Essay about Sense of Self: Schizophrenia and I

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 actual term “Schizophrenia” was coined by a Swiss psychiatrist name Eugen Bleuler in around 1911. Bleuler believed that Krapelin’s name for the disease was inaccurate because Schizophrenia did not always lead to a mental deterioration of the brain and it could occur at almost any time in a person’s life. The word Schizophrenia come from two Greek roots Schizo (meaning split) and Phrene (meaning mind) because people who develop this disorder often have fragmented thinking. Schizophrenia can be defined as “a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental

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

By affecting these areas of the brain causes many causal factors. While it is still thought to be an imbalance of the chemicals, this disorder exhibits many associated symptoms. Because there are no tests that can diagnose schizophrenia, a psychologist must rely on analyzing clinical symptoms. One must pay close attention to the diagnosis because this disorder may exhibit the same symptoms as another disorder.

Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease

In this week’s readings chapter twelve is about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which personal, social, and occupational functioning deteriorate as a result of strange perceptions, unusual emotions, and motor abnormalities. This disorder is very interesting, but also kind of scary to me. They literally end up in their own world, losing contact with reality. With that, they also experience hallucinations or delusions, which can cause them to do abnormal, possibly dangerous actions. These symptoms must last six months or more before the person can be diagnosed with schizophrenia. It will affect 1 out of 100 people in the world during ones lifetime. This disorder, unlike many others, is just as common among men and women,

While there is no cure for schizophrenia, research is leading to new, safer treatments. Experts also are unraveling the causes of the disease by studying genetics, conducting behavioral research, and by using advanced imaging to look at the brain’s structure and function. These novel approaches hold the promise of new, more effective therapies.

A common myth today is that patients with Schizophrenia have split personalities. While the roots of the word “schizophrenia” are Greek for split mind, being diagnosed with Schizophrenia is not the same as having multiple personality disorder. Paranoid Schizophrenia, one of the more well known subcategories of the disorder typically involves hallucinations, either auditory or visual. A Schizophrenic patient could reply to a voice, or acknowledge a visual hallucination, giving the impression of a second

Schizophrenia is a life-long disorder that affects about one percent of the population (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). The cause of this mental illness is still unclear. Studies have suggested that Schizophrenia does not arise from one factor but from a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors (Liddle, 1987). People diagnosed with Schizophrenia struggle to deal with a multitude of symptoms that make it difficult to function (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Antipsychotic medications are a popular treatment of the symptoms of Schizophrenia (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Research is constantly being done to develop these medications to enhance the quality of life of those diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

There are four kinds of schizophrenia, including paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Causes are not clear, and biological, psychological and environment factors are being investigated. It is certain that there is a genetic component. (Passer and Smith, 2004)

In 1908 Bleuler prised his own term schizophrenia from the Greek world’s schizien meaning to split and phren meaning mind to capture what he viewed as the essential nature of the condition. Bleuler

2011). Varcarolis et al. 2006 describe positive symptoms of schizophrenia as ‘florid psychotic symptoms’ ‘as they capture attention’. Cognitive deficits lay primarily within the domains of memory and language affecting mood and behaviour (Elder et al. 2009). Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations and sever thought process disturbances and have an acute onset (Elder et al. 2009).Varcarolis, Carson and Shoemaker (2006) state that a patient experiencing a delusion is convinced that what they perceive is real and consequently the patients thinking often reflects feelings of great fear, isolation and trust issues. Additionally Elder et al. (2009) state that cognitive deficits are considered psychotic symptoms and that behaviours, perceptions and beliefs shown in a person having an exacerbation of schizophrenia are not consistent with normal human experience.

Even with all the criteria for Schizophrenia that I described above, still there is no apparent reason as to what the risk factor of Schizophrenia is. Which lead to my research to indentify certain certain Risk factors associated with with Schizophrenia. During my research, I was able to discover many risks factors, but I chose to only discuss the few that are very common through most

Even with the advancements in science and the new technologies available, the causes of schizophrenia are still unknown. In 1911 a Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, developed the term schizophrenia. “This word comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mind) to describe the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder” (Johns Hopkins Medicine). By developing the term schizophrenia, it allowed others to better understanding the disorder and move away from linking it to the common misunderstanding of having multiple or split personalities. Although this does not give us an understanding of the causes of the disorder, it does help to clarify and assist with classifying people with the symptoms associated with the

There are three major types of schizophrenia, Paranoid, disorganized, and catatonic. Paranoid schizophrenia is when an individual develops absurd or suspicious ideas and beliefs. Their hallucinations and delusions typically revolve around an organized theme or "story" which consists over time. Disorganized schizophrenia generally appears at an earlier age than other types. It causes those to have disorganized speech, behavior, and have inappropriate emotions. These patients usually have trouble taking care of them and are unable to perform simple tasks. They sometimes suffer hallucinations and delusions, but their fantasies and imaginings aren’t consistent or organized like those who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. Catatonic schizophrenia in general is a disturbance in movement with two different states (Veague 24). Stuporous state is when there is a decrease in motor activity. During this state, a patient can cease