Abnormality and Schizophrenia

According to NAMI (), schizophrenia is a long term mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, make decisions, and relate to others, impairing a person from functioning to their full potential when left untreated. For these persons affected, it is many times difficult to distinguish what is real from what is not. “Unfortunately, no single simple course of treatment exists.” Research has linked schizophrenia to a multitude of possible causes” (NAMI).

An analysis of the validity, reliability, practicalities and ethical issues will be covered when referring to the diagnostic classification systems and lastly the demographics and statistics surrounding schizophrenia with reference to age, gender and ethnicity will be thoroughly examined

I chose to write my research paper over Schizophrenia. It is a psychological disorder that I have always found fascinating. Approximately 20% of North Americans will be affected by a mental illness during the course of their lifetime. (MHA, ‘What You Should Know About Mental Illnesses) More specifically, 1 in 100 Americans will suffer from schizophrenia. That means that 300,000 people in America will, at some point in their life, be affected by a very serious and highly misunderstood mental disorder. (Schizophrenia Society of America) It is a serious disorder that consumes a person 's life and is nearly impossible to control. In this paper, I will talk about the definition of Schizophrenia, the symptoms of Schizophrenia,

* The imprecision of the diagnosis of schizophrenia, for example, is illustrated by a study done by thirteen psychology researchers where they all presented themselves at the doors of various mental hospitals telling them they heard voices, with the outcome of each being discharged with a diagnosis of schizophrenic on remission.

SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia, from the Greek word meaning “split mind”, is a mental disorder that causes complete fragmentation in the processes of the mind. Contrary to common belief, schizophrenia does not refer to a person with a split personality or multiple personalities, but rather to a condition which affects the person’s movement, language, and thinking skills. The question of whether schizophrenia is a disease or collection of socially learned actions is still a question in people’ mind. People who are suffering from schizophrenia think and act in their own the world and put themselves in a way that is totally different from the rest of society. In other words, they have lost in touch with the reality. Most schizophrenics accept

(Szasz,1982, p.4, p.29) In 1900, the term schizophrenia, now used worldwide, was used to describe the condition that one out of every hundred people had. This statistic remains the same today. Through research and years of study, the world has a better understanding of schizophrenia, its forms, characteristics, symptoms, types, possible causes, and treatments, if any. ( Pierce, 1990. p.263 )

Schizophrenia involves a warped reality enveloped with misperceptions, hallucinations and delusions which in turn compromise the mental health of an individual and, if left untreated, their ability to function in society (Meuser, 2015). The diagnosis of schizophrenia notoriously requires an interview period where a professional, studies “ at risk youth”, particularly their speech patterns, and detects disorganization in their verbal abilities and thought processes. A recent study written about in, The Atlantic, unveils a potentially more accurate method of diagnosing schizophrenia in addition to the age-old process of interviewing; through the utilization of technology, computers were found to detect schizophrenia in at risk youth with one hundred percent accuracy (LaFrance, 2015).

Socially the term Schizophrenia has a certain caricature about it that society has turned into a very serious social stigma. Many associate the disorder with criminals, nut houses, and extreme uncontrollable violence. Schizophrenia is portrayed in literature, and in movies so horrendously negative that those who experience symptoms of this very serious mental disorder can be in a stage of denial that can ultimately cause them to go undiagnosed, that is until something goes wrong. In spite of myths and portrayals in pop culture schizophrenia is sometimes viewed as split personality, but the root of the word comes from the Greek word schizo and phrene which loosely translates into split mind (Internet Mental Health Initiative 2010).

Affecting about 1% of the population, schizophrenia causes more anxiety in the media, in the public, and even in doctors' offices more than any other mental illness. It is the most stigmatized and most misunderstood psychological disorder of them all, even among psychologists. Among the many fallacies that surround the disorder is the name in itself. Schizophrenia literally means, from Greek,“split mind” but contrary to popular belief, the condition has nothing to do with a split in personality or multiple personalities. The term refers instead to a “split from reality”, which is usually what inflicts what we stereotype to be “schizophrenics.” However, multiple Personality Disorder, now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, is the kind

I chose to write my research paper over Schizophrenia. It is a psychological disorder that I have always found fascinating. It is a serious disorder that consumes a person's life and is nearly impossible to control. In this paper, I will talk about the definition of Schizophrenia, the diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia in children, suicide, sexually related characteristics of the disease, sleep disorders caused by the disease, differences in the disease on different ethnicities, and insensitivity to pain.

Even with the advancements in science and the new technologies available, the causes of schizophrenia are still unknown. In 1911 a Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, developed the term schizophrenia. “This word comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mind) to describe the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder” (Johns Hopkins Medicine). By developing the term schizophrenia, it allowed others to better understanding the disorder and move away from linking it to the common misunderstanding of having multiple or split personalities. Although this does not give us an understanding of the causes of the disorder, it does help to clarify and assist with classifying people with the symptoms associated with the

This essay focuses on the diagnosis of schizophrenia, a major mental illness with much stigma and misinformation associated with it. World Health Organisation (WHO, 2012) epidemiological evidence suggests that schizophrenia is a mental illness affecting 24 million people worldwide. This essay will define schizophrenia and its characteristic signs and symptoms in relation to cognition, mood, behaviour and psychosocial functioning. The criteria enabling a diagnosis of schizophrenia are explored, as well as contemporary nursing care and pharmacological treatments. The positive and negative signs and symptoms of schizophrenia will be discussed and the treatment and care requirements outlined by the NSW Mental Health Act (2007) are also

Schizophrenia is a universal mental illness which is both complex and devastating. Schizophrenia generally begins in the early stages of life and may lead to lifelong disabilities (Moritz, 2010). The context of this paper shall include an introduction on schizophrenia as well as the reasoning this discipline was chosen. It will include a critiqued research study that will explain how the research was presented. The primary focus on the research study will be a literature review, the methods used, the results found, and a presented discussion.

Attention-getter: When you hear the word schizophrenia what comes to mind? Maybe someone that is psychotic with 20 different personalities. Such as in the movie split where the main character goes from a 9-Year-old boy named Hedwig to an Old woman named Patricia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that effects the individual’s thoughts, feelings and actions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). This disorder leads to what society defines as abnormal behaviour. Through an analysis of the conflict of defining normal behaviour in contrast to abnormal behaviour it is evident that the approaches to treating Schizophrenia differ. The differing treatments show different understandings of the concept of hearing voices. Therefore, treatment using force and medication in contrast to understanding the disorder will show the tension.