Schizophrenia Model

I chose to write my research paper over Schizophrenia. It is a psychological disorder that I have always found fascinating. It is a serious disorder that consumes a person's life and is nearly impossible to control. In this paper, I will talk about the definition of Schizophrenia, the diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia in children, suicide, sexually related characteristics of the disease, sleep disorders caused by the disease, differences in the disease on different ethnicities, and insensitivity to pain.

American Psychiatric Association (APA). 2000. Schizophrenia. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth Edition, Text

According to NAMI (), schizophrenia is a long term mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, make decisions, and relate to others, impairing a person from functioning to their full potential when left untreated. For these persons affected, it is many times difficult to distinguish what is real from what is not. “Unfortunately, no single simple course of treatment exists.” Research has linked schizophrenia to a multitude of possible causes” (NAMI).

The symptoms of schizophrenia vary, however, they have been categorized as positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, and / or thought disorder. Hallucinations normally give a false perception of touch, smell, taste, and / or visit, those with this particular mental disorder often experience auditory hallucinations. Delusions are also a sign of schizophrenia. Open quotations delusions are beliefs that are not part of the person's culture and do not change. Quotation parentheses u.s. Department, print the seas, 2010. These may cause a person that has this disorder, to think or feel as if they are victims in imagine conspiracy. It is also shown that they believe they are being controlled

As the APA has moved from the Fourth Edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) to a reviewed and improved Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia were modified. The five subtypes (paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, residual) that previous version of DSM employed were excluded for its poor reliability and inability to predict the development and outcome of the disorder. DSM-5 no longer uses the subtypes of schizophrenia but rather focuses on clinical symptoms in the hope that it will help to get better understanding of the etiology of the disorder. It is now required that at least

Schizophrenia consists of a broad spectrum of diagnostic criteria (both cognitive and emotional dysfunctions) that cause problems in every day functioning (Barlow et al., 2015). This criteria includes the presence of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized/catatonic behaviour, and/or negative symptoms, such as diminished emotional expression (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The prevalence rate of this disorder is estimated to be in the range of 0.2% to 1.5% in the general population (Barlow et al., 2015).

In the US, patients with schizophrenia who are unemployed, may be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. These programs pay the cost of medical care; however benefits may be revoked if individuals begin to work or acquire other means of income, even if their job or other source of income provide minimal to no health benefits. Another consideration when dealing with Schizophrenia is how it affects the individual’s entire family. While difficult, the patient benefits greatly from having a support system to assist in keeping track with therapy, medication and to help decrease feelings of being different. “The results indicate a 20% relapse rate reduction if the family is included in schizophrenia treatment.” (Walz, "Psychology of Schizophrenia ") The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is an advocacy group that is helpful in supporting family members. NAMI also advocates funding and research. ("Schizophrenia Treatment & Management: Approach Considerations, Antipsychotic Pharmacotherapy, Other Pharmacotherapy", 2018) Lastly, a person with schizophrenia should be encouraged to stay active and consume a healthy diet as antipsychotic medications can cause weight gain and changes in glucose or lipid metabolism. They may also develop odd food cravings, have limited funds, can't cook for themselves, or may simply find that fast food is much easier to

Exploring Schizophrenia A disease that leads to more suicide deaths than AIDS, SIDS, and MS combined is present in one in one hundred people globally. Schizophrenia is prone to lead to long-term disability, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, and family trauma. Ten percent of all patients commit suicide.

Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness which has several differing theories exploring the underlining neurological causes. This paper will focus on giving insight into aspects of schizophrenia as well as discussing the following leading theories on the topic: neurodevelopment, dopamine, glutamate, and brain abnormalities. Methods of research focus on studying twins, adopted family members as well as genetics. As it is such a complex illness it presents many different symptoms that have been categorized as positive, negative, and cognitive. Treatment is crucial to managing a life with this illness which includes a combination of therapy and antipsychotic drugs. Since a wide array of the symptoms

Jablensky, A. (2010, September). The diagnostic concept of schizophrenia: its history, evolution, and future prospects. Retrieved November 19, 2017, from

Schizophrenia is severe disorder where there is a loss of contact with reality. It is mostly thought and emotion associated. This mental illness is quite common and has no cure. People who have schizophrenia are considers to have two minds. Many people with schizophrenia suffer and need to attend mental institutes, but today people have been functioning better with periodical hospital visits only. Most researchers consider schizophrenia a brain disorder. There is some evidence that suggests that schizophrenia begins in the womb.

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

Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain that disrupts the capacity to correctly discern reality. It also distorts an individual’s thought processes, emotions, ability to communicate and social behavior (Varcarolis & Halter, 2014). The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between the pathophysiology, pharmacology, and physical assessment findings of this disease.

Assessment of schizophrenia in a clinical setting has been limited for decades by the accepted conceptual model that psychological symptoms are the main problem rather than a holistic viewpoint. Schizophrenia is a multifaceted disorder that expresses systemically, not just locally to the brain in the form of psychosis (Kirkpatrick, Miller, García-Rizo, & Fernandez-Egea, 2014). In order to evaluate the inconsistency with the standard model, a review of schizophrenia, how to clinically address the disorder as a systemic condition, and the important factors to convey to the patient and their family about symptom treatment will be presented.

These family studies show that although there is a genetic component, other factors influence schizophrenia as well