medical model only

• biochemical explanation of depression


  • serotonin is a neurotransmitter when a sense is stimulated will be sent along the nervous system. the message will go from one nerve to another
  • nerve cells are separated by synaptic clefts which need to be crossed for a message to pass
  • if levels of serotonin are low, then the serotonin molecules may be absorbed back into the pre-synaptic nerve cell too soon, meaning the message may not be effectively across the gap
  • depression may be caused by a lack of serotonin or lack or response to serotonin
• biochemical explanation of schizophrenia

  • it is suggested that schizophrenia could be related to high levels of dopamine within the nervous system, with this causing an excess of dopamine to reach post-synaptic nerve cells
• treatment aim


  it would be focused on restoring normal levels of neurotransmitter action. for example:

  • treating depression by blocking the reuptake of serotonin to ensure there is enough serotonin available for messages to get carried along the nervous system
  • treating schizophrenia by blocking receptors in post synaptic nerve cells to prevent an overload of dopamine reaching the post-synaptic nerve cell
• genetics from parents


  • certain disorders could be passed from parents to children through genetic transmission.
  • so children could inherit a disorder or a disposition towards a disorder in much the same way that they might inherit eye colour
  • it is possible for a child to show such a tendency but for a sibling of theirs not to
  • Gottesman and Shields found that if one twin had schizophrenia, then there was a 58% chance of an identical twin also having schizophrenia
• evolutionary theory


  • it is proven that certain traits that may in the past have enabled some people to survive while other people without these traits will have died.
  • it is suggested that we have inherited traits that have a beneficial effect on our chances of survival
  • this is a possible explanation for phobias as people with a fear of spiders, snakes, heights etc might have had an evolutionary advantage that enable them to survive and reproduce
• embryo manipulation


  • in its early stages of research
  • reduces the inheritance of genetic disorders by using genetic material from three parents is in the early stages of research
• brain abnormality explanation of schizophrenia


  • Brown revealed- in post-mortem studies comparing the brains of patients with schizophrenia against those of patients with affective disorder- that the brains of schizophrenics were 6% lighter and had enlarged lateral ventricles and significantly thinner para-hippocampal cortices
• brain abnormality explanations of depression


  • research has shown that patients with depression can show a smaller hippocampal volume than people not experiencing depression
  • this may be due to depressed people experiencing stress which led to the release of cortisol which destroys hippocampal cells, reducing the effect of serotonin in the body
• likely treatment for brain abnormality

  • drug therapy would be most likely
  • in some cases surgery may be used (e.g. to remove brain tumours)
• Gottesman- aim


  • to investigate in a large sample the probability of a child being diagnosed with a mental disorder if either or both of their parents had this disorder
• Gottesman- sample


  • anyone in Denmark aged between 10 and 52 years with a clear link to their biological parents.
  • this meant a sample of almost 2.7 million people and their parents being studied
• Gottesman- procedure


  using data from the psychiatric central register, Gottesman identified four groups of people:

  • both parents admitted to a psychiatric hospital with a diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression
  • one parent admitted to a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression
  • neither parent admitted with a diagnosis of a disorder
  • the 'general public' with no data available
• Gottesman- findings


  • both parents admitted with the schizophrenia/bd- 27.3%, 24.9%
  • one parent admitted with schizophrenia/bd- 7%, 4.4%
  • there was a genetic overlap between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
  • if both parents had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, then there was an increase in the likelihood of being admitted with any disorder
  • at age 52, very few people were receiving a fresh diagnosis of schizophrenia, however, at the same age, fresh diagnoses of bipolar disorder were still being made
• Gottesman- conclusions


  • where both parents have been admitted to psychiatric hospital with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, their offspring are at a super high risk of being admitted with a disorder themselves
  • 'uses of the information in this study will involve personal decision making with regard to marriage, child bearing, adoption and one's own prospects for the future
  • we must not be ignorant of the Nazi's use of so-called information to justify eugenics
• drug therapy as an application


  • drug therapies aim to restore normal levels of neurotransmitter action
  • one of the most well-known forms of drug treatment are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  • with more serotonin in the synapse, this increases the likelihood of sufficient serotonin reaching the post-synaptic receptor sites and triggering an electrical impulse to continue down the neuronal pathway
  • SSRIs are used to treat both depression and, increasingly, anxiety
• brain stimulation as an application


  • they are aimed at resetting the brain
  • electro-convulsive therapy- where a patient has electrodes placed on their temples; an electric shock is then passed into their brain. the aim is to trigger an epileptic seizure in an attempt to jump-start the entire brain and relieve the symptoms of a mental health disorder such as severe depression or a psychotic episode