David Berkowitz Schizophrenia

David Richard Berkowitz (born June 1, 1953), better known by his nicknames Son of Sam or The .44 Caliber Killer, is an infamous serial killer who confessed to killing six people and wounding several others in New York City in the late 1970s.

David Berkowitz, who many know under the alias of the Son of Sam, or the .44 Caliber Killer, was a serial killer in the 1970s. Berkowitz was a resident of New York City. He was arrested on August 10th of 1977 and was followed up by a sentence of six life sentences in prison on June 12, 1978. This makes his supreme term around 365 years behind bars. To follow are the details of Berkowitz and his life.

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).

Schizophrenia is a disease that has plagued societies around the world for centuries, although it was not given its formal name until 1911. It is characterized by the presence of positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so named because of the presence of altered behaviors, such as delusions, hallucinations (usually auditory), extreme emotions, excited motor activity, and incoherent thoughts and speech. (1,2) In contrast, negative symptoms are described as a lack of behaviors, such as emotion, speech, social interaction, and action. (1,2) These symptoms are by no means concrete. Not all schizophrenic patients will exhibit all or even a majority of these symptoms, and there is some

These symptoms are grouped into three categories positive, negative, and psychomotor (Comer 2016). Positive symptoms are pathological excesses and they include hallucinations and disorganized thinking and speech (Comer 2016). Whereas negative symptoms are pathological deficits which include loss of violation and social withdrawal (Comer 2016). Psychomotor symptoms are awkward moments and odd gestures that people suffering with schizophrenia sometimes experience (Comer 2016).

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,

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).

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by a variety of symptoms and the disorganization of feeling and thought. It is an incurable disease whose causes are unknown, yet whose effects are mind and body crippling. (Young, 1988, p.13-14) This topic was chosen because it is interesting to study a disorder that worldwide, is viewed as a classic example of madness and insanity. Another reason of interest is because unlike many illnesses, schizophrenia doesn't have a noticeable pattern and its difficulty to be diagnosed as a disease makes the collection of statistics difficult. It is important to learn more about schizophrenia because a significant numbr of people are affected everyday

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder of the brain. Schizophrenia also has the most negative stigma attached to it as well. People who view schizophrenia in a negative aspect, tend to think that schizophrenic people are all violent and unpredictable (The Leap Institute, 2013). This is not always accurate because schizophrenic symptoms vary in drastic ways. The common symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations, hearing voices, paranoid thoughts, anosognosia (poor insight), confusion, forgetfullness, unfocused, and isolation/withdraw from others. The more negative symptoms are a decreased motivation,  lack of energy,  and lack of facial expressions (The Leap Institute, 2013).

Many people may have the following questions about schizophrenia. How long has schizophrenia been around? How does someone know if they have schizophrenia? How is this disorder treated? How does this disorder affect family members or caregivers? And how does schizophrenia affect the brain? This paper will answer a few of these questions surrounding the mental psychotic disorder called schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is one of the most treacherous brain disorders that affect many people in the world today. It is very difficult for someone to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Most people with this disorder are considered disabled because daily life as a normal person is almost impossible. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, people with schizophrenia may hear voices that other people don’t hear, and they also may think other people are trying to hurt them. Sometimes they don’t make any sense when they talk. Depending on the patient, schizophrenia can vary from mild to severe. There are many symptoms that coincide with schizophrenia. Some of these symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disordered thinking, and emotional unresponsiveness. There are many risk factors of schizophrenia such as age, gender, intelligence, and culture. Schizophrenia is not considered a psychological disorder, but a brain disease. Some doctors may assume that the brain is not able to process information correctly. A person’s genetics, physiological and social, and their environment may factor in to what can trigger schizophrenia. This is an unfortunate and debilitating disorder, however there are many therapies available to help with this disease.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that is in a very small amount of the population, 1 in 100 people (1% of the population). Symptoms of schizophrenia include, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior, not much emotion if any is present, as well as speech and socializations issues. Ways to treat schizophrenia are very limited to antipsychotic drugs and therapy. Although there is not one cause to this illness found, there are many factors that explain the cause or result in having schizophrenia. Substance abuse and stress are also contributing factors in schizophrenia when it comes to patients with this illness having violent personalities as well as suicidal thoughts.

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that causes severe mental disturbances which disrupt ones thoughts, speech, and behavior. According to Paul Thompson, Associate Professor of Neurology, one percent of the world’s population suffers from this disorder. There is no one specific cause of schizophrenia, because it is caused by a combination of problems during development. It is a disorder which not only affects the patient, but their family and society as well. Schizophrenia can be a debilitating disorder, however, there are many treatments that can allow people who suffer from it to lead normal lives.

Schizophrenia and schizotypal are mental personality disorders that directly distort a person’s ability to connect with and function in reality. These disorders have found themselves front and center in the media through tv shows and movies that portray individuals suffering from these disorders as dangerous and violent psychopaths. While the majority of people who suffer from these disorders are never violent, there are some very infamous serial killers who suffered from the disorder. The most famous of these violent serial killers who suffered from schizophrenia, may be David Berkowitz or the “Son of Sam”.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “Schizophrenia” ? Sadly, most people react with “they’re going to hurt me” or “they’re not normal”. The main cause behind schizophrenia is believed to be that there is two neurotransmitters that have a change in their levels. This causes the person to generally have memory problems, makes them easily agitated, might make them very anxious and they also might not have good emotional responses. The symptoms caused by it are different for everyone, which I will explain later. So today I am going to tell you about Schizophrenia and what it does to people. In my paper, I will enlighten you on the causes of it, the symptoms and the people it affects. I will also tell you how the families