Scenario 1: Schizophrenia
Question one
What are known characteristics of schizophrenia, and relate those to this patient?
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by impairments of how reality or things are perceived and changes in behavior. Generally, the illness is characterized by mental problems that change a person’s thinking, behavior, and his/her emotions. Signs and symptoms may differ from one victim to another; basically, schizophrenic patients require lifelong treatment. Lack of attention, concentration, and eye movement are among the most common characteristics of schizophrenic patients (Morita et al., 2020). At an early age, schizophrenia victims are usually calm, but at the adulthood stage, they develop imaginative behavior; that is, they can develop daydreaming habits.
A schizophrenic patient lacks attention and concentration when communicating with someone. Relating this characteristic and the one demonstrated by the 22-year-old female student who was brought to the health department by her boyfriend, it is true that schizophrenic patients lose their attention when conversing with someone. The female patient also developed an imagination that is hearing voices and thinking that people surrounding her can harm her. Other characteristics of schizophrenia include general dysfunctions, symbolism, hypersensitivity, and cognitive and perceptual dysfunctions, among others.
Question two
Genetics are sometimes attached to schizophrenia. Explain this.
Many factors, for example, heredity, cause schizophrenia. Genetics is indeed attached to schizophrenia, according to statistics. A study done in Denmark suggested that if a relative has the illness, the risk of developing it increases to ten percent. Genetics are passed from one generation to another, causing schizophrenia in people in the same family (Häfner & Gattaz, 2012). The 22-year-old female student had a family history related to schizophrenia, whereby her cousin had mental problems. Genetics aspects play a key in the development of schizophrenia in a family.
Question three
What roles do neurotransmitters play in the development of schizophrenia?
Neurotransmitters play a key role in developing schizophrenia, for example, they are carrier of different brain activities. They transmit chemical signals from one nerve cell to another cell. Common neurotransmitters include glutamate, GABA, dopamine, and oxytocin (Bansal & Chatterjee, 2021). Glutamate transfers signals between one cell to another. Also, dopamine as a neurotransmitter has a role to cause blood vessels to relax and also assists nerves to convey message between one cell to another. GABA blocks brain signals hence reducing brain functionality. Lastly, oxytocin improves conditions of a patient by improving the psychopathology of the patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Question four
Explain what structural abnormalities are seen in people with schizophrenia
Schizophrenic patients have structural brain abnormalities, for example, total brain and gray matter. Zhao et al. (2018) suggest that schizophrenic patients have ventricle enlargement, cortical thinning and also, hippocampal volume reduction, among others. Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects the brain’s functionality that is it alters the thinking and emotions of a person.
Scenario 2: Bipolar Disorder
Question one
How does genetics play in the development of bipolar 2 disorder?
Genetics increases the chances of developing bipolar 2 disorder whereby several genes accumulate and increase the chances of one developing bipolar 2 disorder. In a family whereby identical twins developed bipolar disorder generally may have between 35% to 70% chances of developing the disorder. Genetic factors and environmental factors react to cause bipolar disorder in people. A family that has bipolar two disorder history has a chance to transfer the genes to future generations (Fabbri, 2021). Genetic variants cause bipolar two disorder, whereby they combine with environmental factors to cause bipolar 2 disorder.
References
Bansal, V., & Chatterjee, I. (2021). Role of neurotransmitters in schizophrenia: a comprehensive study. Kuwait Journal of Science, 48(2).
Fabbri, C. (2021). The role of genetics in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder: from neuroscience to treatment, 41–60.
Häfner, H., & Gattaz, W. F. (Eds.). (2012). Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia: Volume II (Vol. 2). Springer Science & Business Media.
Morita, K., Miura, K., Kasai, K., & Hashimoto, R. (2020). Eye movement characteristics in schizophrenia: A recent update with clinical implications. Neuropsychopharmacology reports, 40(1), 2-9.
Zhao, C., Zhu, J., Liu, X., Pu, C., Lai, Y., Chen, L., … & Hong, N. (2018). Structural and functional brain abnormalities in schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study at different stages of the disease. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 83, 2
