This paper will examine the psychiatric disorder known as schizophrenia. The paper will start with defining schizophrenia and discussing the demographics and prevalence, symptoms, causes and treatments. To elaborate on how the disorder impacts the individual, the paper will integrate and use a case study.
Definition
Schizophrenia is also commonly known as psychoses. The core symptoms of schizophrenia is a severing from reality which includes disturbed thinking and speaking and many times consists of seeing tormenting images and hearing frightening voices. The symptoms of schizophrenia severely interfere with the individuals functioning at work, home, and in social situations (Halgin & Whitbourne, 2010).
Demographics and Prevalence
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Disorganized behavior can be manifested by dressing inappropriately for the weather. It would not be unusual to see a person struggling with schizophrenia to be wearing many layers of clothing in the summer. Disorganized behavior may also include a combination of improper sexual behaviors in public places and displays of random and unfocused screaming and yelling (Friedman, 2000). In the case study, Lori Schiller also engaged in disorganized behavior. Lori’s father recounts a scene where her brother Mark was holding Lori down because she was trying to remove her clothes while screaming obscenities at her brother and telling him to “Get the hell out of here, that she hates [him], and that she’s always hated [him]” (Schiller & Bennett, 1994, p. 47).
Positive symptoms are exaggerations or distortions of normal thoughts, emotions, and behavior including delusions, hallucinations, disturbed speech and behavior. Negative symptoms involve functioning below the level of normal behavior including: affective flattening which is a lack of emotional expression, alogia is a poverty of speech, avolition is a lack of motivation and anhedonia is an inability to experience
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The dopamine hypothesis asserts that schizophrenia is caused by an excess of dopamine in the brain. According to Halgin,& Whitbourne (2010)“the delusions, hallucinations, and attention deficits found in schizophrenia can be attributed to an over activity of neurons that communicate with each other via the transmission of dopamine” (p. 292). As the dopamine rushes through the brain, it overexcites the areas of the brain that deals with thoughts and senses and causes delusions and hallucinations seen in
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 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.
So what is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a long term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior(Schizophrenia). Schizophrenia often leads to faulty perception, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, or inappropriate actions or feelings.
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
Schizophrenia is a severe, disabling and chronic disorder that affects people. Schizophrenia is diagnosed as a psychotic disorder. This is because a person suffering from schizophrenia cannot tell their own thoughts, perceptions, ideas, and imaginations from the reality. There is continuing debate and research as to whether schizophrenia is one condition or a combination of more than one syndrome that have related features. People suffering from schizophrenia may seem perfectly fine until the time they talk actually talk about they are thinking. People with schizophrenia rely on others for help since they cannot care for themselves of hold a job. There is no cure for schizophrenia, but there is treatment that relieves some of the symptoms. People having the disorder will cope with the symptoms all their lives. There have been cases of people suffering from schizophrenia leading meaningful and rewarding lives. There are five types of schizophrenia namely paranoid, disorganized, residual, undifferentiated, and catatonic schizophrenia. This paper will discuss paranoid schizophrenia.
Expert’s reason that unevenness in the complicated interconnected chemical responses of the brain connecting the neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate, and maybe others, performs a part in schizophrenia. Neurotransmitters are elements that permit brain cells to interconnect with each other. Experts are acquiring more about brain chemistry and its connection to schizophrenia. Similarly, in small methods the brains of people with schizophrenia appear diverse than those of healthful people. For instance, fluid-filled holes at the middle of the brain, called ventricles, are greater in certain people with schizophrenia. The brains of people with the disorder similarly manage to have less grey matter, and certain
The most important thing to remember though with disorganized schizophrenia is that there is a lot of strange and aimless behavior that does not make sense.
Schizophrenia is a disease that has plagued societies around the world for centuries, although it was not given its formal name until 1911. It is characterized by the presence of positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so named because of the presence of altered behaviors, such as delusions, hallucinations (usually auditory), extreme emotions, excited motor activity, and incoherent thoughts and speech. (1,2) In contrast, negative symptoms are described as a lack of behaviors, such as emotion, speech, social interaction, and action. (1,2) These symptoms are by no means concrete. Not all schizophrenic patients will exhibit all or even a majority of these symptoms, and there is some
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.
The cause of this condition is not known, but there has been studies of a specific gene referred to as the “schizophrenia gene” that controls the production of new neurons and how they are integrated into the brain’s existing network. This gene, along with any imbalance of dopamine and environmental factors could all combine to cause schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a major mental illness where the human brain can create multiple personas which cause hallucinations, confused thinking,abnormal behaviour and negative symptoms.
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)
Treatment of schizophrenia may vary according to what clinicians believe to be its causes. For example, some believe (and this is backed by evidence) that the condition is caused by over activity of the dopamine system, so that the person experiences too much stimulation. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, so that in effect too much activity is occurring in the brain. Clinicians who believe this is the case are likely to use drug therapies to correct this over activity, and will use antipsychotic drugs.
This essay focuses on the diagnosis of schizophrenia, a major mental illness with much stigma and misinformation associated with it. World Health Organisation (WHO, 2012) epidemiological evidence suggests that schizophrenia is a mental illness affecting 24 million people worldwide. This essay will define schizophrenia and its characteristic signs and symptoms in relation to cognition, mood, behaviour and psychosocial functioning. The criteria enabling a diagnosis of schizophrenia are explored, as well as contemporary nursing care and pharmacological treatments. The positive and negative signs and symptoms of schizophrenia will be discussed and the treatment and care requirements outlined by the NSW Mental Health Act (2007) are also
In some people's cases, Schizophrenia appears suddenly and without warning. But for most it comes slowly, with subtle warning signs and a gradual decline in functioning long before the first severe episode. “In the early phases of Schizophrenia people often seem eccentric, unmotivated, emotionless, and reclusive (Helpguide.org).” They may isolate themselves and not want to participate in daily activities such as playing with their children, going outside, or getting off the couch. They abandon their hobbies and they do not do well in their jobs. “The most common early warning signs of Schizophrenia include: social withdrawal, hostility or suspiciousness, deterioration of personal hygiene, having a flat and expressionless gaze, the inability to cry or express joy, inappropriate laughter or crying, depression, oversleeping or insomnia, odd or irrational statements, forgetfulness or the inability to concentrate, extreme reaction to criticism, and or strange use of words or way of speaking (Helpguide.org).” There are five types of symptoms of Schizophrenia. Positive is a symptom that involves having hallucinations or delusions. Negative is when one shows no emotion or flat behavior. Avolation is when a person shows little interest in whatever they are doing. Cognitive behavior is when you have disorganized speech or memory loss. Catatonic behavior is considered poor functioning such as your voluntary muscles