Schizophrenia is an elaborate, chronic mental health disorder categorized by a collection of symptoms. The illness typically interferes with the person’s capability to partake in social events and to cultivate significant relationships. It can be a rather disabling disorder for many patients and families because of its early onset of the disease. Social withdrawal is behavior in which typically precedes a person’s first psychotic episode, but some individuals may display no symptoms at all. Schizophrenia requires rapid treatment at the first indication of a psychotic episode (Patel, Cherian, Gohil, & Atkinson, 2014). The cause of schizophrenia is currently unknown, for it is a very complex illness. Although, researchers have discovered that …show more content…
However, researchers have discovered that there are, in fact, gender differences. For instance, studies expose that schizophrenia and first-episode psychosis are less apparent in women then in men. In addition, it seems that the diagnosis of the illness, the social functioning and the reaction to treatment is better for women (Ochoa, Usall, Cobo, Labad, & Kulkarni, 2012). A possible explanation for women adjusting better to the illness could be because of the higher age of onset than men. Women tend to also need to be exposed to more risk factors for schizophrenia to be triggered versus men (Ochoa et al., 2012). Patients with schizophrenia are at an increased risk for suicide. While suicide is much more common in men in the general population, a study found no significant difference between men and women with schizophrenia in collective suicide risk or rate (Carlborg, Jokinen, Jonsson, Nordstrom, & Nordstrom, …show more content…
With a combination of antipsychotic medications, it is the most frequently implemented treatment offered to patients (Fenton, 2000). Individual psychotherapy confronts the human components of adaption and targets problems that follows such as: symptoms, relapse, denial, discouragement, treatment agreement, interpersonal relationships, and self-esteem. Since this approach’s attention is understanding the patient’s views, attitudes, ambitions, and experiences; clinicians will continue to implement this method (Fenton, 2000). Another approach for treatment of schizophrenia is family psychoeducation (FPE). This method has been established as one of the most effective psychosocial treatments developed. It integrates a patient’s family, caregivers, and friends into important and constant treatment and rehabilitation (McFarlane, 2016). In further detail, FPE consists of cognitive, behavioral, and helpful therapeutic features while utilizing a counseling structure. Overall, FPE has reduced the percentage of relapse for persons suffering from schizophrenia to 40% (McFarlane,
Most families opt not to involve themselves because of the negative stigma of having a family member with schizophrenia. In addition to this there are many factors that affects attending family intervention due to work hours, lack of time, and transportation considerations and other outside factors (Bleecher, 2009 p 264). Although attending intervention can be very lengthy and time consuming family psychoeducation reduces a great percentage of hospitalizations. Overall, families who involve themselves have an overall better outcome for both the family and the ill member because they are helping the child’s social and emotional health (Bleecher, 2009). The effectiveness of family involvement of individuals with schizophrenia in both individual and family outcomes has been established is as an evidence based practice in the mental health field. There is a need for greater understanding of the barriers to involving families in order to move toward the eventual goal of increased practitioner and family collaboration. Although, there is no sufficient data that can prove this aside from a number of case studies further research must be done.
The prevalence of schizophrenia is thought to be about 1% of the population around the world. The disorder is considered to be one of the top ten causes of long-term disability worldwide. Late adolescence and early adulthood are periods for the onset of schizophrenia. In 40% of men and 23% of women diagnosed with schizophrenia, the condition manifested before the age of 19 (Addington, Cadenhead, Cannon, 2007).These are critical years in a young adult’s social and vocational development.
Schizophrenia is a neurological disorder that affects the cognitive functions of an individual. The cause of this illness is unknown, but there are several theories of how an individual may acquire schizophrenia. Because there are many symptoms of the disease and because the symptoms can vary quite dramatically among several individuals and even within the same individual over time, the diagnosis of schizophrenia can be quite difficult.
Changes in key brain functions, such as awareness, emotion, and behavior lead experts to conclude that the brain is the biological site of schizophrenia. Some important risk factors to consider are genetics, viral infections, fetal malnutrition, and stress during early life, childhood abuse or trauma, and drugs.
Schizophrenia is a disabling mental disorder that affects one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a negative way. This mental disorder is so disabling because one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are what makes them essentially themselves. The exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown, but factors contribute to developing this mental disorder. Genetics, prenatal malnutrition, coming in contact with viruses, complications in childbirth, psychosocial underdevelopment, and chemical imbalances in the brain increase the risk of schizophrenia occurring.
