There does seem to be some confusion over what students need to know about the biology of schizophrenia and whether the ‘dopamine hypothesis’ and ‘neural correlates’ are separate topics. AQA have decided that they are and should be taught separately. We have now amended the text for the one relevant spread in the Complete Companion (Dog book) […]
Read moreA German study just published by Moritz and colleagues provides an interesting insight into antipsychotic drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses. Data was collected by asking psychiatric patients to complete a questionnaire about their experiences in taking antipsychotic medication for their mental disorder. The conclusion was that such drugs are effective […]
Read moreA few months ago there was an item on this blog about the comments on AQA A markschemes that stated that answers using psychoanalysis as a psychological therapy for schizophrenia would be unlikely to gain high marks. We do not believe this is a justifiable position. However, regardless of whether the board is right or wrong […]
Read morePSYA4 June 2012 had a question which asked ‘Outline one biological therapy and one psychological therapy for schizophrenia.’ The mark scheme included the following: ‘Therapies such as psychoanalysis and psychosurgery have been used for schizophrenia in the past but are no longer generally considered suitable. A general outline of these techniques which are not made […]
Read moreThe American Psychiatric Association (APA) has been arguing in favour of ECT as a safe treatment for severe mental illness, according to a short piece in the current issue of the BPS magazine The Psychologist. The APA claims that ECT is effective 80% of the time and there is no evidence for any associated brain […]
Read moreThree recent small studies (see here or here ) looked at the effects of various 12-16 week exercise programmes on sufferers from schizophrenia. The types of exercise varied from more physically strenuous ones, such as strength training and jogging, to less energetic yoga. There were small improvements in physical health but greater improvements were found in mental states. […]
Read moreDNA analysis of thousands of people in three separate studies has shown that the disorder is linked to the interaction of a large number of genetic variants on chromosome 6, in an area called the Major Histocompatability Complex which has one role in the immune system and another in controlling the switching on or off of other genes. […]
Read more
