Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder characterized by a dysfunctional thinking process and withdrawal from the outside world. The word schizophrenia comes from two Greek words schizo which means split and phrenia, which means mind. This doesn't mean that a person with the disorder has multiple personalities, but rather parts of the mind seem to be operating independent of each other. The disease affects approximately 1 in 100 people and there are thought to be over 2 million schizophrenics in the United States today. Schizophrenia has been found to be a biologically based brain disease due to the imbalance of two of the brains chemicals dopamine and serotonin. In the brain of a schizophrenic there are elevated dopamine and serotonin activity. The cause of the disease is still unknown, but some of the most accepted theories are genetics, a biochemical imbalance, an early viral infection, or birth trauma. Generally, schizophrenia has a major impact on thinking and functioning, impairing a person's ability to care for themselves and to respond to surroundings in a civilized manner.

In the diagnosing of schizophrenia, there are 5 different types to be diagnosed as. One of the major types is Disorganized Schizophrenia. This is characterized by disorganized thinking, speech, and poor concentration. There is also a lack of emotional expression and inappropriate emotional response to certain situations. There are also no really well established delusions that may characterize it. One other major type of schizophrenia is Paranoid Schizophrenia. The main character of this is delusions. The delusions are usually paranoid, but tend to occasionally be grandiose. There are also hallucinations and ...

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...y schizophrenics receive at the clinics that they visit. In a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, it was found that the clinics were providing poor care because there was no follow-up care or any way of monitoring quality of treatments. There have been and currently are problems with the care distributed to schizophrenics, but further developments in background and causes of the disease should help schizophrenics for years to come.

Bibliography:

The Encyclopedia of Schizophrenia and the Psychotic Disorders Noll, Richard, M.A. 1992

Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments Bernheim, Kayla F. Lewine, Richard R.J.

W.W. Norton & Company New York

www.ama-assn.org/public/journals/jama/jamahome.htm - Journal of American Medicine

www.mentalwellness.com

www.nimh.nih.gov ? National Institute of Mental Health

www.schizophrenia.com