Schizophreni The Common Psychiatric Disorder

Dr. Emile Krapelin, a German physician, was one of the first to separate mental disorders into different categories. “Dementia praecox” was the term Krapelin used for those patients who had some of the same symptoms that we now use to describe schizophrenia. Many people had described the basic concept of “madness” for hundreds, even thousands of years, however, Krapelin was the first to distinguish Schizophrenia as a distinguished mental disorder in the year 1887. He also was the first to distinguish between mental disorders such as Schizophrenia and depression. “Dementia praecox” was believed to be a “disease of the brain” meaning literally “early dementia.”

Schizophrenia continues to create new challenges today and continue to be a complicated mental illness. Contrary to the misconception that Schizophrenia is a rare condition, it is not rare at all. ; each person has a risk of developing it within their lifetime. It is most common to psychoses and half of the inpatients in mental facilities are Schizophrenics. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that can happen to anyone occurring in any culture, affecting men and women equally and all areas of functioning, including emotions, perception and behavior.

The history of the disease known as schizophrenia has roots as far back as ancient Egypt, where symptoms such as thought disturbances and dementia were detailed in The Book of Hearts . Later a German physician Emile Kraepelin would name the

Mental health has been studied for centuries now. There have been fast differences major evolutional discoveries and changes since mental health has been researched and studied. Many theorists have been pioneers in their respective studies and laid the blueprint for what it is today. One of the interesting diagnosis’s during the early development is how Schizophrenia is a diagnosis that has been misunderstood over the centuries. The criteria that would determine one such a label, has shifted drastically. Although it has shifted and the information we have today is much more polished due to the amount of research and studies that have taken place, it’s important to learn and know the history behind how schizophrenia came to be and how it was coined to become such a noticeable and intricate part of diagnosis’s in psychology. Leading the way in the foundation and discovery of

A description of an illness with a common diagnosis towards schizophrenia such as hearing voices, hallucinations and behavior changes have been recorded over the past two centuries. Dr. Emil Kraepelin, a German psychiatrist, was the first to distinguish schizophrenia from other generic “insanity”. Kraepelin narrowed down other psychiatrists’ descriptions of very similar disorders from France and Scotland and named the common disorder “Dementia Praecox”. The descriptions of the disorders displayed consonant observations of severe cognitive and behavioral decline, although there was never a distinct correlation to diagnose a patient. Kraepelin said, “we meet everywhere the same fundamental disorders in the different forms of dementia praecox […] in very varied conjunctions, even though the clinical picture may appear at first sight ever so divergent.” (Source 1). Kraepelin’s developing discovering of “Dementia Praecox” never had a distinct diagnosis, “our formulation of the problem may be incorrect” (Source 1). Although considering there may have been a flaw and possibly giving up on “Dementia Praecox” Kraepelin built the foundation of discovering and revealing major disorders, therefore influencing other such as Eugen Bleuler.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that has haunted man-kind for centuries. Documents have been found aging this disease to the times of the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt. The first diagnosed case was in 1887 and made a huge impact in mental disease (Burton). Emile Kraepelin was the one who first diagnosed schizophrenia and his work still impacts the DSM-classifications (Ebert). Schizophrenia has typically been looked down upon by cultures throughout time. There are many stereotypical and incorrect thoughts on schizophrenia that have stemmed from past generations. Past cultures have thought of schizophrenia as the devils entrance into the present world. Their views of “becoming crazy” stem from the demonizing of a person through

According to Gottesman, schizophrenia didn’t exist before the 19th century. He found many facts that lead to this hypothesis, finding no existence of this illness in ancient writings. He argues that schizophrenia was described clinically in 1809, and since then, this disease has been rapidly increasing to western world. (91)

The brain is an essential organ in the body that preforms key tasks to aid humanities’ survival. The brain controls everything a person does and, if compromised, could have devastating consequences to the person. Schizophrenia is a disease that affects the brain in tremendous ways. This disease impacts the way the brain receives information, decodes that information, and eventually acts upon that information. Schizophrenia is thought to be the result of genetics and the environment the person is placed in. Although schizophrenia is a disease that affects the way a brain functions, it can affect the brain in different ways depending on the subtype one has. There are five subtypes which include: paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Furthermore, a person is placed under the subtype that lines up best with their most prominent symptoms (Taylor). The most common form of schizophrenia is paranoid, and has distinctive symptoms, which include hallucinations and delusions. Paranoid schizophrenia is a treatable disease that has distinguishing characteristics, but not evident causes; however, scientist have found factors that make an individual more prone to developing this horrific disease.

