Living with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a disorder that is characterized by a broken thought process and poor emotional responses. Typical symptoms of this disorder include delusions, paranoia, hallucinations, social dysfunctions,

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects the way a person acts, thinks, and sees the world. People with schizophrenia have a completely different perception of reality, such as a significant loss of contact with it for example, compared to people who do not suffer from this mental disease. They tend to panic a lot, feel like someone is trying to harm them or their loved ones, fear that someone is watching every move they make. Although they hallucinate a lot and/or are delusional, most people with schizophrenia are not violent and are not a danger to others. (Helpguide.org, 2015)

Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain affecting how one acts, thinks and sees the world around them. Persons with schizophrenia have an altered perception of reality and may see or here things

Although schizophrenia may come off as an interesting and unique disorder, it also relates to the Emotional, Social, and Intellectual dimensions of Health and Wellness. Schizophrenia is an disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave clearly. The emotional dimension of the wellness wheel is described as the ability to understand ourselves and cope with the challenges life can bring. Also, the ability to acknowledge and share feelings of fear, sadness or stress; hope, love, joy and happiness in a productive manner contributes to our emotional wellness. This connects to schizophrenia because when you have this disorder it perceives you to imagine situations that aren’t actually happening. Usually people diagnosed with this

Schizophrenia occurs in people from all cultures and from all walks of life. Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects a small portion of the population in the world. When schizophrenia is active there are many different symptoms that can appear. Some symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation. When these symptoms are treated, most people with schizophrenia will improve over time with treatment. With the different studies we are able to see how schizophrenia works in different ways. The different ways being what is happening in the brain when a person has schizophrenia. Along with the different treatments from counseling to medication what works better.

According to the World Health Organization, “Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder, characterized by profound disruptions in thinking; affecting language, perception, and the sense of self”. This serious brain disorder affects around 21 million people worldwide and causes people to interpret reality differently. People with schizophrenia tend to have strange or altered thinking and don't feel connected with themselves. They often go through psychotic experiences such as seeing hallucinations and delusions, or hearing voices. Mental health America states that “Some early warning signs of schizophrenia are confused and bizarre thoughts, increased sensitivity to light, sound, smells, or touch, fearfulness or suspicion that isn't warranted,

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder which impacts the patient for their entire life following diagnosis. It involves neurasthenia's of reality, which lead to neurotic interpretations, disengaging from reality and creating fragmentations psychologically which can derive thoughts of homicidal/suicidal actions. Subsequently, often times people with schizophrenia are categorized as different types, such as schizoaffective, catatonic, early-onset, hebephrenia, and paranoid. The disease itself edits into the persons mood and mentality, sometimes causing an onset of depression or homicidal

Many people today believe they are experts on schizophrenia due to hollywood titles such as 1948 blockbuster The Snake Pit or the 2001 hit A Beautiful Mind. However, many people do not know the cause, the symptoms, or the experiences people who suffer from schizophrenia face. Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by a split between thought and emotion where a person has difficulty distinguishing whether altered thoughts, perceptions, & conscious experiences are real versus imagined (Grison, Heatherton, and Gazzaniga, 2015, p. 518).

Elyn Saks, expert in mental illness, once said, “The schizophrenic mind is not much split as shattered. I like to say schizophrenia is like a walking nightmare” (Saks). Being affected by schizophrenia is not just a walk in the park; it damages and then destroys the victim’s ability to think. One can define schizophrenia as an illness that affects and damages a human’s brain. Schizophrenia affects victims in many different ways: mentally, physically, and socially.

Schizophrenia is a disabling brain disorder that has affected many people throughout history. While having this disorder there is many things that goes through a person’s mind. Many people with Schizophrenia may hear voices that other people don’t hear. Also with this disease they believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. With those symptoms this can cause people to become ill and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated. Some other effects of Schizophrenia would be with speech. Many times when people talk they it may not make any sense. People who have Schizophrenia may seem to come off as perfectly fine until they begin to take about who they really think they are really thinking. Having Schizophrenia affects your everyday life and also jobs. Many people with Schizophrenia have to quit their job because of the disorder. Having the disease affects them from their work. Family is also affected by a family member having Schizophrenia because they have to give them special attention. Having the disorder doesn’t mean they won’t have a good life many do have a good life in their communities.

The mental health of individuals living with schizophrenia not only depends on the severity of their mental illness, it also depends on their inclusion within their community (Michael, 2012). Despite recent advances and treatment, individuals suffering from schizophrenia encounter a considerable stigma that creates barriers to them receiving adequate treatment which in turn hinders their full integration into society (Morgan, 2003). The conceptualization of stigma was explored (Goffman, 1963) as an attribute which is deeply socially discrediting and makes the person carrying the stigma different from others and of a less desirable kind (Goffman, 1963 pg 13). However, the individual experiencing schizophrenia is not solely the person affected by stigmatization. Stigma is also believed to affect the individual’s social network, including family, friends and mental health and social care professionals. However (Sayce, 2000), building on the work of Goffman’s theory, saw stigma as driving stereotypes or negative views, attributed to a person, marginalising the person from receiving adequate treatment. Much research has been conducted to aid understanding of stigma, through studying public attitudes and beliefs.

Schizophrenia is a disabling brain disorder that has affected many people over the years. This is not a common disease but it can be a serious and chronic one. Worldwide, about 1 percent of the population is diagnosed with schizophrenia and about 1.2 percent of Americans are diagnosed.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects an estimated 3.2 million people in America alone (Nemade). Often, people have scattered reactions when they hear the word “schizophrenia.” Some may associate this word with uncontrollable actions that could potentially cause harm to those around them. People may think of serial killers, rapists, or any form of negative archetype seen in the the media. According to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), schizophrenia is characterized by a patient experiencing delusions, hallucinations, and/or disorganized speech for more than a month. Delusions include, but are not limited to, the belief one is going to be harassed or harmed, environmental cues are directed at oneself,

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 has no actual definition, but it describes a series of events and actions that a person ususally experiences. Schizophrenia is a psychosis. ( Smith, 1992, p.23-25 ) Psychosis describes a disorder where a group of mental disturbances happen. Schizophrenia is described to be a psychosis because it causes the victim to lose the ability to be in touch with society and its functions. For example, a person may begin to "see" animals that are not there, or may begin to characterize themselves as a famous person from the past such as Queen Elizabeth or King Edward. ( Kvarnes, Parloff, 1983, p.220-223)