Schizophrenia Research Paper

Not every person with schizophrenia will have all symptoms, and the symptoms of schizophrenia may change over time.” (Schizophrenia: Sings, Types & Causes, Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph. D., Last Update February 2014, http://www.helpguide.org/mental/schizophrenia_symptom.htm) It is believed that no one single gene causes schizophrenia it is said that more than one gene is the cause of increased risk of schizophrenia there is a greater risk of a child developing it. There is more to this story than genetics; some type of early childhood trauma may play a role in schizophrenia. (The Causes of Schizophrenia http://www.nami.org/content/navigationmenu/mental_illnesses) The onset of schizophrenia occurs between the age of 15 and 45 in males, it is more common in males than females. There is talk from researchers about children with schizophrenia also having other mental disorders which include ADHD, ADD and bipolar disorder. Although there is not a tremendous amount of research they also believe that most children have had someone in their family who has been in a psychiatric hospital at some point and a family history of schizophrenia and some type of trauma. There is also a high number of suicide attempts in children with schizophrenia, there is also research to show that there is an increase of odds of schizophrenia in African Americans and Hispanic youth, however it is also very easy to misdiagnose these

In 1809, physician John Haslam published an account of what he considered “A form of insanity”. Haslam described many symptoms that are relevant to modern day schizophrenia including delusions of grandeur and hallucinations. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, a German psychiatrist named Emil Kraepelin expanded on Haslam’s views and gave a more accurate description of schizophrenia as we know it today. Kraeplin started off by combining terms including different types of insanity under one term: Catatonia, and delusions of grandeur and persecution: paranoia. Kraepelin also separated dementia praecox from manic depressive illness, or bipolar disorder (Barlow,

Active behavior is when the person becomes very active, but the behavior that they engage in has no purpose or focus to it. An example of this is the person might be walking, throw a pillow across the room, then go to the kitchen and make a sandwich and sit down and start drawing. This type of behavior is active because it is unpredictable. Disorganized speech occurs when the person starts speaking but the words they are saying do not make sense. They might start a conversation and then say something completely different not even realizing it happened. Inappropriate emotion is when they may make the wrong faces at the wrong times. Meaning, the person doesn’t show appropriate emotional responses. Avolition is a common symptom to experience and it comes with a lack of motivation. It is so significant that the person may want to complete a certain task but doesn’t have enough drive to carry the task out. Apart from the previous examples of some symptoms that were mentioned, other symptoms that may occur are delusions, hallucinations, social withdrawal and cognitive difficulties. They could also become unaware of becoming sick or coming down with an

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.

Schizophrenia can occur at any age, the average age of onset tends to be late teens to the 20s for men, and the late 20s to early 30s for women. ("NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness | What is Schizophrenia?," n.d.) It’s very rare for schizophrenia to be diagnosed in a person younger than 12 or older than 40. Comorbid factors in schizophrenia are depression, anxiety, and substance abuse these are more common than others. (Mosey, A. 1986) They are common throughout the course of the illness with a prevalence of 15% for panic attacks, 29% for posttraumatic stress disorder and 23% for obsessive compulsive disorder. Depression can cause secondary negative symptoms, panic attacks can drive paranoia and cannabis abuse can worsen positive and disorganization symptoms.

There are the positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive issues. The positive symptoms include hallucinations and delusions. Positive does not mean “good” but it refers to having symptoms that should not be there (“Facts On Schiz”, NAMI.org). When a schizophrenic is experiencing hallucinations it is a very real experience for the person. The voices in the hallucination can be critical or be threatening which could lead to suicidal thoughts and weird behaviors. Because of the hallucinations and delusions “People also have a problem concentrating, confused thinking or sense that their thoughts are blocked” (“Schizophrenia”,

