Symptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder that affects the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional parts of the brain. The symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and cationic behavior, and negative symptoms. The DSM-5 states that symptoms delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech must be present for at least one month in order for one to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Also, the DSM-5 mentions that the symptoms have to be ongoing for at least six months to be schizophrenic. Hallucinations include hearing voices, smelling distinct odors, and seeing unrealistic figures. The disorganized speech or behavior of the affected person includes those saying random words and moving excessively with an agitation which

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 mental disorder creating a split from reality. Furthermore, the Schizophrenics cannot decipher reality from fantasy. Just as depression is the common cold of psychology; Schizophrenia is like the cancer of psychology. Sufferers from this disease have often been shunned, neglected, and locked up in mental institutions. Humans tend to fear what they do not understand in each other whether an uncle or some stranger on the bus.

The characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia, according to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), first require that at least two symptoms from the following list are pointedly exhibited within a month: delusions, hallucinations, disordered speech, catatonic behavior, and other negative symptoms such as a lack of emotional expressiveness known as affective flattening, a deficiency of speech known as alogia, or a general lack of drive known as avolition. However, if the delusions or hallucinations are extreme, only one of these symptoms is required. These symptoms are mainly behavioral core symptoms. Moreover, affective core symptoms of schizophrenia include paranoia. Secondly, the patient must experience social and/or occupational dysfunction. The patient noticeably begins to perform insufficiently in these major areas of functioning. This traces to cognitive core symptoms in the sense of mental impairments. For example, schizophrenic patients often believe that they hear voices, feel paranoid and threatened without reason, and cannot grasp social cues or functions. Third, duration is a key aspect of the symptoms that characterize

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder and it is defined by the diagnostic statistical manual of mental disorder (DSM-IV) as a term introduced by Bleuler, which refers to a persistent, often chronic and usually serious mental disorder affecting a variety of aspects of behavior, thinking, and emotion. Patients with delusions or hallucinations may be described as psychotic. Thinking may be disconnected and illogical. Peculiar behaviors may be associated with social withdrawal and disinterest. According to the DSM-IV, schizophrenia is divided into positive and negative clusters of mental symptoms. The positive may be considered as symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. Unlike the positive symptoms, the negative cluster of symptoms for

Symptoms vary between three different diagnoses including Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, and cyclothymic disorder. Each diagnosis has similarities but different time lengths between depressive and manic episodes. Bipolar 1 being more severe, can lead to hospitalization opposed to mild symptoms of Bipolar 2 and cyclothymic, causing more depressive episodes rather than experiencing extreme manic episodes.

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic (long-term) mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves, much like other mental disorders such as depression or anxiety. About 1% of Americans have schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia sometimes seem as if they have lost contact with reality. Although schizophrenia is not as common as other mental disorders, the symptoms have the potential to be very debilitating.

Schizophrenia has a lot of known and unknown causes. Scientist believes that genetics and environment are the most recognized causes of schizophrenia (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2014). Other causes of schizophrenia could be that people who are diagnosed with schizophrenia have a chemical imbalance. Chemical imbalances can affect the way a person reacts to certain stimuli. For example reactions can differentiate from stimuli such as the senses: sound, taste, smell, and sight (Mental Health America, 2013). The symptoms of schizophrenia can range from positive to negative symptoms. Positives symptoms are called positive because the symptoms are things that are added to the patient 's personality. Some positive symptoms of schizophrenia are as follows: delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thinking and speech. Negative symptoms would be things that are lost in a patient’s personality. Some negative symptoms of schizophrenia are as followed: social withdrawal, emotionless responses to stimuli, and lack of ambition and drive (Mental Health America, 2013).

D. (2009). The Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia: Version III—The Final Common Pathway. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35, 549-562.

Unlike positive symptoms, negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions. Patients with negative symptoms suffer from lack of pleasure in daily life, speak very little, and have a “flat affect” or talk in a dull or monotonous voice. These symptoms are harder

Schizophrenia is defined many ways, but each definition of this disorder is correct. No two individuals will have the exact same symptoms of schizophrenia. The word schizophrenia comes from the Greek words that mean “split mind”. This disorder can lead to many other problems throughout a person’s lifetime. There are many different symptoms that can help with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but each of the symptoms can also be contributed to other disorders.

In the United States, in 2012, approximately 1% or 2.4 million people were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder in which symptoms usually develop in men in their late teens or early twenties, and women in their early twenties and thirties (Anderson, 2014). It is a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by a noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by a disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought, perception, and behavior (p. 580). Clinicians classify schizophrenia as positive, negative, or cognitive. Positive symptoms include hallucinations, which may include auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, or tactile hallucinations. Delusions or false beliefs are also positive symptoms, as is disorganized thinking and movement disorders. Negative symptoms include flat affect, ahedonia, or apathy. Cognitive symptoms include a decreased ability to understand information, and using that information to make decisions (Herzog & Varcarolis, 2011). Men with schizophrenia do not outwardly express their emotions, when compared to women with schizophrenia. This can result in a decrease of self-value, social interaction, and life satisfaction. Understanding ones emotions can create a healthier lifestyle, with a more functional outcome (Mote, Stuart, & Kring, 2014).

The Dopamine Hypothesis theorizes that the symptoms portrayed in Schizophrenia is can be explained by abnormal function of dopamine in the brain. There have been three versions of the Dopamine Hypothesis. The first version of the hypothesis focuses on the dopamine receptors. Antipsychotic drugs that impact the metabolization and reabsorption of dopamine where found to be effective in treating the symptoms. It was theorized that if the symptoms of a Schizophrenic episode can be treated by the use of dopamine

Schizophrenia is a complex, long-term medical illness. Symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, anosognosia, or negative symptoms. Negative symptoms diminish a person’s abilities and often include being emotionally flat or speaking in a dull disconnected way.