psychological exp

• Family dysfunction: (psychological explanation of schizophrenia)

  • Suggests interpersonal relationships within the family result in schizophrenic symptoms 
  • 3 subsections - schizophrenogenic mother, double bind theory, expressed emotion 
• Schizophrenogenic mother:

  • Based on psychodynamic approach - focuses on childhood experiences 
  • A mother who is cold, rejecting and controlling and a father who is passive creates schizophrenia in a child 
  • Due to the stressful experiences of living in a tense and secretive household - delusions/paranoia is triggered 
• Double bind theory:

  • Bateson et al - children who frequently receive contradictory messages from their parents are more likely to develop schizophrenia 
  • Contradictory messages - verbal vs non-verbal signals - e.g- mother tells child 'I love you' in a stern voice with a strong stance - child is confused by hostility combined with kind words - messages contradict 
  • Contradicting interactions prevent the development of an internally coherent construction of reality - manifesting negative symptoms of schizophrenia such as avolition
• High degree of expressed emotions:

  • Expressed emotion is a family communication style in which members of the family of a psychiatric patient talk about them in a critical, hostile manner or in a way that indicates emotional over-involvement
• high degree of expressed emotions:

  • Exaggerated involvement - indicating the sufferer is a burden via self sacrifice  - 'I do so much for you, its hard for me' 
  • Criticism and control - (of the sufferer's behaviour) - ' you don’t know how to do anything, listen to me and do what you are told.' 
  • Hostility - physical, verbal or emotional - suggesting rejection - ' you're a total waste of space' 
  • Suggests those with schizophrenia have a lower tolerance for intense environmental stimuli
  • Creates negative emotional climate and leads to stress - triggering schizophrenic episodes
• supportive evidence-  Butzlaff & Hooley – meta-analysis of 27 studies found relapse of schizophrenia is more likely in families with a high degree of expressed emotions - shows that someone with schizophrenia is more likely to have experienced a hostile home environment.
• opposing evidence-   Gottesman – family study – as the closeness of relation increases, so did the genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia - shows the importance of considering biological factors as well as psychological when diagnosing schizophrenia. 
• family dysfunction theory is socially insensitive for parents – focusing on family communication places blame on parents - adds stress and anxiety to parents who will likely already feel stressed, making them feel responsible for their childs psychotic disorder - However, families may become more likely to seek help as they do not want to continue contributing to schizophrenic symptoms 
• Psychological explanations of schizophrenia believe that interpersonal relationships within the family result in schizophrenic symptoms