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Schizophrenia – AQA A-level Psychology Topic Overview
Schizophrenia is a complex and serious mental disorder affecting thought, perception, and behaviour. In this topic, students explore how the condition is classified, diagnosed, explained, and treated, using both biological and psychological perspectives.

Key areas of study include:

Classification and Diagnosis – ICD-10 vs. DSM-5, positive symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions) and negative symptoms (e.g., avolition, speech poverty).
Issues with Diagnosis – Concerns over reliability, validity, cultural bias, co-morbidity, and symptom overlap.
Biological Explanations – The role of genetics, dopamine dysregulation, and brain abnormalities (neural correlates).
Psychological Explanations – Family dysfunction (e.g., expressed emotion, double-bind theory) and cognitive explanations such as faulty information processing.
Biological Treatments – Typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs and their side effects.
Psychological Treatments – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), family therapy, and token economies as a management strategy.
The Interactionist Approach – The diathesis-stress model, combining genetic vulnerability with environmental triggers.
This topic encourages critical thinking about how psychological disorders are defined and managed and the ethical considerations surrounding treatment and diagnosis.