Schizophrenia And Its Effects On Mental Health

Schizophrenia is a serious debilitating mental illness in which the victim is afflicted with bizarre delusions and prominent hallucinations. The delusions are profoundly invalid beliefs, and the hallucinations are equally invalid perceptions. There is also a disordering of the reasoning process, disordered emotional expression, and loss of motivation for work and social living. Typically, the illness starts in adolescence or early adulthood and, if untreated, usually worsens with age. (Lickey, Gordon, 1991)

The person I chose came from a famous novel and has schizophrenia. According to Mayo Clinic “Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior. Contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia is not a split personality or multiple personality. The word "schizophrenia" does mean "split mind," but it refers to a disruption of the usual balance of emotions and thinking. Schizophrenia is a chronic condition, requiring lifelong treatment.”(Schizophrenia, August 2014). The individual would start showing signs of reduced pleasure in life, difficulty participating in activities, barely speaking,

In some people, schizophrenia appears suddenly and without warning” (HELP GUIDE). This would be considered an acute onset. “For most though, the onset comes slowly with subtle warning signs and a gradual decline in functioning long before the first severe episode.” (HELP GUIDE). This on the other hand is considered chronic onset.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that inhibits a person’s ability to think clearly, manage their emotions, make their own decisions, and associate with others. It is a complicated, long term illness that affects one percent of Americans. Even though Schizophrenia can occur at any age, it is more common for men in their early twenties and early twenties to late thirties in women. It is possible to lead a happy, fulfilling life with Schizophrenia. (Nami 2016)

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it difficult for someone to establish what is real and what is not real. Schizophrenia also makes it hard to think clearly or to establish your emotions. Having this disorder affects how a person acts and sees the world. Over 2.2 million people suffer from this mental illness. There are many symptoms for Schizophrenia. Although there is no cure, proper treatment can control these symptoms.

There are many disorders throughout the world that affect people on a daily basis. They are life altering and life changing. They affect how a person can function on a normal level of life.I know, you’re thinking who defines what is normal in life anyway? But for the purpose of understanding schizophrenia; normal is anything that deviates from the socially accepted way of conducting one’s self. The person affected by this disorder is drifting away from reality and, at the same time, drifting away from who they have been their whole life.

What is schizophrenia? “Schizo” meaning split, and “phrenia” meaning mind. Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain that has affected many individuals throughout history. Usually starting in childhood or early adulthood, it is rare for schizophrenia to start after one has reached adulthood. Before schizophrenia was discovered, those with the disorder were considered to be possessed, therefore causing them to be feared or locked up away from those that did not have the disorder. Schizophrenia is chronic and severe, and it affects those diagnosed with it strongly to the point where they cannot function in the real world. They have social issues, hear voices and things that others cannot hear, and feel like others are out to hurt them.

Schizophrenia is a mental psychotic disorder that diminishes the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy. Schizophrenia ranges from Type I, which are positive symptoms caused by an excess of functions to Type II, which are negative symptoms caused by a loss of functions within the brain. Subtypes range from Paranoid to Disorganized schizophrenia. A wide variety of factors can provoke anyone of these variations of schizophrenia, such as genes, an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, the death of a loved one, or even stress. Symptoms of Type I Paranoid Schizophrenia include delusions and auditory hallucinations, which revolve around them. According to 21st Century Psychology, "Anger, detachment, anxiety, argumentativeness, and a patronizing tone accompany paranoid schizophrenia" (302). The prince also has symptoms that complement paranoid schizophrenia, such as disorganized speech, thinking and behavior. In Hamlet 's case, grief caused by the death of his father provokes stress-induced Type I Paranoid Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is typically diagnosed during early adulthood or late adolescence. Each schizophrenic patient will have a unique set of symptoms. Most patients with schizophrenia gradually develop signs and symptoms over time, although it is also completely plausible for some patients to have a sudden onset of symptoms. Typically, this illness starts out with a prodromal period. During this period, people afflicted by this disease experience positive symptoms that may include disturbances in their thought process, a difficulty differentiating between reality and fantasy, and a substantial increase in instances of delusions and hallucinations. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia may include social withdrawal, the inability to pay attention, and general

Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by psychosis , apathy and social withdrawal in combination with cognitive impairment, abnormalities that cause substantial disruptions in performance work , school, family and recreation. Among psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia is the most disabling disease and demand a disproportionate amount of resources to health . However, there have been considerable advances in the treatment and at present many sufferers can lead a reasonably normal life. The estimated annual incidence is 0.2 to 0.4 by 1000. The frequency of schizophrenia is similar in both sexes but in women tends to occur later and present a more benign course, probably due to the effect of estrogen on D2 receptors.

Schizophrenia is a chronic neurological disorder that causes people to interpret reality abnormally. “Accurately described as a psychosis - a type of illness that causes severe mental disturbances that disrupt normal thoughts, speech, and behavior” (Brain &Behavior Research Foundation).According to the Brain and Behavior Foundation Schizophrenia is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental disorders. This disorder also affects men and women equally and usually affects them between 16-30 years old, after 45 the chance of getting schizophrenia is very unlikely. It rarely occurs in children but with ongoing research that can soon change.

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.

Roughly 2.5 Million Americans have been diagnosed with a chronical brain disorder known as Schizophrenia. Most people believe schizophrenia causes people to have split personalities, but that’s not the case. The illness called Schizophrenia causes a person to hallucinate, hear voices that others can’t hear, make people believe that they are being watched, and the belief somebody is out to harm them. (Mental Health America 2015) In this paper I will write about the prevalence, what causes schizophrenia, symptoms and what the treatments options are.

Schizophrenia can either be interpreted as a unitary disorder with various sub-types or as a disorder where each sub-type represents a distinct order. The DSM-IV-TR identifies four types of schizophrenia: undiferential, catatonic, disorganised and paranoid (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). To be diagnosed with schizophrenia, two diagnostic criteria’s have to be met within most of the time in one month, and they must have an impact on the individual’s occupational or social functioning for at least six months. The individual could be suffering from delusions, hallucinations or disorganized speech. Additional symptoms can include negative symptoms and severely disorganized or cationic behaviour (American Psychiatric Association,

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by a variety of symptoms and the disorganization of feeling and thought. It is an incurable disease whose causes are unknown, yet whose effects are mind and body crippling. (Young, 1988, p.13-14) This topic was chosen because it is interesting to study a disorder that worldwide, is viewed as a classic example of madness and insanity. Another reason of interest is because unlike many illnesses, schizophrenia doesn't have a noticeable pattern and its difficulty to be diagnosed as a disease makes the collection of statistics difficult. It is important to learn more about schizophrenia because a significant numbr of people are affected everyday