Schizophrenia
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 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).
The symptoms of schizophrenia are generally divided into three categories; positive, disorganized and negative symptoms.
Positive or 'psychotic' symptoms include delusions and hallucinations as the patient has lost touch with reality in certain important ways. Positive used in this context does not mean good, rather it refers to having overt symptoms that should not be there. Delusions can cause the patient to believe that other people are reading their thoughts or plotting against them, that others are secretly monitoring or threatening them, that they can control other peoples minds or to have other grandiose beliefs. Hallucinations can cause people to hear or see things that are not there.
Disorganized symptoms include confused thinking or speech, and behavior tha...
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...could also play a role.
Several studies since then have shown that there tends to be a higher rate of schizophrenia among children born in winter or early spring. (Kalat, 1998). (See appendix two).
As the above information has shown, schizophrenia is a treatable disease that affects 1 -- 2 % of the world's population. The symptoms can be managed through medication but as of yet there is no cure. The cause is unknown but there are several plausible theories. Researchers can only hope that future work will shed a brighter light on this debilitating disease.
Bibliography:
REFERENCES
Kalat, J (1998). Biological Psychology (6th Ed) USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company
www.chovil.com./first.html
www.nami.org/helpline/schizo.htm
www.nejm.org/content/1999/0340/0008/0645.asp
www.schizophrenia.com/news/causes2.html
Tsuang, M. T., Faraone, S. V., & Glatt, S. J. (2011). Schizophrenia. New York: Oxford University Press.
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...
The neurodevelopmental Basis of Schizophrenia. Austin, TX: Landes Co.
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.
As an overview, schizophrenia is a disease to the brain. It is one of the most disabling and emotionally devastating illnesses known to man. It has been misunderstood for a long time. It has a biological basis, so it is like other diseases. It is a very common disease; one percent to one and a half percent of the U.S. has been diagnosed within some point in their life. There is no cure for this disease, although there is treatable medicine. Schizophrenia is not a multiple personality disorder. People who take medicine for it are able to lead normal fulfilling lives.
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 severe mental illness that affects one to two percent of people worldwide. The disorder can develop as early as the age of five, though it is very rare at such an early age. (3)) Most men become ill between the ages of 16 and 25 whereas most women become ill between the ages of 25 and 30. Even though there are differences in the age of development between the sexes, men and women are equally at risk for schizophrenia. (4) There is of yet no definitive answer as to what causes the disorder. It is believed to be a combination of factors including genetic make-up, pre-natal viruses, and early brain damage which cause neurotransmitter problems in the brain. (3)
National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health. Schizophrenia. 31 Jan 2013. Web. 15 May 2014
...ients that suffer severe symptoms. The most common treatment is a combination of medicine and therapy. Where the patient engages in individual psychotherapy with a therapist, rehabilitation, family education, or self help groups. These therapies usually help people cope with schizophrenia and its effects. At this time there is no cure for schizophrenia, there are very effective treatments and medications. Research is being conducted to help scientists understand the disorder better and is being used to try to treat schizophrenia permanently. The only way this is possible is with the use of new treatments, such as new experimental drugs and electrotherapy. No treatments today are preventative nor do they permanently “cure” schizophrenia, but we can look to the bright future for the development of a new treatment option that could potentially fully cure schizophrenia.
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...
Symptoms of schizophrenia are also referred to in terms of positive and negative. Positive symptoms are symptoms that are present in an individual that are not typically present, for example hallucinations or delusions. Negative symptoms are symptoms that are absent in an individual that are typically present, for example a decline in personal hygiene ...
According to NIMH, “schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves.” It is not as common as other mental disorders, and patients seem like they have lost touch with reality. These symptoms can be very disabling, and the symptoms normally start between the ages of 16 and 30. In very rare cases, kids have schizophrenia. There are three different types of symptoms: positive, negative, and cognitive. 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
Schizophrenia is a mysterious disease that can be fatal depending on how the patient takes care of themselves. People are diagnosed by their healthcare provider who usually does an evaluation of the families and patients previous mental history. This disease disrupts the brain function that affects how a person experience reality. Medicine and therapy helps control ailments brought on by the condition. Schizophrenia can be a stressful disease but with help from family and friends many live a joyful life.