Schizophrenia Spectrum

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.

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

According to the World Health Organization, “Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder, characterized by profound disruptions in thinking; affecting language, perception, and the sense of self”. This serious brain disorder affects around 21 million people worldwide and causes people to interpret reality differently. People with schizophrenia tend to have strange or altered thinking and don't feel connected with themselves. They often go through psychotic experiences such as seeing hallucinations and delusions, or hearing voices. Mental health America states that “Some early warning signs of schizophrenia are confused and bizarre thoughts, increased sensitivity to light, sound, smells, or touch, fearfulness or suspicion that isn't warranted,

Additional, inferences about the disorder are provided by Whitcomb and Merrell (2013). The authors characterize the symptoms of schizophrenia as delusions that are “typically bizarre and implausible” and pronounced hallucinations such as hearing voices for long periods of time (p. 363). Additional, impairments noted by the authors include “severe disturbances in perception, thought and affect, a severe decline in personal and social functioning, poor personal hygiene, inability to function effectively at school or work, and a severe impairment in social relationships” (Whitcomb and Merrell, 2013 p.363).

Schizophrenia is the most commonly diagnosed psychotic disorder (Steel, 2012), affecting 1 out of every 100 hundred people on average (Taurier & Wykes, 2004). Symptoms of the disorder include positive symptoms, which are auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as disordered patterns of thought such as delusions (Taurier & Wykes, 2004). Auditory hallucinations are the most common positive symptom, and often come in the form of voices (Steel, 2012). Delusions, which are the most common symptom of schizophrenia, involve a false belief that exists despite evidence being available that suggests otherwise (Steel, 2012).

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

People need help in various ways because when they are suffering with schizophrenia, they have difficulty with thinking, motivation, physical activities, activities of the daily living, relations, and communication skills. There are many useful therapies, for instance, individual psychotherapy helps the person to understand more about their illness and to better help with their daily lives. Rehabilitation helps them with problem solving support, social skills, and education in money management. They might be benefitted with improvement in cognitive and thinking skills. With the help of cognitive behavioral therapy the patient is helped to test and understand the reality of their thoughts and perceptions. With this therapy they get help on managing on not listening to the voices that tells them what to do, and most importantly to manage their symptoms overall. Personally, the most important therapy is family education, because it is important that all the family members are aware of the person suffering from schizophrenia. Their family should learn everything about this illness, they should also make sure that their loved ones follow their medication and treatments

It was in the middle of his sophomore year when Ron Oelberg, my uncle, had the mental breakdown that forever changed his life. On an early, extremely cold winter morning in northern Iowa, Ron walked out of the farm house in only his underwear, through the large cornfield, and down to the Yellow River that was frozen over with a thin layer of ice. Luckily, his parents caught him in time before he had fallen through the thin ice. Ron was soon rushed to a mental institution where he was observed by psychiatrists that later diagnosed him with disorganized schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a severe chronic mental disorder that causes people to live in an alternate “universe” inside of his or her head. There are different types of schizophrenia

The distinctive characteristic of schizophrenia are disruptions in perception, language, and thinking. Psychotic symptoms include delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are strange or false beliefs that a person has even when they are shown that their beliefs are not

Schizophrenia is a complex and puzzling illness. Even the experts in the field are not exactly sure what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not

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 is classified as a psychotic disorder. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, in order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, an individual must present two (or more) of the following symptoms for a significant portion of time during a one-month period: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior, or negative symptoms (such as diminished emotional expression or avolition). The DSM-5, however, has a continuum (schizophrenia spectrum) of disorders that may be similar to schizophrenia disorder but not as severe or persistent.

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Schizophrenia is not as common as other mental illnesses in fact only about 1% of all people worldwide are diagnosed with it. The symptoms of this disorder can be quiet disabling. Signs of schizophrenia usually appear in late adolescence or early adulthood. It is relatively rare for older adults and children to start developing signs of schizophrenia, but it does happen. The symptoms of schizophrenia can be categorized in three groups: positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms are psychotic behaviors not typically seen in healthy people. People with positive symptoms tend to lose touch with some aspects of reality. These symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders, and movement disorders. The most common symptoms are hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations are sensory experiences that occur in the absence of a stimulus and they can occur in any of the five senses (visual, hearing, smell, taste and touch). The most common type of hallucination found in people with

A person diagnosed with schizophrenia typically struggles with cognitive, behavioral and emotional, occupational and social dysfunction. The essential features of schizophrenia must include at least two symptoms for a considerable amount of time during one month. These symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, highly disorganized/catatonic behavior and negative symptoms (diminished emotional expression). In conjunction with the symptoms, continuous signs of the disturbance must carry on for at least six months as well, along with the inability to function in one or more major areas (work, self-care, interpersonal relationships). Lastly, the indicators of the disorder is not caused or linked