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What are the impact on families with schizophrenia
Treatments for schizophrenia psychology essay
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Schizophrenia is a class of disorders characterized by fundamental disturbances in thought processes, emotion, or behavior. It is also known as a "split mind"; the person is in a world that has nothing to do with everyday experiences. One to one and a half percent of the U.S. population will be diagnosed with it sometime over the course of their lives. Schizophrenia has a pattern of unique and predictable symptoms. There are two main types of symptoms: positive and negative symptoms. The positive symptoms are delusions or hallucinations; negative symptoms are deficits in behavior or an inability to express emotion. But what exactly are these symptoms and are they easy to detect?
The more obvious types of symptoms are the positive. One characteristic that is often experienced is delusions, which are known as thoughts with meanings that are unrealistic. For example, people with this disorder tend to believe that they are someone else in disguise such as Elvis or Jesus. Another type of delusion is the delusion of grandeur, which is when an individual believes that they are more important than they actually are. A less common but very real type of delusion is a delusion of persecution, which is when an individual is convinced that others are plotting against him. But even more severe is perceptions known as hallucinations.
Hallucinations are perceptions that can not possibly be real because there is nothing external to support them; however, to the person affected, they can be heard, seen, or even felt. Some individuals may see objects change shape or size, which is not very unusual for someone with schizophrenia. On some occasions, individuals claim to hear voices in their heads, telling them to do or say certain things. These voices appear to be so real, that in some instances individuals where known to have committed suicide because that's what the voice told them to do. Less obvious than the positive symptoms but equally serious are the negative symptoms.
It is very common for a person to show flat affect, which means they show little or no emotional reaction. If someone shows a person with this disorder an extremely funny movie or a very sad picture, they are unlikely to even smile or shed a tear. People with schizophrenia also refuse to participate in basic everyday activities. They may refuse to eat or wash themselves.
Some other symptoms that are less common are disorganized speech and catatonia.
The most typical symptoms of schizophrenia are things such as, hearing things that others cannot, such as voice of people whispering, having a feeling that someone is going out of their way to make sure they harm you, having visions of things that people around you cannot see, receiving special messages from the television, radio, and other appliances, felling that you posses special powers that ca...
There is still no unanimously accepted definition of schizophrenia, and appreciable differences exist between the narrowest and widest definition (Tsuang 13). It is a disease that includes a disturbance in cognition that renders the individual "out of touch with reality". Emotions are distorted in schizophrenia and they are typified by being socially withdrawn (Lahey 555).
Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people at different stages in their lives and is very difficult to diagnose. It has many symptoms that typically begin to appear around age 18-30 (2). Signs of Schizophrenia can be misread and sometimes overlooked due to the amount of other disorders that share many of the symptoms. Autism is one example. Symptoms can be classified into "negative" and "positive." Negative symptoms could be seen as those that are absent but should be present. Examples of negative symptoms include lack of motivation or apathy, blunted feelings, depression, and social withdrawal (1). Positive symptoms are those that should be present but are absent. Some examples of positive symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and an altered sense of self (1). It is thought that hallucinations are the...
There are three main types of delusions a person can have. Delusion of Persecution is when the person thinks that people are out to get him or her. For example the government. Grandeur is when the person thinks he or she is very important, rich, famous, ect. Reference is when the person thinks that the TV is talking directly to him or her. They also think some outside source is talking to them.
[1]Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe brain disorder, though most people may call it an illness. With this disorder the person is more likely to experience “Imaginary friends”,[2] Hearing voices that are not there, and being very paranoid. The people who have schizophrenia are often withdrawn and can be agitated easily. [3]The main thought to the symptoms are known to be paranoia, although the symptoms can vary depending on the person and what type of schizophrenia that he or she may have. [6][7]There are five types of schizophrenia, which include, paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual schizophrenia.
According the fourth edition diagnostic manual of mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), the category psychotic disorders (Psychosis) include Schizophrenia, paranoid (Delusional), disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, residual type. Other clinical types include Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Affective Disorder/Manic depression, mania, Psychotic depression, delusional (paranoid) disorders. These are mental disorders in which the thoughts, affective response or ability to recognize reality, and ability to communicate and relate to others are sufficiently impaired to interfere grossly with the capacity to deal with reality; the classical and general characteristics of psychosis are impaired reality testing, hallucinations, delusions, and illusions. Mostly, these are used as defining features of psychosis even if there are other psychotic symptoms that characterise these disorders (L. Bortolotti, 2009).
What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is brain disorder that makes it hard to see the difference between reality and imagination, have normal emotional responses, and act normal in social situations. Schizophrenia is relatively young, it has only been around for less than 100 years. It was first discovered by Dr. Emile Kraeplin in 1887. He believed it was a mental illness. A few documents take Schizophrenia’s origins back to Egypt during the Pharaoh’s rule around 1550 B.C. People originally thought schizophrenia was simply madness, and usually associated it with madness, even though it is quite different from madness. Symptoms of this disease include Positive symptoms, which are: hallucinations, or things that someone can see, feel, smell, or hear that do not really exist. Many people hear voices inside their heads, see people that are not there, or smell odors no one else smells. Delusions are another symptom, also known as bizarre beliefs, these may include paranoid delusions also, which are delusions that tell the person that others are trying to hurt them. Thought Disorders are a symptom in which the person thinks unusually or dysfunctionally. Movement disorders may be present in schizophrenic people, they may seem like twitches or small, sharp, and sudden movements. Schizophrenia’s “negative symptoms” are harder to recognize. These include the flat affect, in which the persons face doesn’t move and the voice is droning. The lack of pleasure in life is another once, along with the lack of ability to start and sustain activities, and little speech. These symptoms prevent or block the person from living a normal life because they cause social, physical, and emotional, and mental problems. This may lead to psychosis, insanity, or ...
