The Insight Of Patients With Schizophrenia And Its Relationships With Other Clinical Variables Essay

Many psychotic patients, especially schizophrenics, display a lack of insight into their disorder (Keefe 9). Lack of insight refers to an unawareness of having a disorder, unawareness of having psychotic symptoms, and a refusal of treatment. Some scientists include other more specific aspects such as patients' views on cause of their disorder and/or symptoms,

Insanity, then, is inordinate or irregular, or impaired action of the mind, of the instincts, sentiments, intellectual, or perceptive powers, depending upon and produced by an organic change in the brain.

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 1809, physician John Haslam published an account of what he considered “A form of insanity”. Haslam described many symptoms that are relevant to modern day schizophrenia including delusions of grandeur and hallucinations. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, a German psychiatrist named Emil Kraepelin expanded on Haslam’s views and gave a more accurate description of schizophrenia as we know it today. Kraeplin started off by combining terms including different types of insanity under one term: Catatonia, and delusions of grandeur and persecution: paranoia. Kraepelin also separated dementia praecox from manic depressive illness, or bipolar disorder (Barlow,

Schizophrenia is a psychological disease with an unknown treatment. Its onset starts in early adult hood on average. There are many studies showing links to genetics and environmental causes. In this paper I will discuss many of the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia along with how it is diagnosed, imaged with MRI, and the difficulty in treating this disease. More treatments for schizophrenia may be revealed with the further advancement of imaging technology. Schizophrenia is a disease that affects the most complex structure in the human body, the human brain. The more research that is continued on the smaller segments of the different areas of the brain with imaging modalities the closer we get to

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a metal illness which is characterized by a disruption in cognition and emotion that affects the most fundamental human attributes, such as thought, perception, language, and the sense of self. There are a large number of symptoms of schizophrenia which can include hearing internal voices, hallucinations, and delusions. No single symptom can diagnose a person as schizophrenic, but rather the collection of multiple symptoms which persist for a prolonged period of time. Symptoms of schizophrenia are divided into two categories, positive and negative. These categories define how the symptoms are defined and treated.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, schizophrenia is characterized by the development of two or more symptoms of the following symptoms in a one-month period. The symptoms most characteristic of schizophrenia are delusions, hallucinations, and/or disorganized speech. Schizophrenia has always been a disorder shrouded in mystery. There have been many hypotheses from varying perspectives proposing different sources of causation for schizophrenia. Some of these hypotheses have considerable amounts of research, while some lack support. To fully comprehend and appreciate the disorder, it is important to take into consideration its history. In this way, the full extent to which each branch of the disorder has developed can be

This paper defines schizophrenia from a biological and psychological perspective and also provides treatment to help combat symptoms of schizophrenia. This paper has three important contributions. First, by defining and expanding on schizophrenia from a biological perspective, I can identify the nature related predispositions. After expanding from a biological approach, secondly, I will analyze schizophrenia from a psychological aspect by determining if there is any environment or nurturing externals that can result to schizophrenia. Lastly, I will provide treatment details and also reveal early signs to schizophrenia. This paper is important because schizophrenia is an epic mental disease and it is crucially important to bring awareness to the public of how we can limit the illness. It is unclear whether schizophrenia have only a biological background or psychological background, but what was discovered is that both contribute to schizophrenia. Positive and negative treatment can be combatted undergoing pharmaceutical and psychotherapy,

The mental health of individuals living with schizophrenia not only depends on the severity of their mental illness, it also depends on their inclusion within their community (Michael, 2012). Despite recent advances and treatment, individuals suffering from schizophrenia encounter a considerable stigma that creates barriers to them receiving adequate treatment which in turn hinders their full integration into society (Morgan, 2003). The conceptualization of stigma was explored (Goffman, 1963) as an attribute which is deeply socially discrediting and makes the person carrying the stigma different from others and of a less desirable kind (Goffman, 1963 pg 13). However, the individual experiencing schizophrenia is not solely the person affected by stigmatization. Stigma is also believed to affect the individual’s social network, including family, friends and mental health and social care professionals. However (Sayce, 2000), building on the work of Goffman’s theory, saw stigma as driving stereotypes or negative views, attributed to a person, marginalising the person from receiving adequate treatment. Much research has been conducted to aid understanding of stigma, through studying public attitudes and beliefs.

