Marcus has recently been diagnosed with both schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). His schizophrenia symptoms include hearing voices that command him to perform certain acts (auditory hallucinations) and feeling that his movements are controlled by an external force (delusions of control). His OCD symptoms involve persistent, intrusive thoughts that his hands are contaminated with deadly pathogens, leading him to wash his hands repeatedly for hours.
Marcus’s biological mother has a history of severe OCD, while his maternal uncle has schizophrenia. Furthermore, Marcus’s symptoms escalated rapidly after he was laid off from his job as an air traffic controller.
Discuss biological explanations for schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. With reference to Marcus, evaluate the extent to which these two disorders share common biological mechanisms.
110 exam-style questions on Edexcel A Level Psychology Content, covering Diagnosis of mental disorders (4 Ds), Classification systems (DSM and ICD), Schizophrenia and one other disorder, Treatments for the two disorders, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.