Schizophrenic Analysis

Divided Minds is a powerful, heart wrenching memoir written by two twin sisters, Pamela Spiro Wagner and Carolyn S. Spiro about their journey through schizophrenia. Early on in their lives, Pamela is seen as the dominant and more outgoing twin. Pamela was creative, social, and intellectually bright. Carolyn often felt like she lived in the shadow of Pamela and could not quite measure up. When the girls were in the sixth grade, the first symptoms of Pamela’s future disorder appeared when the news of President Kennedy’s assassination broke and Pamela thought that she was somehow involved and to blame for his death. She begins to hear voices that would haunt her for years and her condition worsens throughout her adolescence. Pamela and Carolyn both attended Brown University and while Carolyn flourished in school, Pamela became moody and depressed. During their freshman year, Pamela’s episodes of irrationality become more extreme and she became very withdrawn. She has her first major breakdown and overdosed on sleeping pills. This was the beginning of the numerous hospitalizations and sessions with psychiatrists that would soon become a huge part of her life.

SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia, from the Greek word meaning “split mind”, is a mental disorder that causes complete fragmentation in the processes of the mind. Contrary to common belief, schizophrenia does not refer to a person with a split personality or multiple personalities, but rather to a condition which affects the person’s movement, language, and thinking skills. The question of whether schizophrenia is a disease or collection of socially learned actions is still a question in people’ mind. People who are suffering from schizophrenia think and act in their own the world and put themselves in a way that is totally different from the rest of society. In other words, they have lost in touch with the reality. Most schizophrenics accept

Schizophrenia translates as split mind and the psychological changes can be so profound that the affected individual is thrust into a world that bears little resemblance to everyday experience. The person with schizophrenia lives in an internal world marked by thought processes that have gone awry; delusions, hallucinations, and generally disordered thinking become the norm.

The participants were 238 undergraduate students (75 males and 163 females) in the first year of their degree, aged 17 to 25 years (M = 19.60 years, SD = 2.32). Participants reported no history of neurological or psychiatric illness, and received course credits for participation.

Affecting about 1% of the population, schizophrenia causes more anxiety in the media, in the public, and even in doctors' offices more than any other mental illness. It is the most stigmatized and most misunderstood psychological disorder of them all, even among psychologists. Among the many fallacies that surround the disorder is the name in itself. Schizophrenia literally means, from Greek,“split mind” but contrary to popular belief, the condition has nothing to do with a split in personality or multiple personalities. The term refers instead to a “split from reality”, which is usually what inflicts what we stereotype to be “schizophrenics.” However, multiple Personality Disorder, now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, is the kind

Schizophrenia is derived from the “Greek words 'schizo ' which means split and 'phrene ', which means mind” (Schizophrenia, 2016). One can see how these two words would bring out the meaning of Schizophrenia, as a person with this identity disorder can experience more voices than normal in their mind. However, this disorder is not to be mixed up with multiple personality disorder. Benedict Morel was the first person to propose the theory of Schizophrenia. This particular man thought schizophrenia was an innate biological defect and symptoms come from your family lineage (Jeste & Mueser, 2008). Not only is this disorder thought to be in one’s family lineage it is thought to occur in more men than women. Schizophrenia was first brought to light and “classified as a distinct mental disorder by

In the article, Accelerated Brain Aging in Schizophrenia: A Longitudinal Pattern Recognition Study1 published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the authors decided to investigate the characteristic progressive brain loss that occurs in schizophrenia patients. In particular, they are testing the idea that this progressive brain loss is the result of the brain aging more rapidly in individuals affected by schizophrenia than in unaffected individuals. Schizophrenia is a very rare disease that manifest in several different ways and in different severities. Schizophrenia is often associated with symptoms such as paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, and disorganization in behavior and thinking. The cause of schizophrenia is not known

What is Schizophrenia? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling class of disorders in which severe distortions of reality occur (What is Schizophrenia?, n.d.; Feldman, 2013). Derived from the Greek words schizo and phren, Schizophrenia means split mind and describes the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder. (Burton, 2012). Affecting approximately one percent of Americans, Schizophrenia is seen equally in both men and women and occurs in all ethnic groups (What is Schizophrenia?, n.d.).

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.

Did you know one percent of our population is schizophrenic? Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling psychiatric disorder that commonly presents during late adolescent and early adulthood (Javitt, Daniel C). Schizophrenia is illustrated by an incapacity to differentiate what is real from what is not. The way they live can affect their brain functions causing relationships to end because of the symptoms schizophrenia produce in them, but there are treatments and support that can help with the symptoms.

Schizophrenia is a word that, when brought up, can be paired with associations such as unstable people, people that hear voices, or social isolation. Schizophrenia literally means “split brain” because of the severe mental disturbances that cause a person's thoughts, speech, and behavior to become distorted or interrupted. (Veague) According to the National Institute of Mental Health, only one percent of the population world wide and 2.2 million people in the United States are currently living with this disease. UXL Complete Health Source states that Schizophrenic patients tend to not be capable of understanding signals they receive from the outside world and interpret images or conversations very different from what they really are. I believe

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health condition “characterized by persistent psychosis and mood episodes of depressive, manic and/or mixed types” (Abrams, Rojas, Arcinegras, 2008). Schizoaffective disorder has a low lifetime prevalence ranging between 0.5-0.8%. This disorder is commonly seen in more women than in men, with women having a later onset of the disorder (Yogeswary, 2014). Although there is no concrete evidence, it is believed that schizoaffective disorder is caused by a combination of neurotransmitter imbalances, genetics and early environmental influences (“Schizoaffective Disorder”, 2008). This disorder is usually long-term and affects how one behaves, thinks, feels and functions.

The word schizophrenia means split mind and was first used in 1911 by Eugen Bleuler. According to Paul Eugen Bleuler and the origin of the term schizophrenia "as the disease becomes distinct, the personality loses it unity." Originally it was meant to describe patients whose thoughts and emotions seemed disconnected or disrupted. Unlike the meaning of the word schizophrenia, it has nothing to do with split personalities. Schizophrenia is a complex psychological disorder that can be characterized into 4 different categories; paranoid-type, disorganized-type, undifferentiated-type, and residual-type. All 4 types of schizophrenia have their own symptoms and treatment.

Why I must move on with my life, mostly because I still have so much to give

Since I was a child, I have constantly been haunted by a culture where people would be judged upon their looks, how they present themselves to others, what experiences people might have had or what beliefs they may hold. I believe that this culture is similar to a paradigm which functions in a linear process so everything that fits within that cultural paradigm is either being labeled as “normal” or being sanctioned while everything that doesn’t fit inside is being denied, marginalised or argued against. These types of ordinary cultural behaviour, conformity, the fear of not fitting-in, the strive for perfection and this unsatisfying, ego-driven human condition are sources that I think burdens many people today. There is a great phobia in today’s