Is Schizophrenia A Serious Mental Disease?

In the United States and Europe, schizophrenia occurs in about 3 to 6 of every 10,000 individuals. Schizophrenia occurs equally in males and females; however, the age of onset of the disease is different between the sexes. The primary age of onset in males occurs roughly between the ages of 15 and 25,

Not every person with schizophrenia will have all symptoms, and the symptoms of schizophrenia may change over time.” (Schizophrenia: Sings, Types & Causes, Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph. D., Last Update February 2014, http://www.helpguide.org/mental/schizophrenia_symptom.htm) It is believed that no one single gene causes schizophrenia it is said that more than one gene is the cause of increased risk of schizophrenia there is a greater risk of a child developing it. There is more to this story than genetics; some type of early childhood trauma may play a role in schizophrenia. (The Causes of Schizophrenia http://www.nami.org/content/navigationmenu/mental_illnesses) The onset of schizophrenia occurs between the age of 15 and 45 in males, it is more common in males than females. There is talk from researchers about children with schizophrenia also having other mental disorders which include ADHD, ADD and bipolar disorder. Although there is not a tremendous amount of research they also believe that most children have had someone in their family who has been in a psychiatric hospital at some point and a family history of schizophrenia and some type of trauma. There is also a high number of suicide attempts in children with schizophrenia, there is also research to show that there is an increase of odds of schizophrenia in African Americans and Hispanic youth, however it is also very easy to misdiagnose these

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous illness that may involve several pathophysiological gender differences. For men and women incidence risk peaks between 20-29 years of age, and women also have a second risk peak between 30–39 years of age. Negative symptoms including low motivation and withdrawal are more frequent in men and appear up to six years before diagnosis (Hafner, 2005; Hafner et al., 1993; Morgan et al., 2008). Women exhibit greater levels of depression and positive symptoms including sexual inappropriateness, impulsivity and delusions (Mendrek et al., 2015; Van der Werf et al., 2014). Sex differences in either age of onset or prevalence of negative symptoms are not as evident in patients that have a family history of schizophrenia (Bergen et al., 2014; Hafner et al., 1998).

Symptoms can affect people more than others, but in the end they lead to the same thing. Hallucinations and delusions are the most common symptom, it is only diagnosed as schizophrenia if it lasts more than 6 months. Some other symptoms are behavioral changes for example, social isolation, disorganized behavior, repetitive movements, self

Key symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations appear to manifest somewhere between ages 16-30. It looks like 45 is the "magic" cut-off age, since older people rarely get Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a disabling and chronic mental illness that typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood, and for most sufferers, the disorder continues throughout their lifetime (Australian Psychological Society, 2014). There are five different subtypes of schizophrenia, namely paranoid, disorganised, catatonic, residual, and schizoaffective disorder.

A Schizoaffective disorder is a mental illness. The symptoms of this illness include having strange or unusual thoughts or perceptions, paranoid thoughts and ideas, delusion (i.e. having false, fixed beliefs), hallucination, such as hearing voices, and experience disorganized thinking (i.e. unclear and confused thoughts). They may have manic episodes or a sudden increase in energy and behavioural displays that are out of character. They may become irritable and have poor temper control, and even have thoughts of suicide or homicide. Their speaking style can be erratic, and difficult of others to understand, they may have problems with attention and memory. Their behaviour will be at extreme ends of the normal spectrum (catatonic behaviour)

The most common time for this disease to hit a person is around their early to mid-20’s (Schizophrenia and Psychosis Parah 13, 2014). Just like any other mental disease, there is no specific cause. Genetics, behavioral aspects, health aspects, and many other factors are thought to be a part of the cause of the disease but there is no proven evidence (Smith 2013). It is believed that a prolonged misuse of drugs or alcohol may lead to diseases such as schizophrenia (Phillips 4, 2000). If the disease runs in the family, then it is more than likely a close relative will get the disease later in life. “A child whose parent has schizophrenia has about a 10 percent chance of developing schizophrenia themselves.” (Smith 2013) Many believe that schizophrenia is inherited because genes are shared throughout the family and the mental disease is passed down through the family. Another possible cause of this disease is a bad brain development. Health professionals believe a cause may be from wrong chemical development or physical abnormality. “Neurotransmitters, substances that allow communication between nerve cells, have long been thought to be involved in the development of schizophrenia.” (Smith 2013) Due to more advanced technology today, scientists have become more aware of the differences between a healthy brain and a brain with schizophrenia. “For example, fluid-filled

Schizophrenia is developed by about 1% of the population, which is almost about 2.2 million Americans. It is known to be typical among teenagers and people in their early 20s. However, the worst part is, about 10% of people with schizophrenia decide to commit suicide and or develop problems like alcohol and drug abuse. Most of them however, prefer to be left alone and are not aggressive.

The percentage of being diagnosed with schizophrenia in the world is about 1% and the percentage of having schizophrenia in America is about 1.2% which is roughly 3.2 million people. Then in just a year 1.5 million people around the world will be diagnosed with schizophrenia. The most common age that people get diagnosed with schizophrenia is in between the ages of 15-25 that is when it starts to show up, and is typically less common to have it after age 40. Usually males start to develop the illness faster at a younger age than females do which only starts to develop a few years older than 18. Suicides become more common in schizophrenics who have dealt with it longer than others have like people who have had it ten years the percentage of

Most people who develop schizophrenia have their first episode when they are in their late teenage years and early adult years. According to the book, Me, Myself and Them, schizophrenia is very rare before the age of 13, affecting only about 1 in 40,000 children. It is

Schizophrenia is a silent mental killer that takes over your life during your supposedly prime years. It runs in my family, and I have had to watch three family members fight through it every day, not fully understanding this abnormality until my college years.

Approximately 1 percent of the world’s population is affected by schizophrenia. This illness does not discriminate. The symptoms usually start between ages 16 and 30. Once an individual reaches the age of 45, it is rare that schizophrenia manifests. Schizophrenia seldom occurs in children; however, awareness of childhood-onset schizophrenia is increasing (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). The symptoms tend to effect men more severely than women and those who suffer from schizophrenia are known to have a higher risk of substance abuse and suicide rates. Approximately 10 percent of the schizophrenia communities commit suicide. The most common addiction shared by these individual is (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2009).

Schizophrenia is the most severe of the mental disorders which disables the person and has worldwide accepted prevalence of about 1% in the population. WHO (2009) reports also depicts that it may affect about 1.0% of the general population in any given country. Schizophrenia, from the public health perspective, is a major concern as the onset of the illness occurs early in age (15-35 years of age) (WHO, 2009). It usually starts in adulthood with likelihood that a person disables for a lifetime. Schizophrenia is found in all countries, cultures, and socioeconomic classes; in both sexes equally with typical age of onset appears to be younger in males (about 21 years of age) than females (about 27 years) (Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology, 1999).

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.