Mental Disorders: Self Construction in Schizophrenia

M. Fulford, of G. d’Annunzio University, the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, and Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University, respectively, utilize Karl Jaspers’ concept of the “patient’s attitude toward his illness” and his insistence of the importance of meaning as well as cause of illnesses as a precedent for their argument towards modern person-centered psychopathological approaches of dialectical psychopathology, contemporary approaches to the meanings-causes debate, and value-based practices as relevant frameworks for a more thorough analysis of schizophrenia, where non-phenomenological approaches fall short. Drawing upon his argument, they purport that the objective causes without a subjective understanding of their meaning offer an incomplete understanding of the disorder. In their article, they conclude that by utilizing a client-centered approach, a more thorough understanding of the unique individuals will be improved and that these person-centric findings may better illuminate otherwise convoluted research findings on symptoms and their import. By relating the present day issues to that of the past and detailing their similarities, the authors provide a relevant argument for the integration of client-based models into more contemporary models of

Jim Stevens left this poem up to interpretation. The title “Schizophrenia” sticks out because it is a mental disorder that affects how a person feels thinks and acts; thus, it leads the reader to believe this poem has a dark undertone. Each line gives a story of how a family deals with the issues of two people in a relationship. For instance, in the last line of the poem, "It was the House that suffered the most" (Stevens line 1), Stevens indicates the relationship was not a happy one and the house suffered for it. He sets up the image with this opening line and repeats it in the close of the poem. Throughout the poem the house transforms in to a person.

Today, scientists at the University of Iowa are studying abroad how people suffering from the mental disorder, schizophrenia, may have less brain tissue than those who do not have the disorder. Schizophrenia deeply affects the brain and causes individuals to lose touch with reality and have unorganized thoughts, troubled perceptions and unsuitable emotions and actions. “Schizo” means split and “phrenia” means mind, however this does not mean that this is a split mind or personality disorder, like most people commonly mistake this as. In order to understand this disorder, we need to take a look at the actual condition and how it is defined, apart from other disorders, speculated causes, such as genes from

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.

Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease

In 2009, twelve employment specialists from the Johnson & Johnson-Dartmouth Community Mental Health Program were nominated, because of their excellent job performance, to participate in a project designed to learn how to assist people who have both criminal histories and serious mental illness. The employment specialists conducted employer surveys in their home states and then met with members of the Dartmouth IPS team to discuss the results of the surveys. This report represents 128 surveys. Employment specialists who participated in this project: Janet Dickerson Washington D.C. Tim Dunn Amelia, Ohio Crystal Ganat Stamford, Connecticut Kevin Kearns Burlington,

In this week’s readings chapter twelve is about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which personal, social, and occupational functioning deteriorate as a result of strange perceptions, unusual emotions, and motor abnormalities. This disorder is very interesting, but also kind of scary to me. They literally end up in their own world, losing contact with reality. With that, they also experience hallucinations or delusions, which can cause them to do abnormal, possibly dangerous actions. These symptoms must last six months or more before the person can be diagnosed with schizophrenia. It will affect 1 out of 100 people in the world during ones lifetime. This disorder, unlike many others, is just as common among men and women,

Imagine being diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. Imagine having no control over the voices in your head or the hallucinations that seem as if you are having a nightmare when you are actually awake. Imagine feeling scared and hopeless because your mind is out of touch with reality. Imagine being given the prognosis “grave” meaning that, best case scenario, you would live in board and care the rest of your life with a possibility of working menial jobs. How would you cope with that? Would you give up? Or would you try to work through it? Hundreds of people are diagnosed with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia every year. As one can infer, the only way a person suffering from a mental illness can become healthy again is through having psychiatric help which can be nearly impossible to find in some states. More specifically, Iowa has recently been suffering from a shortage……….. Even though Iowa has had a major decline in the number of mental institute beds available, this should be changed so that people battling mental illness are treated until they are healthy enough to live independently within society.

