Comparison of Two Websites Addressing Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that is the base of several psychological symptoms. There are many people out there who suffer from this disorder and have no idea on how to cure it. Some people tend to spend their whole life with this disorder; whilst others get it treated as soon as they see first sign or symptom of it. Schizophrenia is not a disorder that cannot be treated; with the right kind of treatment, the disorder can be controlled and the individual suffering from it can be cured. The paper will discuss the schizophrenia disorder in detail, causes, risk, signs & symptoms, and treatments of it.

Throughout the many years, there have been many negative public perceptions of Schizophrenia, which is known by majority of the public as an indication of mental illness. This disorder is most of the time perceived by the public as caused by psychological factors. People with this mental illness are considered to be unpredictable and threatening (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 2003, p. 526). Most patients have a behavioural dysfunction. Victims, families and society carry a substantial burden due to this illness (Wood & Freedman, 2003).

In the world today, there are many illnesses and disorders that affect people each and every day. One illness in particular that is very big in the US and all around the world is Schizophrenia. It is also the most researched topic. A person who is diagnosed with Schizophrenia lives a very different lifestyle than someone who is not. Many people would consider a person with schizophrenia to be “crazy.” Sadly enough, people with this illness do posses symptoms that might come off as crazy or insane. There are many different causes that come along with schizophrenia. A person who is diagnosed may not know it at first but they do later realize that they have some interesting thoughts, depending on the type of symptoms they posses while having this illness. Although the symptoms may be very brutal and causes cannot be controlled, there still is hope and treatments for individuals who have schizophrenia.

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,

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).

The website shares firsthand accounts of people with Schizophrenia and their symptoms during an episode. The source goes in-depth on how Schizophrenia begins and what’s its course throughout someone’s life. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital which makes the source credible. The website does a great job of explaining the symptoms and the episodes of a Schizophrenic person which I found helpful. The website also has an information guide that I found really

Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease

According to Mathers et al., (1996) “Schizophrenia ranks among the top ten causes of disability worldwide and affects one in one hundred people at some point in their lives.” (Cardwell and Flanagan, 2012). Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder which is commonly diagnosed in 15-30 year old individuals. It disrupts a person’s cognition, perceptions and emotions, making it extremely difficult to diagnose. Bleuler (1911) introduced the term schizophrenia, which translates as ‘split-mind’ or ‘divided self’ and accounts for the earlier interpretations of the disease. These misunderstandings and the ongoing misrepresentations, especially within the media, has stigmatised the illness. This raises the need for better understanding and

Schizophrenia is classified as hysteria in our camaraderie. If you are diagnosed with schizophrenia, the world and our society now-a-days will deem you unfit and delusional. Schizophrenia is a disease that impinges approximately 1.1% of the population. I am going to be scrutinizing the effects of schizophrenia on the brain and personality. Schizophrenia is a diagnosed mental illness which is known for hallucinations (auditory, visual, tactile, sensory, etc.), and most people believe that if you are schizophrenic you are just psychopathic, and not credible. What I hope to discover is what schizophrenia actually does to the brain and personality, and if that assumption of a psychotic mentality is accurate.

Beecher (2009) states that a medical model perspective has dominated throughout the mental health practice. The medical model also known as the (biomedical model), impacts the course of treatment available to individuals with schizophrenia (Beecher, 2009). The literature shows that the perception of schizophrenia has commonly been informed from a medical model paradigm (Beresford, 2005; Lightburn, 2005), which views schizophrenia as a disorder of the brain in the central nervous system which can be fixed through pharmacological and physical treatment (Beecher, 2009). The medical model of schizophrenia arose as the reaction to historical notions that individuals with a mental illness were possessed, mad and at fault for their illnesses (Beecher, 2009). The medical model has also been criticized for being too limited and too problem focused and simplistic and not accounting for a person’s external environment (Ashford et al., 2006; Sayce, 2000 as cited by Beecher, 2009). Many individuals exhibit false misconceptions and hold relativity little knowledge about people living with a mental illness (Bell et al. 2006; Mason & Miller 2006). Many of these misconceptions are constructed amongst health care professionals and the

Schizophrenia in the media is often portrayed as violent, dangerous, and often homicidal (Owen, 2012). Individuals in movies such as Take Shelter, Shutter Island, and Mr. Brooks show an individual with schizophrenia as causing harm to themselves and others or engaging in paranormal activity, while mostly presenting positive symptoms. However, this representation is misleading and supporting stereotypes about schizophrenics. Persons with schizophrenia only make up one to two percent of the total people in the United States. Schizophrenia has been recognized since the 1800s, first labeled as dementia praecox by Emil Kraepelin; Kraepelin used the label because he believed the disorder was due to deterioration in the brain. However,

(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 )

Approximately 22% of the American population suffers from some kind of mental disorder at any given time. (Passer and Smith, 2004) Schizophrenia is one of the most serious of these mental disorders, and there are many different kinds of treatment. While all mental disorders offer diagnosis and treatment challenges, few are more challenging than schizophrenia. It is both bizarre and puzzling, and has been described as “one of the most challenging disorders to treat effectively.” (Passer and Smith, 2004, 534)

Schizophrenia is a very serious, long-term disorder that affects about 1% of the world’s population. It affects people anywhere from twenty years old, to forty-five years old. It is known to be one of the most disabling diseases in this age group. Schizophrenia can break down a person’s behaviors, emotions, and thoughts. People who suffer from schizophrenia usually show very inappropriate displays of their actions and feelings. Sufferers have been known to hear voices, even when there is nobody around them. They have problems controlling their thoughts, and sometimes blurt out things that are very inappropriate. This paper will outline the biological, social, and psychological

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.