The Chemical Balance In Mental Health Problems Summary

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter known to be involved in regulating mood and behaviour, amongst other things. Schizophrenia is associated with an overactivity of dopamine in the brain, and this may be associated with the delusions and hallucinations that are a feature of this disease.

Neurotransmitters in the brain can give researchers insight as to why people feel the way they do. Dopamine, for example, is the neurotransmitter associated with satisfaction. Activities such as watching your favorite TV show or eating your favorite food can cause the release of dopamine in the brain. Moreover, dopamine can act as a stimulant to increase communication between neurons and widen the brain’s range of effects. (Hillman). A study by Dr. Fredrik Ullen, of the Karolinska Institute, examined the dopamine receptors in “highly creative types” and found that their dopamine systems highly resemble those of people who suffer from schizophrenia. In both cases, there is a low density of dopamine receptors in the thalamus, which acts as a

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).

The resulting high dopamine levels are responsible for the hallucination, dissociation and psychosis within reactions to PCP.

Auditory hallucination is a fundamental presentation observed in patients suffering from schizophrenia. It is one of the frequently occurring symptoms considered to be disabling in schizophrenia, but despite vast and numerous organized studies undertaken in this area in order to comprehend the pathophysiology of auditory hallucination, little success has been realized, and it remains to be complex in research, understanding, and expressing the knowledge accrued (Kaprinis, 2008.) The auditory processing in schizophrenia seems to be different from that of normal individuals because patients inflicted with this mental illness complain of voices deep inside their heads. The voices are described as coming

Americans should be more aware of the false validity of the Chemical Imbalance Myth in our society today because of the immense usage of Antidepressants and the negative consequences they have on our physical and emotional health. The writers goal in writing this paper is not to say that mental illnesses are not real, rather, to point out some of the myths and traditions that are related to depression. We as a people tend to confuse normal emotions with clinical depression, in which they are prescribed antidepressants to make them feel better. The myth focused on in this paper is the “Chemical Imbalance” theory, which has been adopted by our society for years. The number of people in America that are currently on antidepressant medications is alarming and this issue must be addressed. A mistake that many well-meaning American’s make is taking pills when those pills are not necessary. These pills are rather damaging to an individual’s physical, emotional, and family health. When individuals take responsibility for their emotions and meet their core needs as a human, the normal emotion of sadness can be resolved.

Dopamine being a neurotransmitter is being secreted at higher levels in the synapses which is causing over stimulation of cells resulting in such positive symptoms that are all characteristic of schizophrenia.

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

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

Chemical imbalance; urban legend or serious theory informed by psychiatrists? Although it is publicly refuted, the number of patients who claim to have a chemical imbalance continues to rise. The release of Prozac and the advancement of drug marketing in the late 1980s began the idea that chemical imbalances in the brain was the leading cause of mental disorders. This idea thrived through the years despite becoming a well-established myth. The term “chemical imbalance” provides psychiatrists a simple, well defined, scientific explanation to patients and families while defusing the patients overall feeling of responsibility. The chemical imbalance is simply constituted by a myth of misleading positions and “red-headed stepchild[ren]” that are

A hallucination is defined as a sensory perception in the absence of an externally generated stimulus (4). They are different from illusions in that in an illusion an external object actually exists and is perceived, but is misinterpreted by the individual (4). Main forms of hallucinations are be visual, auditory, and olfactory, but since we have been discussing vision and interpretation of reality lately this paper will focus only on those that are visual. And I will attempt through the examination of two different types of visual hallucinations - release hallucinations and those experienced by schizophrenics - to make an argument for brain equals behavior.

In the research presented by Howes and Kapur (2009), they have pointed out a possible concern to invalidate the dopamine hypothesis in schizophrenia as current PET studies did not holding a firm position in measure the dopamine level, they were more to a postulation of a generated estimation from the data. Furthermore, Howes and Kapur (2009) also stressed that the role of dopamine could be circumvented by using the antipsychotic drugs which effectively to the psychotic symptoms but neutral to the dopamine system, thus the role of dopamine will be less critical in schizophrenia. This is because most of the recent antipsychotic researches only prove that dopamine merely contributed in providing a solution in alleviating the psychosis-liked-symptoms but those symptoms are not the symptoms only existed in schizophrenia.

A hallucination is the perception of something, without the presence of an external stimulus, that does not physically exist. Mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and dementia, alongside the abuse of illegal substances or alcohol are among some of the main causes of hallucinations. Not to be confused with illusions or delusions, hallucinations fixate on the sensation conjured by a network of lobes in the brain when there is no actual tangible object stimulating the senses, while illusions are a false interpretation of reality and delusions are strong set beliefs that an individual has despite contradicting evidence. Due to the fact that hallucinations are most commonly associated with mental illnesses, they are often perceived as a sign

If people use drugs, they will be bothered with drug symptoms. Drug symptoms are mainly hallucinations and health problems. Hallucinations are the same as illusions. There are hallucinogens which cause illusions on people. Some of hallucinogens have unforeseeable influences. After people use this kind of drug, they will see thing that it does not exist in reality, like insects. Then, they will try to fan off them. They do not aware that they see illusions. Hallucination is one of symptoms of drugs. Sometime, drug users go through a flashback. Flashback is to recall