Module 23 Mood Disorder & Schizophrenia

1. Module 23Mood Disorder & Schizophrenia

2. Causes of Mood Disorders • Biological factors • Emphasize underlying genetic, neurological, of physiological factors that may predispose a person to develop a mood disorder • Psychosocial factors • Are believed to interact with biological factors that combine to put one at risk for developing a mood disorder • Include • personality traits • amount of social support • ability to deal with stressors Source: Bar graph data from “Current Perspectives on the Genetics of Unipolar Depression,” By S. O. Moldin, T. Reich & J. P. Rice, 1991, Behavior Genetics, 21, 211-242.

3. Beck’s Theory of Depression • When we are feeling down, automatic, negative thoughts that we rarely notice occur continually throughout the day • The negative thoughts distort how we perceive & interpret the world • As a result, the negative thoughts contribute to feeling depressed

4. Major Depression & Dysthymic Disorder: Treatment • Antidepressant drugs • Act by increasing levels of monoamines that are believed to be involved in the regulation of emotions & moods • SSRIs (Selective Seritonin Reuptake Inhibitors) • raise the levels of seritonin • Prozac • Psychotherapy • For patients with less severe depression, psychotherapy was as effective as antidepressant drugs • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) • Involves placing electrodes on the skull & administering a mild electrical shock that passes through the brain & causes a seizure

5. Schizophrenia • Serious mental disorder that lasts for at least 6 months • Includes at least 2 of the following symptoms: • Delusions • Hallucinations • Disorganized speech • Disorganized behavior • Decreased emotional expression • Subcategories • Paranoid schizophrenia • auditory hallucinations or delusions such as thoughts of being persecuted • Disorganized schizophrenia

6. Schizophrenia cont. • bizarre ideas often about one’s body, confused speech, great emotional swings, and often extreme neglect of personal appearance & hygiene • Catatonic schizophrenia • characterized by periods of wild excitement or period of rigid, prolonged immobility • sometimes the person assumes a frozen posture for hours

7. Biological Causes of Schizophrenia • Genetic predisposition • Genetic marker • an identifiable gene or number of genes, or a specific segment of a chromosome that is directly linked to some behavioral, physiological, or neurological trait or disease • Evidence from twin studies • Genain quadruplets Source: Bar graph data from Schizophrenic Genesis: The Origins of Madness, by I. I. Gottesmann, 1991. W. H. Freeman & Company; with additional data from “The Epidemiology of Schizophrenia in a Finnish Twin Cohort,” by T. D. Cannon, J. Kaprio, J. Lonnqvist, M. Huttunen & M. Koskenvuo, 1998, Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 67-74.

8. Neurological Causes of Schizophrenia • Ventricle size • Brains of schizophrenic twins had larger ventricles compared to brains of mentally healthy twins • Prefrontal cortex • Researchers found less activation in the prefrontal cortex of the twin with schizophrenia compared to the mentally healthy twin

9. Environmental Causes of Schizophrenia • Diathesis-Stress Theory • Some people have a genetic predisposition that interacts with life stressors to result in the onset of the disorder

10. Treatment of Schizophrenia • Positive symptoms • Distortion of normal functions • distorted thinking, delusions, distorted perceptions, hallucinations, disorganized speech • Negative symptoms • Decrease or loss of normal functions • Decreased range and intensity of emotions, decreased ability to express thoughts, decreased initiative to engage in goal-directed behaviors • Typical neuroleptics • Drugs primarily reduce levels of dopamine • Thorazine & haloperidol • Atypical neuroleptics • Besides lowering levels of dopamine, these drugs also reduce other neurotransmitters, especially seritonin

11. Treatment of Schizophrenia cont. • Clozapine • Primarily reduce positive symptoms, but may also improve negative symptoms