Schizophrenia And Its Effects On The Development Of Schizophrenia

What is schizophrenia? “Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, emotion, and behaviour: disordered thinking in which ideas are not logically related, faulty perception and attention, flat or inappropriate affect, and bizarre disturbances in motor activity. People with schizophrenia withdraw from other people and reality, often into a fantasy life of delusions and hallucinations” (Davison 327). The term schizophrenia originated from the Greek language; Schizo meaning split and phrenia meaning mind. It is because of this that many think that schizophrenia is an illness of split personalities but in fact it most schizophrenics are often too disordered to carry out double lives. The true origin and/or reason for the development of schizophrenia is till this day uncertain but scientists are certain that there is more than one cause for the development of schizophrenia. Many explanations have risen for the cause of schizophrenia; one states that brain abnormalities and chemicals in the brain contribute to the development of schizophrenia (Hemmings, 1989), while another argues that a person 's environment and early experiences within relationships causes schizophrenia (Faraone, 1997). Schizophrenia is one of the most severe psychopathologies and from a study done in Finland it was determined that the lifetime prevalence of all psychotic disorders exceeds 3%, with a prevalence for schizophrenia of 0.87% (Davison 327). Schizophrenia sometimes begins in childhood but it usually is more apparent in late adolescent, ages 15 – 25, and sometimes it is more visible in men than in women. Even though, no one cause has been stated for schizophrenia, we will discuss in this essay the five subtypes of sch...

... middle of paper ...

...ess and pain but on the other hand this could be very harmful especially because of the drugs they are on for schizophrenia. The last effect is the higher risk of suicide. Schizophrenics are more likely to commit suicide when they are in their episodes, in depression and especially in the first six months of starting their treatment.

In conclusion, schizophrenia is an illness that makes it difficult for the individual to distinguish between reality and fantasy, behaving normally and thinking clearly. As mentioned there are five subtypes of schizophrenia and many causes and effects but there is a positive side to this as we have learned is to identify the symptoms and when that is completed the next step is to get treated without any delay. If these two steps are followed the individual suffering from schizophrenia can and do go on to live a normal and healthy life.