Preview

Critically Consider Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1913 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Critically Consider Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
The term ‘schizophrenia' covers a group of serious psychotic disorders characterised by a loss of contact with reality. It comes from two Greek words: schiz meaning ‘split' and phren meaning ‘mind'. DSM IV (1994) estimate that the occurrence rate of schizophrenia ranges from 0.2%-2.0% worldwide. There are two main explanations of schizophrenia: the biological explanations and the psychological explanations. In this essay I will critically consider the biological explanations. These include genetics, neurochemistry, brain structure and evolution. Genetic factors of schizophrenia can be explained using studies on twins and studies on family history. With twin studies researchers want to establish the degree of concordance. This is the probability that if one twin has the disorder, the other twin will also have it. Monozygotic (MZ) twins share 100% of their genes and dizygotic (DZ) twins share about 50%. Gottesman (1991) summarised 40 twin studies and found that the concordance rate for MZ twins was 48% and the concordance rate for DZ twins was about 17%. Concordance rates were also studied by Cardano et al. (1999) using the Maudsley twin register. They found concordance rates to be 40% for MZ twins and 17% for DZ twins.
Although this is strong evidence for genetic factors in schizophrenia, concordance rates are not 100% and therefore there must be some environmental input. Loehlin and Nichols (1976) argued that the reason for the higher concordance rates in MZ rather than DZ twins was due to MZ twins being treated more similarly so producing a greater environmental similarity.
However, there are two arguments against this view. MZ twins may produce more similar treatment from their parents than do DZ twins (Lytton, 1977). This therefore suggests that the higher genetic similarity of MZ twins may be the cause, rather than the effect, of their more similar parental treatment. Also the schizophrenia concordance rates for MZ twins who are brought
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia

    The biological theory on Schizophrenia is a determinism theory which states that Schizophrenia is caused by our genetics and things that are involved in our bodies. The biological theory states that the cause of Schizophrenia is due to issues such as our genes, and dopamine levels, and therefore it can be cured by looking at these issues.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia

    There are many explanations for schizophrenia, but the biological explanations have received the most research support, according to Comer 2003. To explain schizophrenia from biological perspective, we would discuss the disorder from the direction of genetics, biochemistry and brain structures.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Outline and evaluate biological explanations for schizophrenia (8+16marks).
    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Outline and evaluate biological explanations for schizophrenia (8+16marks).

    It has been showed that schizophrenia has a tendency to run in different families. This implies that genes play a role. The closer the genetic relationship the more likely the people are to share the disorder. Gottesman (1991) showed that when both parents are schizophrenic, there is a 46% chance of the child also getting it, however, if only one parent had it, it dropped to 16% and dropped to a further 1% when the sibling of the child had schizophrenia. This suggests that a genetic factor is involved. Gottesman also looked at schizophrenics whose father had an identical twin. He found that there was a 17% of being schizophrenic when the father was but he also found that there was also 17% chance of developing the disease when the father’s twin had schizophrenia but the father didn’t.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Treatment
    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Treatment

    Schizophrenia is a brain disorder which can affect a person’s mental well-being. Suffering from schizophrenia can terrify people and make them withdrawn from family and friends or make them extremely agitated. Some people with the disorder are known to hear voices, believe people are trying to harm them or are reading their minds. The exact cause is unknown, however many scientists believe that genes and environment both play a role together. Within the brain, the level of dopamine and glutamine, both chemical messengers, may be out of balance. Another cause may come from the brain structure being slightly abnormal. For example this brain scan (see figure 1) of identical twins show that the brain on the left has much larger/fluid filled ventricles which is common for schizophrenic patients, compared with the twin that does not have the illness on the right. [1]…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Psy 410 Schizophrenia, Psychosis, and Lifespan Development
    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Psy 410 Schizophrenia, Psychosis, and Lifespan Development

    Psychosis and schizophrenia are mental disorders that research has said to be abnormalities in brain function or abnormalities in the neurotransmission of the brain (Hansell & Damour, 2008). Psychosis is a symptom that involves “loss of contact with normal reality” (Hansell & Damour, 2008, p. 459). Schizophrenia is the most frequent place in which psychosis is present. Schizophrenia is a frightening disorder, but it is also a disorder which is highly misunderstood by the general public. Genetic factors also play a large role in the development of schizophrenia. The evidence of this mental disorder being genetic was conducted in a research involving family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies. The result reflected that if a biological relative had the mental disorder, there was a 46% to 48% (Hansell & Damour, 2008, p. 481) chance that the disorder would occur in another biological relative. The environmental factors also play a role in the development of the disorder.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analyzing Psychological Disorders 9
    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Analyzing Psychological Disorders 9

    Schizophrenia is a complex brain disorder. Like many other illnesses, schizophrenia is believed to result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. All the tools of modern science are being used to search for the causes of this disorder.…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Biological explanations of sz
    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Biological explanations of sz

