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Biological explanation of schizophrenia
Name environmental and biological causes of schizophrenia
Biological explanation of schizophrenia
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The term “schizophrenia” is less than one hundred years old but the disease was first recognized by Dr. Emile Kraeplin in 1887. Although being identified in 1887, schizophrenia has been around since the existence of man. Writings from ancient Egypt, known as the Book of Hearts, reveal that schizophrenia, along with other mental disorders such as depression, were common in that time and they had their own methods of treatment. However, these treatments were often extreme and deadly to the patients; one practice actually being to drill holes into the patient’s skull in the hopes of releasing the demons possessing that individual.
But today, we have developed actual methods of treating these mental illnesses through years of research and studies. Schizophrenia is a severe psychological disorder that is characterized by a fragmented thought process. The term schizophrenia comes from the Latin words schizo, meaning split, and phrene, meaning mind, which would be coined by a Swiss psychiatrist named Eugen Blueler in 1911. This has led people to come to the false conclusion that it is a multiple personality disorder when it is not. People diagnosed with schizophrenia suffer from their mind being split from reality, which is exacerbated by severe hallucinations.
Approximately 2.2 million adults in the United States, just over one percent of the population 18 years or older, have schizophrenia. Schizophrenics usually exhibit signs of disordered thought, difficulty verbalizing their thought, emotional instability, abnormal psychomotor skills, and anti-social behavior. This illness is one of the more treated mental disorders around the nation. About one half of the patients in mental hospitals are people with schizophrenia. Peop...
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...d into as a cause of schizophrenia are psychological and sociocultural factors. One psychological explanation being the diathesis model, which supports the idea of schizophrenia being hereditary but believe it is only actively engaged by exposure to stress. Supporters of this theory might suggest a reduction of stress in the environment as a way to treat the illness. There are also many scientists who believe schizophrenia is caused by sociocultural factors. This theory emphasizing that the lower class is more susceptible to the disorder. They would suggest that the individual be exposed to new relationships with people to slide them back into reality. But in the end, the truth is that we don’t know what causes schizophrenia. All of this is just theory. However, with each day brings new possibilities and further progression in the fields of medicine and psychology.
The causes of schizophrenia and the related psychotic illness have been the subject of much
Schizophrenia has multiple symptoms; according to the World of Health Organization, these symptoms include “delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior [as well as depressive behavior].” Monomania
Every year one hundred thousand young Americans are diagnosed with the disease schizophrenia (Carman Research). Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that is associated with unnatural behavior or thinking . The disease usually affects people during the late adolescence stage or early adulthood, typically during this time they develop the symptoms linked to the disease.
According to the DSM-IV, schizophrenia is classified under the section of “Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders”. Schizophrenia is one of the most serious major chronic brain disorders in the field of mental health; it is a neurological disorder that affects the cognitive functions of the human brain. People living with this incapacitating illness can experience multiple symptoms that will cause extreme strain in their own and their families and friends life. The individual can lose reality, unable to work, have delusions and hallucinations, may have disorganized speech and thought processes, will withdraw from people and activities, they may become suspicious and paranoid, may behave inappropriately in every day social situations. They may neglect personal hygiene and dress improperly, use excessive make-up; every day life is becoming chaotic for everyone involved.
For many years schizophrenia was thought to be caused by bad parenting, the so-called "refrigerator mother" was to blame. Today there exists much more information on the disorder and the evidence points to the commonly accepted notion of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Unfortunately, many people still confuse schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder when, in fact, the two are separate. Schizophrenia however, deals more with people who simply don't have a firm grip on reality.
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).
In 1911, a Swiss psychiatrist named Eugen Bleuler coined the term "schizophrenia." It originated from the Greek words, schizo, which translates to "split" and phrenia, meaning "mind." When Bleuler conveyed the meaning of this term, it was not to label a person as a "split personality," but rather as a split between what is believed, what is perceived, and what is objectively real (1). Throughout history, the disorder has been confused and misunderstood by the general public. The idea of "split" has led people to equate schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder which is a psychiatric condition that is different and much less common. Bleuler did not want to label schizophrenia as the disorder where a person is split into two personalities; instead he wanted to explain that in schizophrenia, there is a splitting away of the personality from reality.
[3]The disorder is thought to be environmental. Trauma, emotional, and stress disorders are mentioned as people who have had difficulties with schizophrenia would have no record of the genetic based disorder in their family.
There are several people every year that are diagnosed with a mental disorder. In the world’s entire population, more than one percent of people have been diagnosed with schizophrenia (Brain and Behavior Research Foundation). When thinking of the billions of people in the world, it might not seem like that many people but once the number of those diagnosed is calculated it seems much larger. Currently there are more than seventy million people in the world that have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, only diagnosed. There are probably several more people who have this disorder and have not been diagnosed or are unable to obtain the resources to be diagnosed.
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.
The word Schizophrenia has been used since 1911 on behalf of Eugen Bleuler. In 1887 it was just an independent mental illness recognized by Dr. Emile Kraepelin. It has been described in Ancient Egyptian, Hindu, Chinese, Greek, Roman writings with symptoms close to the symptoms of Schizophrenia now. During medieval times, Schizophrenia was just proof of the person being possessed by powers or evil spirits.
Schizophrenia is a complex psychological disorder, which affects 1 -- 2 % of the world's population (www.nami.org/helpline/schizo) Schizophrenia can affect anyone at any age, but most cases develop between adolescence and age 30. The relative prevalence of schizophrenia is staggering compared with the likes of muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. (See appendix one).
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...
The environment surrounding an individual also can trigger the onset of schizophrenia. It has been observed that family stress, trauma, and poor social interactions all have the tendency to promote schizophrenic behavior, though it does not necessarily cause it. Going along with this, it is also possible that prenatal conditions affect the development of schizophrenia...
Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders with major impairments in thought, emotion, and behavior; there is a constant prevalence rate of one percent with the occurrence being slightly higher in men. Though different psychologists have various theories on whether the disorder is linked to genetics or social economic status, schizophrenia in all