Schizophrenia is a long term mental illness that will affect the way your mind works, changing your behavioural patterns. It affects usually people who are in there late teens to young adults. This is due to the natural changes in teen behaviour that happens to a teen when growing up such as sleep wake cycle, emotions and motivation. These are a normal phase that happens normally to a teen but if the get one more change which is symptoms of psychosis (hallucinations and delusions) then you will have pass the diagnosis for schizophrenia. With a natural phase in teenage/young adult life sharing so many similarities with the diagnosis of schizophrenia it is only certain that they are would be more susceptible. “There are many types of schizophrenia the three main types of schizophrenia are; the catatonic type, disorganised (hebephrenic) type and Paranoid type (Rethink,2014).” Catatonic schizophrenia is the rarest type; this usually is involved sharp movements (over activity to stillness), disorganised schizophrenia is more communication based, distorted behaviour makes it hard to communicate with other. Behaviour could also be seen as unwell or poor mannerism. Paranoid schizophrenia is the most common of all the schizophrenia type, these symptoms are usually just hallucinations with little to no effect on anything else.

The limbic system is affected because it can be one of the sources of irritation to schizophrenia. The occipital lobe is affected because it makes it difficult to translate images or reading other peoples face expressions. The hippocampus is affected because it is the part of the brain that a person learns and memorizes from. According to our book Psychology : A Journey Heinrich states, “ Having an impaired “sensory filter ”in their brains may be why they are overwhelmed by a jumble of thoughts, sensations, images, and feelings(Heinrichs, 2001).

“Schizophrenia is a severe brain and behavior disorder affecting how one thinks, feels and acts. People with schizophrenia can have trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy, expressing and managing normal emotions and making decisions. Thought processes may also be disorganized and

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that effect to critical thinking and emotional response. Most of the symptoms include delusion, hallucination, agitation, and lack of replies. Patient thinks something happen when it hasn't. Gene and environment contribute to development of schizophrenia. People who have relative with schizophrenia have more significantly increased risk for developing schizophrenia than others. The effects of schizophrenia can limit your ability in daily life. Most of the patient can’t accept that they’re ill. Schizophrenia need life-long treatment. Nowaday,the most reliable treatment are with medications and psychosocial therapy. In severe case, hospitalization is the best way for

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the symptoms of schizophrenia can be divided into three separate categories including, positive, negative, and cognitive. Positive symptoms are not usually seen in healthy people and consist of psychotic behaviors. People with positive symptoms can suffer from hallucinations, delusions, dysfunctional ways of thinking, and or movement disorders. Some people with these symptoms even appear to lose touch with what is really reality.

Negative symptoms - Flat and blunted affect, apathy, alogia, and lack of interest in socialization, lack of motivation. These symptoms contribute to the poor quality of life and decrease functional capability.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects you mind and thoughts. It can affect the way we live our lives. 1 in a 100 people have schizophrenia, it’s a very common illness.

Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder which is the breakdown of thought, emotion, behavior which leads to faulty perception, abnormal actions or feelings, and withdrawal from reality which turns into delusion and fantasy. One with schizophrenia may find little to no pleasure in life. They might not enjoy the things they used to, or they just stop doing those things completely. They also might not take care of themselves. They might not bother to do laundry, or shower, or things of that nature. One with schizophrenia also might have hallucinations or delusions. They might think that people are out to get them, or they hear and see things that aren't real. They also might have other problems with how they think, or be very scared for no apparent reason.

If the chemicals in the brain are having trouble going through the brain then that can cause a psychological disorder such as Schizophrenia. There is also evidence to suggest that the brain of people with Schizophrenia is different than those that have healthier brains. “Some studies also suggest that abnormalities in the temporal lobes, hippocampus, and amygdala are connected to schizophrenia’s positive symptoms (hallucinations or delusions) (Helpguide.org).” In my opinion, the environment one endures can be the biggest factor in the cause of schizophrenia. Child abuse, early traumatic events, severe stress, and negative life events can all have a very huge impact in the cause of Schizophrenia. What someone went through in their past can determine their future.