psychology - schizophrenia

• 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia
• There is no difference in prevalence between males and females
• Age of onset in males is late teens, early 20s
• Age of onset in females is late 20s, early 30s
• The 2 main classification systems is the DSM V and the ICD-10
• 2 or more symptoms must be present for one or more months with reduced functioning for a diagnosis to be made
• Positive symptoms are present in the schizophrenic but absent in healthy people
• Negative symptoms are present in healthy people but absent in schizophrenics
• Positive delusion examples - paranoid delusions 1. believing that you are being persecuted by others. 2. Grandeur. 3. Reference. 4. Thought insertion and broadcasting. 5. Hallucinations (auditory, visual and formication). 6. Disordered thinking
• Negative symptoms examples - 1. apathy. 2. Flat effect. 3. Impaired social interaction. 4. Anhedonia. 5. Alogia. .6.Catatonic movement
• Dopamine hypothesis - summary

  proposed by Van Rossum in 1967

  Schizophrenics brains produce more Dopamine

  Too much in the subcortical and Limbic regions may lead to positive symptoms

  Negative = less Dopamine

  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which is a chemical messenger that sends signals between neurons

  Responsible for motivation and reward

  The link was developed from research into Parkinson's disease who were prescribed a L-Dopa drug.