    One biological explanation for schizophrenia is genetics. This theory states that a person’s genes determine whether they develop schizophrenia or not. Family studies, twin studies and adoption studies have explored the roles of genes in the development of sz. Gottesman conducted a family study and he identified that the closer someone is genetically to a person with sz, the more likely to develop sz. For example, Mz twins have a concordance rate of 48%, Dz is 17%, siblings are 9% and parents is 6%. Therefore the likelihood of suffering from a disorder increases by the closeness of you to the person genetically.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Evaluate The Biological Approach To Psychology Essay
    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Evaluate The Biological Approach To Psychology Essay

    The biological approach to psychology which looks at physical aspects controlling behaviour such as the structures of the brain, gives evidence that both nature and nurture are involved in our behaviour. For instance a study which compared the incidence of schizophrenia in MZ and DZ twins (Gottesman and Shields (1966)) found a concordance rate of 40% for the MZs but only 9% for the DZs. As arguably the only material differences between these groups was the fact that MZs share 100% genetic material whereas DZs on average only share 50% of their genes, this gives strong evidence that schizophrenia has a genetic component. However it is notable that even the sharing of 100% of genes with an ill sibling did not confer a certainty of getting the disease which implies that in this case at least, there must be some environmental factors at work.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Outline and evaluate the Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Outline and evaluate the Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia

    According to the biological approach the mental disorder Schizophrenia will have an underlying physical cause such as imbalance of hormones, brain damage and infection. There is strong evidence that biological factors influence the presence of Schizophrenia.…

    • 1600 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Psychological Explanation of Schizophrenia
    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Psychological Explanation of Schizophrenia

    Schizophrenia explanations are both psychological and biological however the best solution is probably the diathesis stress model; this combines both biological and psychological approaches to schizophrenia. The diathesis stress model suggests that people have vulnerability for schizophrenia (diathesis) which develops only if the individual is exposed to certain environmental factors (a stressor.)…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Discuss Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Discuss Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia

    There are several different explanations for the disorder schizophrenia. One of these explanations is the biological model. This model explains schizophrenia through biological faults, for example viral infections and brain abnormalities.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Schizophrenia: Understanding the Psychological Disorder
    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Schizophrenia: Understanding the Psychological Disorder

    Schizophrenia, it’s a term many people associate with crazy, psychotic, and bizarre behaviors. This disorder has many signs and symptoms and the cause has yet to be discovered. Various studies have been conducted, but one singular cause of the disorder has not been discovered. Understanding this serious and baffling psychological disorder is an important and informative key for understanding the human psyche.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    B) Evaluate the Biological Approach’s Explanation of Schizophrenia.
    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages

    B) Evaluate the Biological Approach’s Explanation of Schizophrenia.

    The biological approach asserts that something in our biology is the fundamental cause of dysfunctional behaviour which could be a genetic cause or a malfunction of brain structures. Although it is seen as the most common explanation for schizophrenia due to the use of drug therapy, it would be deterministic and reductionist to explain schizophrenia only with the biological approach since there are other numerous factors such as the ones related to the cognitive explanation or other environmental causes. Also, even within the biological approach, there are various different biological factors that cause conflict with each other, e.g. genetic tendency, the dopamine hypothesis (a chemical issue), innate brain structures, and diathesis-stress model.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Psy Paper Schizophrenia
    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Psy Paper Schizophrenia

    Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a wide variety of symptoms. The term schizophrenia has been subjected to many misinterpretations since first introduced. The disorder is so common and the symptoms so peculiar the term schizophrenia has become part of society’s standard vocabulary. Schizophrenia is chronic, progressive, and considered one of the most severe and frequent forms of mental disorders afflicting one percent of the population (National Institute, n.d.). Schizophrenia develops as a result of biological predisposition and environmental factors characterized by profound disruptions in the most fundamental elements of the mind including thoughts, perception, emotion, language, and a sense of self. Lines of research are converging with connections between biological predisposition and environmental factors enabling a better understanding, diagnosis, and treatment plan for schizophrenia.…

    • 2251 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Biological Approach to Depression
    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Biological Approach to Depression

    The biological approach is based on the idea that depression has a physical or organic cause. One explanation suggests that some people are simply more genetically inclined to develop depression, as Hecimovic suggested that it was caused by a mutation in the 5-HTT gene, which was responsible for coding for serotonin production, and that this mutation is inherited. Family studies, twin studies and adoption studies have all helped support the role of genetics in the development of depression. Gershon found that if a parent of a child had depression , that the child was then 2-3 times more likely to suffer from the disorder themselves. Twin studies, conducted by McGuffin found that the concordance rate of twins varied, depending if they were monozygotic or dizygotic. If depression is linked to depression, then it would be expected that MZ twins have higher concordance rates as they share 100% of the genetic information. He found that MZ twins had a concordance rate of 46%, while DZ twins had a concordance of only 20%. Lastly, twin studies done by Wegner found that children are 8 times more likely to develop depression if their biological parent also suffered than if their adoptive parent did, suggesting that depression is greater influenced by genetics rather than environmental factors.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics