Law Abiding Citizen: Psychosis

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behaviour and failure to recognize what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and inactivity. A person with schizophrenia often hears voices, experiences delusions and hallucinations and may believe thoughts, feelings and actions are controlled or shared by someone else.

The recent increase in emergency 9-1-1 calls involving mentally ill persons has heightened the awareness of the Criminal Justice System. Across the nation, law enforcement encounters with mentally ill persons have become more frequent, and the use of deadly force against mentally ill persons has increased. Since the deinstitutionalization of the mental health system, law enforcement officials have been tasked with controlling deviant and sometimes criminal behavior of persons who suffer from mental illness. As a result, law enforcement agencies have implemented crisis intervention training (CIT) and diversion tactics due to the numerous challenges faced when serving the mentally ill. Major deficiencies in the mental health system and State legislations have hindered progressive efforts towards assisting mentally ill persons. With the dramatic consequences associated with untreated mental illness, it is certain that law enforcement officers will experience an encounter requiring knowledge, specialized training, and the ability to build collaborative partnerships.

PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS Psychotic disorders are a collection of disorders in which psychosis predominates the symptom complex. Psychosis is defined as a gross impairment in reality testing. Specific psychotic symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, ideas of reference, and disorders of thought Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV)

According to Garber, Gross, and Slonim (2010) paranoid schizophrenia is mainly characterized by auditory hallucinations and delusions. The delusions people experience are mainly about been someone famous, been persecuted unfairly, or conspiracy theories. People suffering from paranoid schizophrenia will have normal intellectual functioning, which

Psychotic disorders can be described as a mental health disability in which a person experiences changes in thinking, perception, mood and behaviour which can severely disrupt their lives. Some of the main psychotic disorders include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychotic depression, schizo affective disorder and drug induced pychosis. Some common symptoms when a psychotic disorder is developing include depression, anxiety, irritability, suspiciousness, blunted or flat or inappropriate emotion, changes in appetite, changes in thinking, difficulties in concentration or attention, a sense of alteration to ones self or the outside world, odd ideas and unusual perceptual experiences. Some behavioural symptoms can include sleep disturbance, social isolation or withdrawal and/or reduced ability to carry out work and social roles.

Per the DSM-5 a diagnosis of schizophrenia requires the presence of the following symptoms: delusions of thoughts, prominent and lasting hallucinations, incoherent or marked loosening associations, catatonic behavior, and flat or grossly inappropriate affect (APA, 2013). If using the DSM-5 classification these characteristics must be present on a continuous basis for at least six months prior to diagnosis.

Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects more than one percent of the population. When schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation. However, when these symptoms are treated properly, a large portion of those diagnosed will greatly improve over time.

cause an ongoing loss of contact with reality. Other mental health conditions that may sometimes

Schizophrenia is a horrible brain disorder where people mix up what is real and what is their imagination. People with Schizophrenia hear voices in their head that aren't really there. People affected with this disease may be paranoid because they believe people are reading their minds, controlling what they think, or plotting to hurt them. Schizophrenics may not make sense when they talk or seem "crazy" to people around them. They can sit still for hours without moving and you really can't tell these people are sick until they start saying what's really on their mind.

As for the person with schizophrenia, there are also many varieties. They might act nearly normal around people at home and perhaps a bit shy or nervous in society. It is unlikely that they would act in a manner that would point towards psychosis. However, if the person was actively psychotic then their actions would be hard to predict because psychosis is different for every person that experiences it. Some people might be very scared/paranoid, others might be difficult to understand (communication problems), some might be violent, and some might try to avoid contact with other

2011). Varcarolis et al. 2006 describe positive symptoms of schizophrenia as ‘florid psychotic symptoms’ ‘as they capture attention’. Cognitive deficits lay primarily within the domains of memory and language affecting mood and behaviour (Elder et al. 2009). Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations and sever thought process disturbances and have an acute onset (Elder et al. 2009).Varcarolis, Carson and Shoemaker (2006) state that a patient experiencing a delusion is convinced that what they perceive is real and consequently the patients thinking often reflects feelings of great fear, isolation and trust issues. Additionally Elder et al. (2009) state that cognitive deficits are considered psychotic symptoms and that behaviours, perceptions and beliefs shown in a person having an exacerbation of schizophrenia are not consistent with normal human experience.

Schizophrenia has many criteria that is associated with it and it involves many different types of symptoms such as: First, Delusion which involves a disturbance in the content of thought, it occurs in more than 90% of patients at some time during their illness (Cutting,1995). They are numerous types of delusion which associates with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

These symptoms are: Delusions which are strange beliefs that are not based in reality. Another positive symptom are hallucinations which makes people hear voices, feel touched when they are not touched and see things that are not really there.

There are three major types of schizophrenia, Paranoid, disorganized, and catatonic. Paranoid schizophrenia is when an individual develops absurd or suspicious ideas and beliefs. Their hallucinations and delusions typically revolve around an organized theme or "story" which consists over time. Disorganized schizophrenia generally appears at an earlier age than other types. It causes those to have disorganized speech, behavior, and have inappropriate emotions. These patients usually have trouble taking care of them and are unable to perform simple tasks. They sometimes suffer hallucinations and delusions, but their fantasies and imaginings aren’t consistent or organized like those who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. Catatonic schizophrenia in general is a disturbance in movement with two different states (Veague 24). Stuporous state is when there is a decrease in motor activity. During this state, a patient can cease

Psychosis is a symptom included in many psychological diseases. In the premature stages of psychoses, it is problematic to diagnose the patient with a specific type of psychosis.