symptoms. The former was predicted by a history of stimuli, whereas the latter was preceded by a history of family instability. Other high-risk studies have found attentional dysfunction, low IQ, and poor neurobehavioral functioning to predict schizophrenia.Sociogenic hypothesis - the degrading treatment a person receives from others, the low level of education, and the lack of both rewards and opportunities is so stressful that the person develops schizophrenia. Also, biological variables, such as poor nutrition in pregnant women, could explain the relationship between schizophrenia and social class
Social-selection theory - during the course of their developing psychosis, people with schizophrenia may drift into the poverty-ridden areas of the city. Their cognitive and motivational problems may so impair their earning capabilities that they cannot afford to live elsewhere. Or they may choose to move to areas where little social pressure will be brought to bear on them and where they can escape intense social relationships.
Studies seem to support the social-selection theory most.
Schizophrenogenic mother - cold and dominant, conflict-inducing parent who was said to produce schizophrenia. While studies do not support this theory, research does indicate that deviant communication and psychopathology in families are related to the development of schizophrenia in those at risk.
Expressed-emotion (EE) - critical comments made about the patient an expressions of hostility or emotional overinvolvement. EE predicts relapse after hospitalization.
Mednick and Schulsinger conducted the first high-risk study of schizophrenia, following 207 young people with schizophrenic mothers and 104 low-risk subjects. Variables predicting schizophrenia in the high-risk group differed for those with predominately negative vs. positive symptoms. The former was predicted by a history of stimuli, whereas the latter was preceded by a history of family instability. Other high-risk studies have found attentional dysfunction, low IQ, and poor neurobehavioral functioning to predict schizophrenia.
24. Treatment of Schizophrenia
25. Treatments for Schizophrenia
Insulin coma, prefrontal lobotomy, and ECT no longer used.
Neuroleptics - anti-psychotic medications which are the most effective treatment for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
Family Therapy - aimed at reducing the expressed emotion which predicts relapse
Behavioral Therapy - social skills training has been found to improve social adjustment Psychoanalysis may actually harm schizophrenics.
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine), an antipsychotic medication, blocks dopamine receptors in the brain. Reduces positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Preceded deinstitutionalization (but revolving door).
Problem with antipsychotics - severe side effects (1/2 quit in 1 year, 3/4 in two years, due to side effects). Side effects include dizziness, muscle stiffness, blurred vision, restlessness, and sexual dysfunction. Also, extrapyramidal side effects - resemble neurological diseases. These side effect include tremors of the fingers, a shuffling gait, muscular rigidity, drooling, producing chewing movements as well as other movements of the lips, fingers, and legs. Treated with drugs used for Parkinson’s disease. In older patients, a muscular disturbance called tardive dyskinesia occurs, where the mouth muscles involuntarily make sucking, lip-smacking, and chin-wagging motions. New drugs, including clozapine and resperidone, do not cause extrapyramidal side effects and are more effective in treating negative symptoms. However, the newer drugs have other serious side effects, including impaired immune function.
Family Therapy - evidence for this treatment is quite positive - reduces relapses.
Behavior Therapy - Teach interpersonal skills, job skills, daily life skills. Effective in improving social adjustment.Psychoanalysis may actually harm schizophrenics.
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine), an antipsychotic medication, blocks dopamine receptors in the brain. Reduces positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Preceded deinstitutionalization (but revolving door).
Problem with antipsychotics - severe side effects (1/2 quit in 1 year, 3/4 in two years, due to side effects). Side effects include dizziness, muscle stiffness, blurred vision, restlessness, and sexual dysfunction. Also, extrapyramidal side effects - resemble neurological diseases. These side effect include tremors of the fingers, a shuffling gait, muscular rigidity, drooling, producing chewing movements as well as other movements of the lips, fingers, and legs. Treated with drugs used for Parkinson’s disease. In older patients, a muscular disturbance called tardive dyskinesia occurs, where the mouth muscles involuntarily make sucking, lip-smacking, and chin-wagging motions. New drugs, including clozapine and resperidone, do not cause extrapyramidal side effects and are more effective in treating negative symptoms. However, the newer drugs have other serious side effects, including impaired immune function.
Family Therapy - evidence for this treatment is quite positive - reduces relapses.
Behavior Therapy - Teach interpersonal skills, job skills, daily life skills. Effective in improving social adjustment.
26. Treatment Today
Outpatient and Inpatient Treatment
80-90% hospital discharge rate
40-50% readmission rate = revolving door
$33 billion direct/indirect costs
2.5% of total health care expenditures
27. Predictors of Good Outcome
Good premorbid adjustment
Acute onset
Notable stressful life events
Positive family environment
More positive than negative symptoms
More affective (vs. flat) symptoms
28. Medication Atypical neuroleptics
Clozaril, Risperdal
Block 65% dopamine receptors, but more selective to frontal and temporal nerve tracts
Also increase serotonin
29. Effectiveness of Medications
Effective for positive symptoms
Atypical also effective for negative symptoms
Decrease time in hospital
Decrease relapse
19% vs. 55% placebo
10-15% patients not helped by medication
30. Side Effects of Medications
Autonomic effects
Dry mouth
Drowsiness
Blurred vision
31. Side Effects of Medications Extrapyramidal Effects
Tardive Dyskinesia - face, mouth, jaw movement
15% long-term regimens
some not reversible
can affect respiration