Although schizophrenia is the well-known disease to affect so much of a person, a lot about the history and the origin of the disease are so unknown.
There is no known cause of schizophrenia, although some psychologists believe that it could be caused by heredity, or biological and environmental factors, such as a disease, immune deficiency disorder, or having an abusive or erroneous childhood. There are multiple signs and symptoms of schizophrenia, including hearing or seeing something that doesn’t exist, a change in personality, an obsession with religion and other supernatural entities, eccentric ways of communicating, and behavior that is deemed odd or inappropriate. As with some other mental disorders, schizophrenia is a spectrum. This spectrum includes schizotypal personality disorder, other psychotic disorders like catatonia, delusional disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and brief psychotic disorder. There is no known cure for schizophrenia, but people with schizophrenia can seek treatment with therapy, medication, or both.
Pharmacological treatments use antipsychotic medications to treat their patients. These antipsychotic drugs often help schizophrenic patients cope with their problems by helping them relieve stress (Castle and Buckley, 2008, p. 61). However, since these drugs can be abused, psychological treatment is recommended for many patients. They undergo different types of therapies that focus on treating their anxiety, social skills, and illicit substance uses (Castle and Buckley, 2008, p. 79). This indicates that psychological methods aim to cure the symptoms of schizophrenia in a better way by building emotional stability and by exercising healthy relationships between the patient’s thoughts, feelings, and
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that usually begins in early adulthood, between the ages of 16 and 30. Schizophrenia can occur in all societies regardless of color, class, or religion. Although there are some variations in terms of incidence and outcomes for different groups of people (Murray, 2005). Men tend to develop the condition earlier than women; (average onset for men is 18 years of age) whereas women develop symptoms much later (25 years of age). Schizophrenia is very rare for people under the age of 10, and over the age of 40. The diagram below shows the general age for
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
What do you typically assume when you hear the word schizophrenia? Most people would answer this question immediately by saying “crazy,” “scary,” or “unpredictable.” Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by a wide array of cognitive as well as emotional dysfunctions. These dysfunctions include, the most commonly thought of, delusions and hallucinations, but that is not all. Individuals with this disorder also experience disorganized speech and behavior, as well as inappropriate emotions. This means that schizophrenia has evident negative effects on a person’s ability to relate to other people. Consequently, not only are people fearful of individuals with schizophrenia, these individuals also have challenges with successfully
The exact causation of schizophrenia is not yet fully understood, since it has a very complex relation between genetics, brain chemistry and environmental factors.
Schizophrenia is the disorder that most closely corresponds to popular concepts of insanity, madness, or lunacy (Nevid, 2006). Nevid (2006) also states that schizophrenia comes from Greek roots meaning “split brain”. There are quite a few people in the United States that have schizophrenia. According to the National Institute of Mental Health approximately 2.4 million American adults or about 1.1 percent of the population age eighteen and older in a given year have schizophrenia (2013). Schizophrenia is found in men more than women. Men also tend to develop the disorder earlier than women and experience more severe cases of the disorder (Nevid, 2006). When being diagnosed with schizophrenia there are phases the doctor will test. These stages are prodromal, active or acute, remission, and relapse (Frese, 2012).
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that still challenges the healthcare community today. This mental disorder has plagued people throughout history, from great artists and thinkers to your average run of the mill individual. People living with the disorder may hear voices others around them do not hear. “They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illness and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated.” (Schizophrenia. (n.d.) Because of this internal battle, it becomes much harder for people with the disorder to hold down a job or have intimate relationships. “People with schizophrenia may not make sense when they talk. They may sit for hours without
Schizophrenia, unlike most disorders, is a standout amongst the most genuine of the mental disorders. It is known that one in a hundred individuals are affected by it, and starts in either youth or early adulthood. Schizophrenia brings social interruption, anguish and hardship to the individuals who experience the ill effects of it, as well as to their family. Under those circumstances, it is known to be the most devastating of all disorders. There are both negative and positive symptoms when it comes to dealing with schizophrenia. Despite the fact that there are various negative indications, the most present one is limitations or absence in thoughts and behaviours that are characteristics in normal functioning. For this