Naomi's Schizophrenia Case Study

It is hard to comprehend how and why people lose their sanity and become mad. I will address how the mind’s struggles caused by individual genes, stress and social-cultural influence affect the lives of Naomi, a 24-year-old college student with schizophrenia and Eric, a 27-year-old classical musician with severe depression. Their thoughts and behavior surprised me as this is my first time exposed to what these mental illnesses are. The relation between the mind and the body and the fact that the emotions affect the functioning of the body and vice versa explains the how and why a person become insane.

Both diagnosis Naomi’s schizophrenia and Eric’s depressive disorder presented by the Back from Madness documentary meet the criteria for the

But the antipsychotic medication clozapine, a drug therapy, to change Naomi brain’s functioning by altering its chemistry does not work. Naomi keeps hearing the voices even louder because her symptoms due to her genetics do not respond to the drug and still affect her well-being. Next, during the final exams, Naomi has a breakdown and is withdrawn and overwhelmed by the more negative voices, so she is admitted to the hospital for a month. While in the hospital, she receives a new antipsychotic drug, this new drug alters her brain’s chemistry. This time she starts feeling better, and she only hears two big voices far away from her. After three years of struggle, finally most of her symptoms disappear, and she does not feel sick anymore. Though Naomi remains free of voices, she continues to have difficulty concentrating and is aware she may

Unlike Naomi, Eric does not respond to drug therapy. Therefore, instead of a drug therapy, Eric receives the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or brain stimulation often an effective treatment for patients like Eric with severe depression who does not respond to a drug therapy. By shocking the brain, the ECT manipulates the brain’s chemical imbalance produced by the social-cultural stress experience. But after eleven ECTs in a month, Eric cannot function because of the temporary side effects of memory loss and confusion affecting his concentration to play the viola and his well-being. Then after four months of receiving ECT treatment, Eric returns to normal social functioning as a musician. Six months later, Eric is still playing the viola and has had no recurrence of his