This paper defines schizophrenia from a biological and psychological perspective and also provides treatment to help combat symptoms of schizophrenia. This paper has three important contributions. First, by defining and expanding on schizophrenia from a biological perspective, I can identify the nature related predispositions. After expanding from a biological approach, secondly, I will analyze schizophrenia from a psychological aspect by determining if there is any environment or nurturing externals that can result to schizophrenia. Lastly, I will provide treatment details and also reveal early signs to schizophrenia. This paper is important because schizophrenia is an epic mental disease and it is crucially important to bring awareness to the public of how we can limit the illness. It is unclear whether schizophrenia have only a biological background or psychological background, but what was discovered is that both contribute to schizophrenia. Positive and negative treatment can be combatted undergoing pharmaceutical and psychotherapy,

People with mental illness are experiencing a lot of stigma and judgment from the society, they are judged for not being able to fit into their societal roles. Schizophrenia is one form of mental illness that is not as often researched or understood as other mental illness such as depression or anxiety disorder. Individuals that are diagnosed with schizophrenia in our society are dealing with a lot of prejudice and discrimination, which causes them to distant themselves from society. Stigma imposed by societal norms can affect the social identity of individuals with mental illness; this can be seen by the example of individuals with schizophrenia.

This issue is relevant because mental illness and self identity are starting to become a popular topic in our society. People are starting to realize that even though it may be a difficult subject to speak and learn about, it is important and should be addressed in our society. This issue is important because it helps people embrace who they are and learn about the issues instead of hating on themselves for being different and not knowing the real facts about the issue. If we do not learn how to treat mental illness and accept ourselves, we will never move forward in society and learn how to help others and ourselves with these topics. By learning more about these topics we can help our society grow, by discovering new ways to help people with these problems. We could decrease major issues in our society like mass shootings, and teen suicide. With this topic we can make our society more aware and inclusive of those with these issues.

Schizophrenia is a life-long disorder that affects about one percent of the population (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). The cause of this mental illness is still unclear. Studies have suggested that Schizophrenia does not arise from one factor but from a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors (Liddle, 1987). People diagnosed with Schizophrenia struggle to deal with a multitude of symptoms that make it difficult to function (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Antipsychotic medications are a popular treatment of the symptoms of Schizophrenia (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Research is constantly being done to develop these medications to enhance the quality of life of those diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia as a Biological Disorder As well as the biological approaches there are physiological, psychological and environmental explanations. New theories of schizophrenia are constantly being developed each having their own advantages and disadvantages. How do we know however, which one is correct? The biological explanation suggests that schizophrenia is produced by an unfortunate combination of genes or is due to physical problems in the brain.

Schizophrenia comes in all shapes and sizes. It is most common in people over the age of 60 years old. Most common behaviors of this mental illness are hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech/catatonic behavior and negative symptoms; such as lack of speech and apathy. Clinical psychiatrist, Konstantinos Tsirigotis, has furthered research on the behaviors of schizophrenic patients. He claims that self-destructive behaviors are what patients suffer through the most. This is split into two groups, directly self-destructiveness (i.e. suicides, self-injuries etc.) and indirect self-destructiveness also known as chronic self-destructiveness (isolated behaviors) (Tsirigotis, 156). Now, indirect self-destructiveness is present in both mentally healthy and mentally ill people, yet no one has researched ways self-destructiveness has damaged the psychological minds of mentally ill patients’.

Individuals with schizophrenia have a difficult time indulging in self-experiences and personal feelings and thoughts. Psychotherapy is tailored to each individual, which means that it assists that person in constructing stories of their lives, including their strengths, challenges, hopes, and losses. Along with the assistance in personal narratives, psychotherapy helps individuals with schizophrenia strengthen their ability to think about thinking, which means that these individuals will be able to think about themselves and others in a more complex and flexible manner (Lysaker et al., 2010). With psychotherapy as a treatment, individuals might be able to better respond to challenges and react appropriately to general threats to self-esteem. If these individuals could do that, they would feel as if they were shaping their lives into something meaningful and holistic, which would drastically help with their