1.Choose One Of The Psychological Disorders Discussed In

For the past fifty years treatment of schizophrenia has been marked by its basis on the dopamine hypothesis for schizophrenia. However, this model for the disease and its subsequent treatment have left many patients without relief or help in dealing with this disease which has lead to a search for a better model. The dopamine model lacks the recognition of a whole range of symptoms associated with the disease and therefore can not be an accurate basis for treatment. More recently, there has been a shift to the glutamate hypothesis which has been shown to more accurately characterize the wide range of symptoms experienced by patients living with this disorder as well as the possibility in improvements for drug treatments.

The major support and refutation of the dopamine hypothesis has come from the examination of dopamine receptors in these regions of the brain. There are two main types of dopamine receptors, D1 and D2. However, within the category of D2 receptors, there are three subtypes, D2, D3, and D4. (5) Through PET scan analysis of dopamine usage in the brain and post-mordum molecular analysis of brain tissue, researcher were able to determine relative levels of dopamine receptors in patients with schizophrenia compared to non-schizophrenics. Overall analysis of dopamine

Psychological disorders are stated to be abnormalities of the mind, known as mental disorders (Klasco, 2011). Abnormalities of the mind cause persistent behaviors that affect an individual’s daily function and life (Klasco, 2011). The different types of psychological disorders include mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders (Klasco, 2011). The causes of these disorders are unknown, but factors that contribute to these disorders include childhood experiences, chemical imbalances in the brain, illnesses, heredity, stress, and prenatal exposures (Klasco, 2011). Psychological disorders can be serious and can be life-threatening

For instance, an excess of dopamine can cause schizophrenia and hallucinogenic drugs stimulate dopamine for it's main purpose as well as cocaine or adderall. Too much Dopamine can influence people to seek more adventurous lives, or too little can cause lack of motivation such as people with Parkinson's disease.

Furthermore Parkinson’s disease, which is associated with a depletion of dopamine display behaviours characteristic of schizophrenia when given too much L-DOPA, a dopamine stimulant (Gershon, Angrist, and Shopsin, 1977 as cited in Kalat, 1992). In addition if schizophrenics are given drugs such as L-DOPA their symptoms are heightened. (Kalat, 1992).

Over the years, experiments have produced evidence to suggest that dopamine plays a role in the development of Schizophrenia (Howes, McCutcheon, & Stone, 2015). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental regions of the brain. The belief that dopamine was involved in Schizophrenia arose after multiple studies performed with compounds produced an increase in extracellular concentrations of dopamine (Lieberman, Kane, & Alvir, 1987). The patients that were administered these compounds had similar symptoms to those observed from patients who were diagnosed with Schizophrenia (Lieberman et al., 1987).

An important topic we discussed in class is schizophrenia. The typical age of onset in schizophrenia is during the individual’s mid-20s, but symptoms can start appearing during their late teens until their early 30s (Vernon, 2015). Additionally, only 1% of the population are diagnosed with schizophrenia, regardless of their gender or demographic background, which is a unique aspect compared to other diagnoses. Numerous studies, conducted under a variety of biological etiologies, serve as evidence for schizophrenia. Theses studies include: family studies, twin studies, adoption studies, linkage studies, pregnancy studies, and viral infections studies (Vernon, 2015), but the most dominant is that of identical twins as they have a high concordance rate of 48% (Cromer 479). This means that identical twins (monozygotic twins) have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia compared to fraternal twins (dizygotic twins). Additionally, neurochemistry studies examined that people with schizophrenia have more dopamine receptors, especially D-2 receptors, causing them to have “problems [with] attention, perception, and thought” (Cromer 481). This is known as the dopamine hypothesis which is important because researchers initially thought that it was too much dopamine that led to schizophrenia, but numerous studies verified that this idea was false and rather, that it was an overactive dopamine system that produced more dopaminergic activity. Specifically, through drug testing,

Schizophrenia has been defined as a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown in mental thinking and a poor emotional response. This disorganization hasn’t till now acquired a clear understanding of the mechanisms that lie behind (Harrison 1999) but researchers suggest an increase in the dopaminergic transmission in the prefrontal cortex coupled to an inhibition of the glutamatergic pathways, majorly at the level of NMDA receptors (Wen-Jun Gao). For more than 50 years, the dopamine hypothesis had been considered the mother of the theories of schizophrenia. Van Rossum first proposed it in 1966 suggesting that a hyperactivity occurring at the level of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway is the mediator of positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic neurological disease that results in a combination of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms of Schizophrenia include hallucinations and delusions. Negative symptoms of Schizophrenia most commonly consist of avolition, anhedonia, and alogia. Cognitive symptoms affect the person’s cognition. Patients with the disorder have disorganized speech and behavior, deficits in learning and memory, as well as deficiencies in abstract thinking and problem solving. Positive symptoms of Schizophrenia are commonly attributed to the abnormally high levels of dopamine (Konradsson-Geuken, slide 25). While there is no current cure for Schizophrenia there are different treatments that prove to help certain aspects of the disorder.

What people overlook about psychological disorders like schizophrenia is that they are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. The brain is a soft tissue muscle that has billions of nerves and cells. It controls our functions without it people would not be here. People look at schizophrenics like they are insane. This way of thinking needs to change.

The Dopamine Hypothesis theorizes that the symptoms portrayed in Schizophrenia is can be explained by abnormal function of dopamine in the brain. There have been three versions of the Dopamine Hypothesis. The first version of the hypothesis focuses on the dopamine receptors. Antipsychotic drugs that impact the metabolization and reabsorption of dopamine where found to be effective in treating the symptoms. It was theorized that if the symptoms of a Schizophrenic episode can be treated by the use of dopamine

In the brain it was noticed that individuals affected with schizophrenia there is “far more neurotransmitters are released between neurons, which is what causes the symptoms” at first scientist where thinking that the problems where only because of the overload of dopamine in the brain now according to The Effects of Schizophrenia on the Brain by Adina Cazaban

The nerve cells that benefit from Norepinephrine have the exact enzyme which joins the -OH group to Dopamine. Schizophrenia has been a topic of debate that has been widely critized by all different approaches in psychology. However, the Biological implications tend to concentrate on the abnormalities of a behaviour, and how it can happen, referring to the medical model manual as a backup. But, assuming to this model most disorders are based on physical causes, as Kraepelin (1883) stated. Also in (1896)

Still, these causes are just factors and not sole causes of schizophrenia. MacPherson says that low self-esteem, repressed feelings, and a past of psychological abuse encourages one to compare their own self with the selves of society which leads to one’s emotions being split (MacPherson). It is argued that psychologically stressful situations like a loss of job, bereavement, divorce, or abuse don’t cause schizophrenia but trigger the development if it is already there (NHS). The person’s brain reacts differently to these situations. Dopamine is a chemical in our bodies that regulate mood. When a person’s dopamine levels drop to low, they become depressed. However, if it gets too high then a person can hallucinate and have delusions. In schizophrenia patients, their brain releases dopamine after stressful situations (Brisch et al). It is also observed that anything that causes extra release of dopamine including adolescent marijuana use increases the risk of schizophrenia (Brisch et

Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by thinking disturbances, social behavior and emotional frustration. In most cases, schizophrenia takes chronic nature and leads to changes in consciousness. Delusions, hallucinations, disturbances of mental activity - all of these are sure signs of neglected schizophrenia. Today schizophrenia occurs in all countries and cultures and is characterized by simultaneous prevalence ranging from 2 to 5 cases per 1000 people. Only during the life 7 to 9 people out of 1000 suffer from this disease (Basic Facts About Schizophrenia, 2008).