SCHIZOPHRENIC
DISORDERS
A class of disorders marked by delusions,
hallucinations, disorganized speech, and
deterioration of adaptive behavior
GENERAL SYMPTOMS
Delusions and irrational thoughts
 Delusions are false beliefs that are maintained
even though they clearly are out of touch with
reality
 Delusions of grandeur
 Deterioration of thought
 Deterioration of adaptive behavior
 Hallucinations: sensory perceptions that occur in
the absence of a real, external stimulus or are
gross distortions of perceptual input
 Disturbed emotion

SUBTYPES
Paranoid type: dominated by delusions of
persecution, along w/delusions of grandeur
 Catatonic type: striking motor disturbances,
ranging from muscular rigidity to random motor
activity
 Disorganized type: particularly severe
deterioration of adaptive behavior
 Undifferentiated type: idiosyncratic mixtures of
schizophrenic symptoms

POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS
Negative symptoms involve behavioral deficits,
such as flattened emotions, social withdrawal,
apathy, impaired attention, and poverty of speech
 Positive symptoms involve behavioral excesses or
peculiarities, such as hallucinations, delusions,
bizarre behavior, and wild flights of ideas

COURSE AND OUTCOME
Schizophrenia usually emerges during
adolescence or early adulthood
 Emergence may be sudden or gradual
 Mild disorders are usually successfully treated
 For some, it is chronic and permanent
hospitalization is required
 Males tend to have earlier onset, relapse, and
more hospitalizations

ETIOLOGY OF
SCHIZOPHRENIA
GENETIC VULNERABILITY
Strong evidence to support hereditary influence
 Identical twin concordance rates at about 48%
 Born to two schizophrenic parents---46%

NEUROCHEMICAL FACTORS
Excess dopamine is a possibility
 Possible interaction between dopamine and
serotonin

STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES IN
THE BRAIN
CT scans and MRIs show enlarged brain
ventricles in schizophrenic patients
 A smaller thalamus may play a part
 Psychs don’t know if these are cause or effect of
schizophrenia

NEURODEVELOPMENTAL
HYPOTHESIS
Schizophrenia is caused in part by various
disruptions in the normal maturation processes
before or at birth
 Studies focus on viral infections

EXPRESSED EMOTION
Focuses on family dynamics influence the course
of schizophrenia
 Expressed emotion is the degree to which a
relative of a schizophrenic patient displays highly
critical or emotionally overinvolved attitudes
toward the patient

PERSONALITY DISORDERS
A class of disorders marked by extreme, inflexible
personality traits that cause subjective distress or
impaired social and occupational functioning
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
DSM-IV lists ten disorders clustered into 3 main
groups:
 1) Anxious-fearful
 2) Odd-eccentric
 3) Dramatic-impulsive

DIAGNOSTIC PROBLEMS
Personality disorders tend to overlap one another
 Current revisions are underway for the new
DSM-V, set to be published in 2013

ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY
DISORDER
DEF: marked by impulsive, callous,
manipulative, aggressive, and irresponsible
behavior that reflects a failure to accept social
norms
 Lack a conscience
 More common among males
 Seen in 3-4% of pop.

ETIOLOGY
May be a genetic disposition
 Inherited sluggish autonomic systems
 Inadequate or dysfunctional family systems may
be a cause

PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS AND THE LAW
INSANITY
DEF: a legal status indicating that a person
cannot be held responsible for his or her actions
because of mental illness
 M’naghten rule: insanity exists when a mental
disorder makes a person unable to distinguish
right from wrong

INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT
DEF: people hospitalized in psychiatric facilities
against their will
 Criteria:
 1) people are dangerous to themselves
 2) dangerous to others
 3) treatment is needed

CULTURE AND PATHOLOGY
ARE EQUIVALENT DISORDERS
FOUND AROUND THE WORLD?
Severe disorders are pancultural
 Culture-bound disorders: abnormal syndromes
found only in a few cultural groups
 Koro, windigo, anorexia nervosa
