Symptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophreniform Disorder

Schizophrenia is a serious debilitating mental illness in which the victim is afflicted with bizarre delusions and prominent hallucinations. The delusions are profoundly invalid beliefs, and the hallucinations are equally invalid perceptions. There is also a disordering of the reasoning process, disordered emotional expression, and loss of motivation for work and social living. Typically, the illness starts in adolescence or early adulthood and, if untreated, usually worsens with age. (Lickey, Gordon, 1991)

Today, the hallmark symptom of schizophrenia is psychosis, meaning a patient experiences hallucination and delusions. The hallucinations usually manifest as the patient hearing voices inside their head. With delusions, patients think that a person in trying to read their mind, control their thoughts, or that someone is trying to hurt them (“Schizophrenia,” n.d.). With these types of symptoms, it makes it very difficult for a patients to manage their emotions, make decisions, think clearly, as well as live successfully independently (“Schizophrenia – Fact Sheet,” n.d.). For example, often times patients with schizophrenia do not make sense when they talk or just sit for a very long time without talking at all (“Schizophrenia,” n.d.). This

Majority of cases begin in adolescence and adulthood. The peak age range would be eighteen to thirty year olds. As far as we know it is very rare for a child to have schizophrenia. The age for schizophrenia to appear differs by gender. Women tend to be diagnosed in between twenty and twenty-four. There is a second rise in numbers for women. The second rise begins after the age of forty. Men tend to get it in their twenties. After the age of thirty-five the number of men who develop schizophrenia tends to drop, thus males more likely to have early onset compared to women. “Gender differences may be related to women having more mood disorder and anxiety diagnosis leading to milder forms of schizophrenia going undiagnosed,” (Butcher, 2014). Gender can play a big role when diagnosing schizophrenia.

In NURS 279, I had the privilege of caring for a patient in his late 20’s who had newly been diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder, after having a “break down”. The main symptoms he had experienced over the few months pre-hospitalization included delusions of religious grandiosity and audio/visual hallucinations and the reason it took months before hospitalization is because he was living out of province, away from his family and mostly in social isolation, though his parents noticed a change in behaviour over the phone calls they shared. He became my patient 2 weeks after his admission, at a point where he had accepted his diagnosis and had control over his symptoms in a controlled environment, however, was med noncompliant, as he

Schizophrenia is a disease that has plagued societies around the world for centuries, although it was not given its formal name until 1911. It is characterized by the presence of positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so named because of the presence of altered behaviors, such as delusions, hallucinations (usually auditory), extreme emotions, excited motor activity, and incoherent thoughts and speech. (1,2) In contrast, negative symptoms are described as a lack of behaviors, such as emotion, speech, social interaction, and action. (1,2) These symptoms are by no means concrete. Not all schizophrenic patients will exhibit all or even a majority of these symptoms, and there is some

Along with incorrect assumptions of schizophrenia’s complications and a schizophrenic’s behavior, those who are at risk are frequently underestimated. Though an illness not typically associated with a variety of people, schizophrenia occurs in all ethnicities, age groups and genders (www.nimh.nih.gov). Instead of solely victimizing men well into their adulthood, symptoms of schizophrenia can be found in children as young as five, though rarely. Adolescents are able to develop symptoms as well, often very subtly and undetectably, manifesting in inconspicuous issues like a drop in grades or irritability (Hollis, apt.rcpsych.org). Frequently budding

Schizophrenia stands to be inherently rare, however, the illness is, “among the worlds top ten causes of long-term disability” (Meuser, 2015). The onset of the disorder takes place over a period of approximately five years and during this time, symptoms begin to appear. Schizophrenia has negative, positive, and cognitive symptoms all of which stem from a breakdown in relation between thought, emotion and behavior (Meyer). These symptoms include but are not limited to withdrawal, hallucinations and delusions; without proper treatment a person could potentially become a danger or threat to themselves and those around them, “Because of the disruptive effects of relapses on patients lives, and the

Schizophrenia is an extremely complex mental disorder that has yet to be fully understood. This particular disorder has affected much of the population today, causing many different emotional, physical, and psychological problems in every affected individual. These symptoms include: “distorted thoughts, hallucinations, and feelings of fright and paranoia. Psychiatrists evaluate symptoms, tests, and medical history, and prescribe medications and psychotherapy for treatment” (Kirkpatrick). Schizophrenia affects approximately 2.4 million adults in the United States today (We Live With...). Schizophrenia should be thought of as a neurological disorder with emotional and cognitive symptoms, rather than pure insanity.

