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Strengths of the psychiatric classification system
Characteristics and symptoms of schizophrenia
Characteristics and symptoms of schizophrenia
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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... ... middle of paper ... ...ected over another because it has less chance of damaging a diseased liver, worsening a heart condition, or affecting a patient’s high blood pressure. For all the benefits that anti-psychotic drugs provide, clearly they are far from ideal. Some patients will show marked improvement with drugs, while others might be helped only a little, if at all. Ideally, drugs soon will be developed to treat successfully the whole range os schizophrenia symptoms. Roughly one third of schizophrenic patients make a complete recovery and have no further recurrence, one third have recurrent episodes of the illness, and one third deteriorate into chronic schizophrenia with severe disability (Kass, 206). Bibliography 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.
Tsuang, M. T., Faraone, S. V., & Glatt, S. J. (2011). Schizophrenia. New York: Oxford University Press.
-Lieberman JA, Stroup TS, McEvoy JP, Swartz MS, Rosenheck RA, Perkins DO, Keefe RS, Davis SM, Davis CE, Lebowitz BD, Severe J, Hsiao JK. Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia. N Engl J Med. 2005. Web.
Having a foundation for treatment for those who suffer from schizophrenia is very important to recovery. Depending on what type of treatment and how it is used will determine an individual's progress. E. Fuller Torrey makes the argument that antipsychotic drugs are the most useful and effective way for recovery. Against this belief is Robert Whitaker who believes that society reacts too quickly by just giving medication. Alternative solutions, such as moral therapy, should be used in order to fully recover. So, are antipsychotic medications the treatment of choice for people with psychosis?
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...
Addington, J., Piskulic, D., & Marshall, C. (n.d). Psychosocial Treatments for Schizophrenia. Current Directions In Psychological Science, 19(4), 260-263.
Furthermore, antipsychotic medications do not cure schizophrenia, but they do reduce the symptoms. In addition, the dosage given to the patient varies from patients and according to their mental disorder. Some new antipsychotic medications since to be better than the first drugs invented. Drugs such as Zyprexa or genetic names olanzapine, Risperdal generic name risperidone or Clozapine, which is has been extensively used to treat the negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medication like many other medications has side effects which consist on: drowsiness, restlessness, muscle spasm, tremors, dry mouth, and blurring of vision (First M.B., Tasman, A.2006, p.265).
Classical antipsychotic treatments are commonly used to treat schizophrenic patients with major positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as Thorazine, Haldol, and Stelazine (Gleitman et al., 2011). Antipsychotic treatments are usually administered with a variety of psychosocial treatments including social skills training, vocational rehabilitation, supported employment, family therapy, or individual therapy (Barlow & Durand, 2014). This is to reduce relapse and help the patient improve their skills in deficits and comply in consuming the
Schizophrenia is a severe incurable brain disorder that oppresses many today. Schizophrenia affects more than 2 million Americans. It is one of the most feared and misunderstood of all mental illnesses. So with this illness there are many questions. What is the meaning of schizophrenia, how is it diagnosed and how is it treated? With it being the most feared and misunderstood of all mental illnesses what are some stereotypes and fears out there about those with schizophrenia? How do those with the illness and the family members feel about law enforcement and what are their needs when it comes to those in law enforcement? What is being done now in law enforcement to help ones who have this illness?
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.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which brain functioning is disrupted. People suffering from Schizophrenia are often unable to decipher what they are experiencing from reality. Although the person suffering from this particular illness could be highly educated and well spoken, their symptoms can make it near impossible to understand what is happening in the world around them. Some people suffer from intense audio and visual hallucinations, while others may experience slight delusions and are able to recognize the onset. Signs that usually indicate the onset of schizophrenia are not only audio and visual hallucinations, but also include delusions, thought disorder, and an inability to convey ideas and thoughts clearly to family and friends (Spearing, Melissa). The following is a look into the mindset and delusions of Susan K. Weiner, a woman who has suffered the affects of schizophrenia.
Duckworth M.D., Ken. “Schizophrenia.” NAMI.org. National Alliance on Mental Illness, Feb. 2007. Web. 28 March 2010.
Schizophrenia is a disease of the brain that is expressed clinically as a disease of the mind. Once it strikes, morbidity is high (60% of patients are receiving disability benefits within the first year of onset) as is mortality (the suicide rate is 10%). (www.nejm.org/content/1999/0340/008/0645.asp). Because its symptoms and signs and associated cognitive abnormalities are diverse, researchers have been unable to find localization in a single region of the brain. This essay will discuss the symptoms, treatments and causes of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia requires a lifetime of treatment through either medications and therapy, in many cases both is needed. Psychiatrist’s help patients survive through the disease. Another form to treat schizophrenia is through antipsychotic medications which are most commonly prescribed drugs to treat schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, disabling, brain disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulties distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary, be unresponsive or withdrawn, and may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations.
If prescribed a neuroleptic drug, Nash would most likely follow in the footsteps of other patients suffering from schizophrenia and decide that the side effects of the medication are more unbearable the symptoms of the disorder itself. New drugs are being made in order to address the issue of undesirable and intolerable side effects of conventional antipsychotic drugs.