The ‘Glutamate Theory’ of the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia

Grebb, J. A., Weinberger, D. R. and Wyatt, R. J. Schizophrenia. In Diseases of the nervous system, A. K. Asbury, G. M. McKhann, W. I. Mcdonald, editors, Vol. 2. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1986.

Schizophrenia is a devastating and costly mental disorder that affects 1% of population worldwide. Patients manifest clusters of positive, negative and cognitive symptoms in early twenties and are often left with life-long severe mental disability and social stigma. Cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia are considered core symptoms of this disorder, and can manifest at the initial stage (Elvevåg and Goldberg, 2000). Atypical antipsychotics ameliorate positive symptoms but may only modestly improve cognitive symptoms (Richelson, 2010). In addition to this, some of the typical antipsychotics are even have deteriorative effects on cognitive symptoms (Heaton and Crowley 1981). To find the appropriate treatments for cognitive deficits of schizophrenia, it is important to know the underlying pathophysiology.

There is not an overwhelming amount of information about the etiology of schizophrenia, such as its specific biological/cellular causes. Mental health is a relatively young research field and much is still being learned concerning how the brain operates. Scientists do know, however, that schizophrenia is caused by certain chemical imbalances in the brain. Also, this specific brain disorder affects every inflicted person in a different manner, making it extremely difficult for scientists to fully und...

Schizophrenia: A Mind Suffering Today, scientists at the University of Iowa are studying abroad how people suffering from the mental disorder, schizophrenia, may have less brain tissue than those who do not have the disorder. Schizophrenia deeply affects the brain and causes individuals to lose touch with reality and have unorganized thoughts, troubled perceptions and unsuitable emotions and actions. “Schizo” means split and “phrenia” means mind, however this does not mean that this is a split mind or personality disorder, like most people commonly mistake this as. In order to understand this disorder, we need to take a look at the actual condition and how it is defined, apart from other disorders, speculated causes, such as genes from parents, treatments with psychotic medications, and case studies taken by doctors that show us some detachment from the real world.

The Truth about Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects one in every one hundred people worldwide (2). It is defined as a psychotic disorder usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied by various degrees of emotional, behavioral, and intellectual disturbances. There are numerous myths associated with schizophrenia, concerning what it is about, its causes, and the actions of those suffering from it. However, it is time to put these ideas to rest. There tend to be huge misconceptions concerning the causes of schizophrenia and the actions of those suffering from this disease.

The purpose of this paper is to explore schizophrenia as a psychological disorder. Schizophrenia is a chronic and usually serious mental disorder affecting a variety of aspects of behavior, thinking, and emotions (DSM-IV-TR., 2001). Schizophrenia is one of the most disabling and puzzling mental disorders (Pierangelo & Giulani, 2007). Individuals with this disorder may experience delusions and hallucinations, in which case they are considered psychotic (Chan & Chen, 2011). Schizophrenics may also experience social withdrawal and disinterest.

Mental illnesses are diseases that plague a being’s mind and corrupts one’s thoughts and feelings. Schizophrenia is one of the many disastrous illnesses that consume one’s life, is known as a real disease that deserves much attention. Experts believe that what causes the illness is a defect in the gene’s of the brain, and little signs of schizophrenia are shown until about one’s early adult years. Some effects of schizophrenia can either be negative or positive, but even if the effects could be either one, people should still be aware that there is something puzzling and alarming happening in the mind of a schizophrenic patient.

This article highlights the abnormalities that schizophrenic people have and how factors affects can the victim since the brain structure is different; for example, having a caustic family relationships or experiencing traumatic situations can trigger both the positive and negative symptoms. From a biological view, schizophrenia is developed from high levels of dopamine, different brain structure, and genetics. It is essential for patients to be surrounded by a person because hallucinations, dilutions, or other thought can disrupts an organism from receiving aliments and care.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that causes psychosis; which means a break with reality (Hewstone, Fincham and Foster 2005: 320). The onset of the disorder is usually in the person’s late teens. Early signs are that they may become more self-absorbed and display inappropriate behaviour. One of the main symptoms is that the person’s thinking becomes disordered as though their brain is unable to make sense of input from the environment and unable to focus only on relevant information. Changes in the person’s perception causes hallucinations, which can involve any of the senses and cause the person to struggle to differentiate between real external events and internally produced hallucinations. The person loses their ability to function in the real world and becomes withdrawn (Nolen-Hoeksema et al 2009: 558 -561).

-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.