Documentary Analysis: Schizophrenia

Media portrayal of the mental illnesses schizophrenia are damaging not only to individuals with schizophrenia, but also ‘normal’ people such as the families of those who are schizophrenic. The media portrays schizophrenia sufferers as violent peoples who will harm given the opportunity, and as such, should not be trusted and should be approached with caution. These portrayals are incorrect,

In the film, “Proof”, the main character Catherine goes through hardships after her father passes away. She can not be diagnosed with abnormal behavior because all 4 characteristics have to meet her actions. Only the maladaptive characteristic fit her actions. In order for one to be diagnosed with depression, five of the symptoms have to be present during the same two-week period and at least symptom one or two have to be involved. Also, all five letters A through E have to be present. Catherine can be diagnosed with major depression due to the criteria evident. Letter A through E were all present throughout the film for Catherine. The five symptoms involved were numbers one, two, three, six, and seven.

Insanity, then, is inordinate or irregular, or impaired action of the mind, of the instincts, sentiments, intellectual, or perceptive powers, depending upon and produced by an organic change in the brain.

In the US, patients with schizophrenia who are unemployed, may be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. These programs pay the cost of medical care; however benefits may be revoked if individuals begin to work or acquire other means of income, even if their job or other source of income provide minimal to no health benefits. Another consideration when dealing with Schizophrenia is how it affects the individual’s entire family. While difficult, the patient benefits greatly from having a support system to assist in keeping track with therapy, medication and to help decrease feelings of being different. “The results indicate a 20% relapse rate reduction if the family is included in schizophrenia treatment.” (Walz, "Psychology of Schizophrenia ") The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is an advocacy group that is helpful in supporting family members. NAMI also advocates funding and research. ("Schizophrenia Treatment & Management: Approach Considerations, Antipsychotic Pharmacotherapy, Other Pharmacotherapy", 2018) Lastly, a person with schizophrenia should be encouraged to stay active and consume a healthy diet as antipsychotic medications can cause weight gain and changes in glucose or lipid metabolism. They may also develop odd food cravings, have limited funds, can't cook for themselves, or may simply find that fast food is much easier to

A Battle Against Himself CONNECTICUT - Ken Steele has heard voices most of his life. He was 14 years old when he started having auditory hallucinations. These voices commanded him to hurt himself and they were predicting his death. "Hang yourself," the voices told him. "The world will be better off. You 're no good, no good at all." The voices got louder and louder everyday and he was no longer in control of his life. They were. Ken’s behavior unexpectedly changed and Ken’s parents grew worried. No one was aware of what has happening. They took him to the family doctor, who announced that Ken had schizophrenia. Ken Steele at the age of 14 Subsequently,

Exploring Schizophrenia A disease that leads to more suicide deaths than AIDS, SIDS, and MS combined is present in one in one hundred people globally. Schizophrenia is prone to lead to long-term disability, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, and family trauma. Ten percent of all patients commit suicide.

Schizophrenia in media portrayal is generally depicted as negative, and is not true, as most cases of schizophrenia are either partial truths, inaccurate or unrelated to it. These negative portrayals of schizophrenia in the media are usually exaggerated as a negative reinforcement of the myth that schizophrenics are unpredictable and dangerous.

Schizophrenia is universally considered to function on a neurological level, with various studies claiming that several different types of neurotransmitters are thought to contribute to the manifestation of schizophrenia in the brain (Carlton, 1984). These findings have encouraged the development of various hypotheses for the cause of schizophrenia, one of these includes the dopamine theory (Carlton, 1984). The theory originated out of research on the dopamine-blocking actions of initial antipsychotic drugs (Moncrieff, 2009). Pharmacological studies researching the use of drugs to treat schizophrenia found that, drugs which decrease dopaminergic activity in the brain such as, Clozapine and Haloperidol, are considered to be antipsychotics, whilst

It is a frightening disorder that strikes about one percent of the world population. It surfaces most frequently during puberty and has the potential to forever destroy the lives of the people who are unfortunate enough to be its victim. The disorder is schizophrenia and it manifests itself by disturbing normal psychiatric behavior. The symptoms of schizophrenia are characterized by both positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, and other unusual or disorganized behavior. Unresponsiveness, lack of activity, and loss of interest characterize negative symptoms. Though it is possible for doctors to diagnose and treat patients with schizophrenia, the causes of schizophrenia are

Rachel Star, a student, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Star shared her story by creating videos on YouTube. I loved the fact that Star shared her story on YouTube. YouTube allows anyone to view her inside look at schizophrenia. Star shared what life was like for her on a day to day basis. She also interviewed and let her parents talk about what it is like to have her as a daughter. Her story explained more than just one side and I found that really intriguing! I believe that creating this YouTube video is very helpful for her and others who suffer from this illness. Star actually stated in her video that she created the video so others do not feel alone. I think that creating this video will truly do that! Others

The documentary proved to be highly emotional and difficult to watch yet, interesting in so many ways as the critical state of different mental illnesses was shown within the video highlighting Evan’s life from an early age and his overall condition which is profoundly witnessed within the contemporary society today as many individuals are in a distressed state or situations. The depictions of Evan’s signs and symptoms showed that he was suffering from different conditions and negative thoughts from the beginning. For instance, being very persistent and precise in the way he wanted things to be or how he believed that adults didn’t have anything to do with his life and his decisions. Also, his negative ideas and thoughts surrounded and focused

Schizophrenia is a disease that effects the mind. This can lead to confusion between what is real and what is in their imagination (Whitbourne & Halgin, 2013). Typically, television and movies will show someone who is suffering from schizophrenia as dangerous, multiple personalities, and not smart. One movie that portrays someone with schizophrenia is A Beautiful Mind. It is the true story of John Forbes Nash Jr. Mr. Nash was extremely smart and solved math problems no one else could. He stated he just decided one day that he wasn’t going to give in to his mental illness and believes he cured himself. His son also suffers with schizophrenia (Grinberg & Sgueglia, 2015). He is the perfect example that you can have schizophrenia and not

Gagan Fervaha, BSc; Konstantine K. Zakzanis, Ph.D.; George Foussias, MD, Ph.D.; Ariel Graff-Guerrero, MD, Ph.D.; Ofer Agid, MD; Gary Remington, MD, PhD

Once a time, one of my friend, Nagina (client), while she was returning from her father in law’s home became mentally disturbed and get ride off from running train.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that is diagnosed in 0.5%-1% of the population in their lifetime (van Os et al, 2010). Its literal translation is ‘split-brain’, though it does not refer to multiple personality disorder, but rather a split from reality characterized by its disturbed perceptions, disorganized thinking and inappropriate emotions (Myers, 2010). Much research has been carried out to gain a better understanding of the causes of this serious disorder. A popular theory is the diathesis-stress model. This theory of schizophrenia proposes that stress can elicit a pre-existing vulnerability to the disorder (Jones & Fernyhough, 2007). This model focuses on the interaction between genetic heritability of the disorder, and the environments interaction