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Effects of schizophrenia on the individual
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HISTORIC OVERVIEW OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND ITS TREATMENT ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of the history of schizophrenia and its treatment. The paper begins by first providing some basic facts about the condition such as its nature, its probable causes, and its symptoms. This brief description is followed by a historical overview which discusses how schizophrenia came to be identified as a unique illness. The views of psychiatrists pivotal to making this identification are described. The paper then goes on to discuss how these views affected what was considered to be effective treatment for schizophrenia (e.g., sedation) and delineates how the notion of what should constitute effective treatment changed over the years. The paper also explores various medications that were used to treat the condition. Introduction Butcher, Mineka and Hooley (2003) define schizophrenia as a brain disorder in which there is a failure of the brain's chemical or electrical systems to function properly, resulting in a variety of unusual neural twists, such as disjointed ideas, confused or disconnected thoughts, and sounds or other sensations experienced as real when they exist only in the person's mind. The prevalence of the disorder is estimated to be about one percent of the population in most countries including the United States. Butcher, Mineka and Hooley also note that there are no sex-related difference for the prevalence of schizophrenia among men and women with the exception of a slight difference in the average age of onset with men showing symptoms a few years earlier than women. According to Foster (2003), it is currently believed that schizophrenia is caused by multiple factors but scientists are still unsure of the exact cause. Some of the factors believed to be involved in the development of schizophrenia but which are still being researched are: an imbalance of the brain's neurotransmitters (naturally existing chemicals that assist in cellular communication); genetics (schizophrenia is more likely to occur in families with a history of the disorder); (an abnormality in brain structure (the structure of schizophrenic brains are different from those of non-schizophrenics); and developmental factors such as a viral infection that occurs in the womb. &nb... ... middle of paper ... ...ore work must be done in this area. More work on both the neurobiology of the disease and on the psycho emotional factors that are involved in being able to successfully cope with the condition. References Andreasen, N. C. (1997). The evolving concept of schizophrenia: From Kraepelin to the present and future. Schizophrenic Research, 28(2-3), 105-109. Butcher, J., Mineka, S., & Hooley, J. M. (2003). Abnormal psychology. (12th ed.) Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon. Comer, R. J. (2000). Abnormal psychology. (4th ed.) New York: W. H. Freeman & Company. Foster, M. (2003). Schizophrenia revealed. New York: Norton. Gelman, S. (1999). Medicating schizophrenia. Pscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Healy, D. (1997). Psychiatric drugs explained. (2nd ed.) St. Louis: Mosby Publishers. Lehmann HE, Ban TA. (1997). The history of the psychopharmacology of schizophrenia. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 42, 152–62. Lewis, S. W. & Buchanan, R.W. (1998). Schizophrenia: Fast Facts. UK: Health Press. Porter, R. (1991). The faber book of madness. London: Faber and Faber Tallis, F . (1998). Changing minds: The history of psychotherapy as an answer to human suffering. London: Cassell
Tsuang, M. T., Faraone, S. V., & Glatt, S. J. (2011). Schizophrenia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schizophrenia: From Mind to Molecule. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Kalat, J. (2004). Biological Psychology.
... J. H., & Manos, M. J. (2004). Abnormal Psychology: Current Perspectives 9th ed. In L. B. Alloy, J. H. Riskind, & M. J. Manos, The Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sociocultural Perspectives (pp. 75-104). New York: McGraw Hill.
Schizophrenia: A guide to the New Research on Causes and Treatments. New York: Macmillan, 1994.
According to Gamble and Brennan (2000), the effectiveness of medication for schizophrenia to relieve patients from psychotic symptoms is limited. Although patients have adequate medication, some received little or no benefit from it and almost half of them still experience psychotic symptoms. They are also more likely to suffer relapse (Gamble and Brennan, 2000). Furthermore, Valmaggia, et al. (2005) found that 50% of patients who fully adhere to anti-psychotic medication regimes still have ongoing positi...
Phillips, J. G. "The Early Treatment Of Mental Disorder: A Critical Survey Of Out-Patient Clinics." Journal Of Mental Science 69.(1923): 471-482. PsycINFO. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Two main theorists came up with the condition we now know as schizophrenia; Emil Kreaplien and Eugen Bleuler. Kreaplien initially described ‘dementia praecox’, something we now understand to be schizophrenia. Kreaplien differentiated between two disorders, manic depressive illness and dementia praecox and believed that although these disorders were ‘systematically diverse that held a common core.’ Kreaplien believed that the original majo...
Duckworth M.D., Ken. “Schizophrenia.” NAMI.org. National Alliance on Mental Illness, Feb. 2007. Web. 28 March 2010.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Arasse, Daniel. Complete Guide to Mental Health. Allen Lane Press,New York, 1989. Gingerich, Susan. Coping With Schizophrenia. New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Oakland, 1994. Kass, Stephen. Schizophrenia: The Facts. Oxford University Press. New York, 1997. Muesen, Kim. “Schizophrenia”. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation, 1998. Young, Patrick. The Encyclopedia od Health, Psychological Disorders and Their Treatment. Herrington Publications. New York, 1991.
Barlow, H. D., Durand, V. M. (2012). Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
4 Shorter, Edward. (1997) A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac John Wiley & Sons, Inc. USA3.
Barlow, David H., Vincent Mark. Durand, and Sherry H. Stewart. Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2012. 140-45. Print.
Schmied, L. A., Steinberg, H., & Sykes, E. A. B. (2006). Psychopharmacology's debt to experimental psychology. History of Psychology, 9, 144-157.
Barlow, D., Durand, V., & Stewart, S. (2009). Abnormal psychology an integrative apporach. (2nd ed.). United States of America: Wadsworth
Halgin, R. P., & Whitbourne, S. K. (2010). Abnormal psychology: clinical perspectives on psychological disorders (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.