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder which disables the brain and leaves a person feeling psychotic. A person diagnosed with this disorder may see or hear things that other people don’t. They may also think that, if they are talking with someone, the other person is controlling his or her mind or is planning to hurt them in some way. This will result in the schizophrenic person withdrawing from any social interaction, or becoming very agitated.
Do you think to look at someone you can tell if they have Delusional Disorder? The most common symptom is the presence of delusions. These delusions have a grip on the person’s mind which has an unshakable belief that the delusions are true. The delusions can be either non-bizarre or bizarre. Some non-bizarre delusions can be either being poisoned, followed, and being conspired against. There are six different traits a
Schizophrenia is defined as a severe disabling mental illness. A person with this illness may be completely out of touch with what is going on around them. For example, the individual suffering from Schizophrenia may hear voices, see people who are not there (ghost in other words), and or feel bugs crawling on their skin when in actuality there are now. They may also have disorganized speech and behavior, physically rigid, emotionless, and delusions. The type of delusions where they believe that people are reading their minds, have control over their thoughts, and or plotting to hurt them. They have difficulty holding jobs and taking care of themselves.
The symptoms of schizophrenia are generally divided into three categories; positive, disorganized and negative symptoms.
Schizophrenia is a serious, chronic mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality and disturbances of thought, mood, and perception. Schizophrenia is the most common and the most potentially sever and disabling of the psychosis, a term encompassing several severe mental disorders that result in the loss of contact with reality along with major personality derangements. Schizophrenia patients experience delusions, hallucinations and often lose thought process. Schizophrenia affects an estimated one percent of the population in every country of the world. Victims share a range of symptoms that can be devastating to themselves as well as to families and friends. They may have trouble dealing with the most minor everyday stresses and insignificant changes in their surroundings. They may avoid social contact, ignore personal hygiene and behave oddly (Kass, 194). Many people outside the mental health profession believe that schizophrenia refers to a “split personality”. The word “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek schizo, meaning split and phrenia refers to the diaphragm once thought to be the location of a person’s mind and soul. When the word “schizophrenia” was established by European psychiatrists, they meant to describe a shattering, or breakdown, of basic psychological functions. Eugene Bleuler is one of the most influential psychiatrists of his time. He is best known today for his introduction of the term “schizophrenia” to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox and for his studies of schizophrenics. The illness can best be described as a collection of particular symptoms that usually fall into four basic categories: formal thought disorder, perception disorder, feeling/emotional disturbance, and behavior disorders (Young, 23). People with schizophrenia describe strange of unrealistic thoughts. Their speech is sometimes hard to follow because of disordered thinking. Phrases seem disconnected, and ideas move from topic to topic with no logical pattern in what is being said. In some cases, individuals with schizophrenia say that they have no idea at all or that their heads seem “empty”. Many schizophrenic patients think they possess extraordinary powers such as x-ray vision or super strength. They may believe that their thoughts are being controlled by others or that everyone knows what they are thinking. These beliefs ar...
Schizophrenia can be described by a wide-ranging spectrum of emotional and cognitive dysfunctions. These can include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior, as well as inappropriate emotions. Consequently, this disease can affect people from all walks of life. Since schizophrenia is such a complex disorder it can ultimately affect a person’s entire existence and their struggle to function daily. With a chronic disease like this, most people have a difficult time functioning in society. This can make it hard for someone who is schizophrenic to relate to others as well as maintain significant relationships. Life expectancy for those who suffer this illness tend to be shorter than average. This is due to the higher rate of accident and suicide. The symptoms of schizophrenia can be broken down into different categories: positive, negative and disorganized. Positive symptoms include hallucinations and delusions. These tend to be the more obvious signs of psychosis. On the other hand negative symptoms indicate deficits or absence of normal behavior which can affect sp...
An emotional disturbance known as flat effect is a condition in which the person shows little or no emotion. For example, emotions can be excessive and/or inappropriate - a person might laugh when it would be more appropriate to cry (Cicarelli, p. 557). A person with schizophrenia might also exhibit disorganized and extremely odd behavior. For example, some forms of schizophrenia are accompanied by periods of complete immobility, whereas others may involve weird facial grimaces and odd gesturing.
There are hundreds of different careers in the medical field ranging from neurosurgeons to nurse practitioners. Psychiatry deals specifically with the diagnosis and treatment of mental, behavioral, and emotional ailments. The main purpose of a psychiatrist is to help people coop with issues and stress in their environment that make it difficult to lead a normal and healthy lifestyle. These issues may arise from abuse, addiction, mental disability, disease, or physical injury. It is the psychiatrist’s job to ensure the patient can maintain a healthy attitude and continue to provide for themselves. A Psychiatrist may choose to specialize in many sub classes of mental health including children and adolescents, geriatric psychiatry, addiction, and pain management. While requiring an intense and difficult education, the occupation in psychiatry is one that offers meaningful, fulfilling work and a high-end salary.