Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Emilee

Many people see what is believed to be schizophrenic behavior in movies, television shows, and books, but is that really what schizophrenia is?

What is it?

Schizophrenia is a very uncommon mental disorder. Contrary to popular belief, it only affects about 1% of the world’s population. This disorder affects how people think, feel, and act. It usually causes one to not be able to separate what is reality from what is fantasy.

People often consider schizophrenia to be split personality or multiple personality, but that is not the case. Many people also believe that all people with schizophrenia are violent and can be very harmful to other people, but it is extremely rare for a patient with schizophrenia to be dangerous to others because of this disease. At most the patient is only harmful to themselves, but that is also very rare for them. The one major type of schizophrenia that can cause someone to be extremely dangerous is paranoid schizophrenia, and the level of this type must be very high. Paranoid schizophrenia is only one of 5 types of schizophrenia. This shows how rare it is for one to actually be dangerous.

Schizophrenia is also very difficult to diagnose. This is because schizophrenia has many symptoms that can be associated with other mental disorders. Some of the symptoms used to diagnose a patient with schizophrenia may also be found in healthy people with no disorder at all. Sometimes the disorder can not be diagnosed until the symptoms that the patient possess, escalate to the point of causing extreme harm the patient’s mind.

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Causes There is no direct cause for schizophrenia but there are many factors that can affect it. It is often believed that childhood, poor parenting, and lack of willpower are the causes for most mental disorders, but schizophrenia is one disorder that proves that there are some disorders that are not directly caused by these factors. Schizophrenia is caused by a mixture of genetics, environment, and brain chemistry. Usually when there is someone with schizophrenia, their descendants are 50% more likely to inherit the schizophrenia.

The environment can also affect the probability of someone having schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can be caused by exposure to a viral sickness, malnutrition before birth, medical issues during birth, and a lack of being social. Other things in the environment that may affect the probability of having schizophrenia is how the patient is treated as a child by other people and the living conditions in which one may grow up in.

Even though these things can affect the probability of someone having schizophrenia, brain chemistry is the key point in having schizophrenia. In all schizophrenic patients there is an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The most common of these are serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate. These chemicals affect how the brain functions, causing the brain in a schizophrenic patient to not function properly. Overall, there is not one factor that causes schizophrenia but many.

Symptoms There are many symptoms of schizophrenia. These symptoms are separated into categories, positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms.

Positive symptoms are symptoms that are not commonly found among healthy people.

These symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders, and movement disorders. Negative symptoms are symptoms that are found in healthy people, but are not as extreme as those in a schizophrenic patient. These symptoms include reduced expression of emotion, reduced pleasure in everyday life, difficulty beginning and completing activities, and reduced speaking. Cognitive symptoms are also symptoms that are found in schizophrenic patients.

Cognitive symptoms can be very severe among some patients, but for others they can be very subtle. These symptoms include trouble focusing or paying attention, inability to learn something and then use that knowledge to make major decisions, and being able to use information just after learning it.

If one has several of these symptoms it is

“After a century of studying schizophrenia, the cause of the disorder remains unknown.”

-Thomas R. Insel important that a doctor is informed immediately because if they are not informed soon, the level of schizophrenia they have can rise if it is not taken care of properly. People with symptoms of schizophrenia may not even realize that they have them because they are so similar to everyday mood changes, but after a while the symptoms will begin to strengthen in intensity and cause more harm to the person’s mind if the symptoms are not cared for in the beginning.

Types There are five types of schizophrenia.

These types are paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, residual schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. beginning.

Paranoid schizophrenia is one of the more common types of schizophrenia. This is the type that can be found in movies and tv shows, creating the illusion that schizophrenia is extremely dangerous for those around a patient that has the disorder. This type is when people feel extremely suspicious, persecuted, or feel like someone or something is after them. This type of schizophrenia is the most dangerous for the patient and sometimes others around them, but a lot of the time the patient is not harmless.

Disorganized schizophrenia is usually when a person has difficulty speaking or writing.

People with disorganized schizophrenia usually do not have hallucinations or delusions like the other types.

Catatonic schizophrenia is when a person prefers to be in solitude, is mute, negative, and may assume unusual body positions.

Residual schizophrenia is where one doesn't face delusions or hallucinations but has no interest or motivation in life anymore.

The final type of schizophrenia is actually a combination of both one type of schizophrenia and another major mood disorder such as depression. This type of schizophrenia is known as schizoaffective disorder. It is found most commonly as a combination of both schizophrenia and a major disorder such as depression.

Treatments One of the most commonly recognized treatments for schizophrenia is therapy, but it is not the only treatment. There are also assist groups. These groups help a patient become more social, help them find a job and home, or help them learn how to live an everyday life like others in the world.

There are also some medications that can be taken to limit how extreme the symptoms are. These medications are known as antipsychotic medications. These medicines can be taken as a liquid, a pill, or injections.

Antipsychotics are most commonly taken in either pill or liquid form daily, but the injections can also be done once or twice a

month. Antipsychotics are separated into two groups. These groups are first generation, typical antipsychotics, and second generation, atypical antipsychotics.

Even though these treatments are very effective, psychosocial treatments are the most common type of treatment that is used to treat schizophrenia. These treatments consist of ways for a schizophrenia patient to be able to learn how to love their everyday lives like they were never facing the difficulties that came with schizophrenia. Even though there are many treatments to limit the effects of schizophrenia, there are no ways to actually get rid of it. Schizophrenia can never leave a person’s mind even if they take medications, go to therapy, and join support groups.

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MHA. "Schizoaffective Disorder." Mental Health America. Mental Health America, 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.

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NAMI. "Schizophrenia." National Alliance on Mental Health. National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

NIH. "Schizophrenia." National Institute of Health. National Institute on Mental Health, 2016. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.

Wikipedia. "Picture by a Schizophrenic Patient." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

Wordpress. "Schizophrenia Photo." Tufts. Wordpress, 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.