Imagine having to always be in fear that your child is trying to commit suicide and self-harm, or hearing voices and seeing things that tell them to kill their own family. Schizophrenic people often have a loss of contact with reality, in turn effecting the person as well as the family. The disorder affects a person’s ability to distinguish between what is reality and what is fantasy, people diagnosed with the disorder are affected by delusions, hallucinations, social withdrawal, disturbed thoughts and unusual behavior. It interferes with a person 's ability to think clearly, express emotions, make decisions and relate to others. They may see or hear things that are not there, speak in odd or confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel as though they are constantly being watched. Unfortunately, a single, simple way of schizophrenia treatment does not exist. Schizophrenia is a challenging brain disorder that affects the way a person thinks, acts and sees the world. Research has connected schizophrenia to many possible causes, including aspects of brain structure, environmental, and genetic causes.

Schizophrenia is considered a psychotic disorder according to the DSM (American Psychological Association, 2013). Schizophrenia is one of the most commonly known of the psychotic disorders. A person who is schizophrenic must meet the following criteria according to the DSM (American Psychological Association, 2013). The person has to have at least 2 or more of the following Delusion, Hallucination, disorganized speech, Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms. A client must display at least one of the following a delusion, a hallucination, or disorganized speech. Also the person must experience a decrease in the ability to function in main life areas such as school and work. (Kress, V. 2014). The

The catatonic schizophrenics suffer from at least two of the following; catalepsy or stupor, excessive motor activity, extreme negativism or mutism, peculiar voluntary movement as posturing, stereotyped movements, prominent mannerisms, or prominent grimacing. In disorganized Schizophrenia, flat or inappropriate affect, disorganized speech and behavior are all prevalent. The undifferentiated type is unusual in that it may have some characteristics of each of the different types. The Residual type has symptoms of odd beliefs and unusual perceptual experiences (99).

People who suffered from schizophrenia were once mistaken to be “dangerous” and untreatable. For this reason, they were often institutionalized and removed from society (DiRocco). The causes of this mental psychotic disorder has been much more understood over the past decade resulting in the possibility for people with schizophrenia to live more average lives. Development of treatments, such as medication and various forms of psychotherapies, have been effective in treating symptoms and common comorbid psychological disorders like depression and anxiety.

During active episodes, the ability to function is seriously impaired and patients are typically forced into an evaluation, or hospitalized for their symptoms. A referral for help usually comes from family or friends, and takes place when symptoms are manifesting themselves in negative ways. Following a referral, a mental health professional will perform a clinical interview with the patient to observe behaviors, gather a detailed longitudinal history providing information regarding family, medical records, and/or schooling. The clinician may also pursue a mental status exam, physical and neurological exams, brain scans and/or blood work to rule out other possible ailments (Maguire, 2002). The DSM has established a criterion of five distinguished types of symptoms that are be used to diagnose schizophrenia with only two overall patterns required for paranoid schizophrenia. Three of the criteria of symptoms are usually not displayed in this type of schizophrenia. These symptoms must be present for a significant portion of time during a one-month period with continuous or residual signs lasting up to six months (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The rate of occurrence is equal among culture, socioeconomic status, and gender, although the onset age appears earlier for males (Schiffman & Walker, 1998).

Schizoaffective disorder is a disorder that is exhibited similarly to schizophrenia and affective disorders. Schizoaffective disorder characteristics consist of both auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, mania, and depression. According to Pagel, Baldessarini, Franklin, and Baethge (2014), “This seems all the more plausible because SAD (schizoaffective disorder), by definition, is characterized by criteria of two disorders (p.239).” Many people have difficulty understanding the differences between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, and the difference simply is that schizoaffective disorder also exhibits the symptoms of an affective disorder, along with hallucinations. Affective disorders consist of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. The affective disorder that will be exhibited with schizoaffective disorder is either bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. The bipolar type of schizoaffective disorder will exhibit episodes of hypomania and mania, whereas the major depressive disorder type will exhibit only depression. Other symptoms that can occur with schizoaffective disorder are paranoia, impaired socialization skills, lack of proper hygiene, and inability to perform ADL’s properly. There can be many contributing causes of schizoaffective disorder such as, genetics,

The two diagnosis I considered after my first session with Caleb were Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophreniform Disorder. Caleb clearly displayed deficits in both social communication and social interaction during our session. Caleb was so socially withdrawn, that his mother, Nina, was the person I communicated with throughout the entirety of our session. Caleb occasionally mumbled responses to some of the questions; his answers ranged from “yes”, “no” to “I don’t know”, although he mumbled thank you to one of my compliments, Caleb definitely displayed deficits in social-emotional reciprocity. Caleb also exhibited deficits in nonverbal communication, avoiding eye contact throughout our entire session, he even avoided eye contact with his