(Szasz,1982, p.4, p.29) In 1900, the term schizophrenia, now used worldwide, was used to describe the condition that one out of every hundred people had. This statistic remains the same today. Through research and years of study, the world has a better understanding of schizophrenia, its forms, characteristics, symptoms, types, possible causes, and treatments, if any. ( Pierce, 1990. p.263 )

Emile Kraepelin in 1887. Dr. Kraepelin named the disorder “Dementia Praecox” which is early dementia. Reasons why he named it that way was because he mostly focused on young adults who had dementia. Eugene Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, coined the word schizophrenia in the early 1900’s. He later changed the name as the name Dr. Kraepelin gave the disease was the incorrect term for the disorder. The word schizophrenia is derived from the Greek root words Schizo which means split and phrene which is mind. Bleuler documented schizophrenia’s “positive” and “negative” symptoms – terms which we still use today. Kraepelin and Bleuler both subdivided schizophrenia into different categories depending on the symptoms and prognosis. There are five subtypes of schizophrenia. The five types of diagnosis are paranoid type, disorganized type, catatonic type, undifferentiated type, and residual type. Many people before who had this disorder were considered crazy, people who shouldn’t live outside a four wall bedroom from a hospital. Many people with the disorder were having therapy, insulin shock, frontal lobotomy as well as other crude neurosurgical procedures. Most of these treatments caused the patients to die as the procedure induces epilepsy, serious surgical infections as well as severe brain damage. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance Period witchcraft and demonic possession were considered to be the root of emotional

Schizophrenia is a severe and disabling mental disorder, affecting approximately one percent of the world 's adult population. Researcher say there are several of causes for this disorder, for instance genetics, substance use, or even the environment. As research began we found that, “schizophrenia can occur at any age, the average age begin in the late teens to the early 20s for men, and the late 20s to early 30s for women” (NAMI). As said this disorder can go both ways with either women or men, there is no bias in who receives this. There are both pros and cons and many symptoms that come along with the disorder but as said many adults experience different types of disorders and unfortunately in my case I have an uncle who deled and is still dealing with schizophrenia. There were many situations and issues he had to surpass due to this diagnose.

The historical aspect of schizophrenia is that back then, like much psychological disorder, it was seen as a demon possessing people’s minds rather than a disorder. Many believed that schizophrenics were possessed by demons causing them to act irrationally. Later in the mid-1800s, it was first described as “dementia praecox” meaning "premature dementia" or "precocious madness" (Muzyk, 2014). This assumption that all schizophrenics are just full of madness has stuck till this day. Thanks to the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, psychiatrists’ primary guidebook, a psychiatrist can follow proper steps into diagnosing patients with schizophrenia. Under the IDEA 04 individuals with schizophrenia are specifically

antipsychotics is their comparable lacking overall efficacy. It has been reported that, “a third of

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

The word “schizophrenia comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mental) to address the behavior changes and fragmented thinking of the people suffering from the sickness (Karolinska Institute, Department of Clinical Neuroscience) . But what exactly is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a form of psychiatric disorder which endangers and alters a person’s ability of thinking clearly, making good judgments, responding emotionally, communicating effectively, understanding reality, behaving appropriately, and event in some extreme cases, recognizing others. People suffering from this illness have changes in mood and behavior and other sorts of symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations which implement ethical issues by preventing the patients from working, going to school and social functioning. But nevertheless, recent studies have shown that schizophrenia is not only a psychotic illness, but also considered as neurodegenerative