Schizophrenia

Suicide risk factors include the time of year, with springtime being the peak time for this behavior. Other risk factors include substance abuse, having a prior suicide attempt, having lethal means to die, and social withdrawal. The suicide of a close relative or friend also predicts an increased risk of suicide. Low levels of serotonin are seen in people who attempt suicide.

SCHIZOPHRENIA

Schizophrenia is one of the different psychotic disorders that involve thought disturbances, delusions of several types, and problems with behavior and emotions. It is often diagnosed in young adulthood. Social and functional abilities are impaired throughout the lifetime of the person who has the disorder. Many people are hospitalized on a regular basis.

Common symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, which are abnormalities in perception, delusions, which are abnormalities of thinking and belief systems, and difficulty with normal speech and motor behaviors. The majority of hallucinations are auditory in nature, with the person hearing voices. Less commonly, the hallucinations are visual or olfactory. Delusions are basically false beliefs, such as paranoid thinking, ideas of reference, and delusions of grandeur.

Other symptoms of schizophrenia include disorganized thinking, which involves disjointed and sometimes incoherent thoughts, disorganized motor behaviors, which are movements that are child-like or purposeless, and speech disturbances. These are the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. There are also negative symptoms, which involve decreased facial expression, depression, anhedonia or an inability to feel pleasure, and a flat affect.

Schizophrenia is largely inherited. Children of schizophrenic patients have six times the risk of also developing schizophrenia. There also is a less prominent impact of environment on the development of schizophrenia. Having a genetic basis for the disease plus a disorganized childhood both predict the development of the disorder.

Biologically, there appears to be an imbalance in the dopamine neurotransmitter system in psychosis, particularly as it applies to the limbic system. Serotonin also plays a role