Children with a first episode of psychosis, typically before 18 years of age, are diagnosed with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). Compared to adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS) the disorder is associated with increased severity of symptoms, specifically of the negative subtype, and poorer outcome. Due to the extreme rarity of EOS, the current research is still in its initial stages and is often times based on findings in research that focuses on AOS. However, researchers have revealed valuable information that serve as a foundation for a more complete understanding of EOS that will aid in providing increased efficacy in treatment approaches. Future research should attempt to maintain consistency with other experiments’ inclusivity of

Socially the term Schizophrenia has a certain caricature about it that society has turned into a very serious social stigma. Many associate the disorder with criminals, nut houses, and extreme uncontrollable violence. Schizophrenia is portrayed in literature, and in movies so horrendously negative that those who experience symptoms of this very serious mental disorder can be in a stage of denial that can ultimately cause them to go undiagnosed, that is until something goes wrong. In spite of myths and portrayals in pop culture schizophrenia is sometimes viewed as split personality, but the root of the word comes from the Greek word schizo and phrene which loosely translates into split mind (Internet Mental Health Initiative 2010).

Approximately 22% of the American population suffers from some kind of mental disorder at any given time. (Passer and Smith, 2004) Schizophrenia is one of the most serious of these mental disorders, and there are many different kinds of treatment. While all mental disorders offer diagnosis and treatment challenges, few are more challenging than schizophrenia. It is both bizarre and puzzling, and has been described as “one of the most challenging disorders to treat effectively.” (Passer and Smith, 2004, 534)

Insight which is known as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon in schizophrenic patients means the awareness of having a mental disorder, its related social outcomes and the need for the treatment. (1). only a few researchers have discussed the importance of insight as a Clinical descriptor in the context of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Although for several years, poor insight in psychotic patients was explained by the basis of different psychological phenomenons such as denial or conscious will of not being a psychotic patient, Recent researches suggest that insight is multidimensional phenomenon, because it is believed to result from psychological, neuropsychological and neurostractural factors. The level of insight in psychotic patients may be associated with the patient’s functions or their clinical symptoms(2).Lack of awareness of illness, is found to be the most common symptom in patients with schizophrenia by the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia (3).

Diagnosing psychological disorders has become more prevalent in our society because more people are willing to seek help regardless of the stigma that comes with having a label. This paper will go in depth on the psychotic disorder called Schizophrenia. Like the majority of psychological disorders, we will discuss how a patient is determined to have a mental disorder based on the three criteria based on distress, impairment, and risk of harm. The neuropsychosocial factors that play a crucial role in the development of schizophrenia will be addressed. The causes of schizophrenia include frontal lobe defect, overproduction of dopamine, and genetics which due to a certain degree of stress a person experiences can trigger any of the neuropsychosocial factors making them vulnerable to developing the disorder. We will also look at the kind of symptoms a schizophrenic patient possesses and the therapeutic or medical treatments that they receive in order to achieve a relief of these symptoms. This research paper is meant to provide possible directions for future research on the causes of schizophrenia which is still not entirely known and what treatment would be more effective than medication to provide relief of symptoms since the disorder is incurable.

According to David (1990) we typically view difficulties in discerning the feelings experienced by others or in interpreting the significance of events in the outsight world as reflecting deficits in the processing of affective information. In summary, usage of the term, ‘insight’ in the psychopathology literature often implies a bifurcation between knowledge of the self and knowledge of the outside world. Kent and Yellowless (2006) found lack of insight or denial of illness was cited 62.2% of the patients' 442 total admissions, followed by relationship problems (61.1 percent), suicidal ideation (44.8 percent), and noncompliance with medication (43.2 percent) when they examined which 15 factors most frequently contributed to hospital readmission with 50 patients with frequent readmissions over a three-year period. Furthermore, lack of insight appears to be a common feature found in individuals with a mental health diagnosis such as bipolar disorder (Dell'Osso, Pini, Cassano, Mastrocinque, Seckinger, Saetton, Papasogli, 2002) and schizophrenia (Xavier et al, 1994). Results emphasized that a variety of self-awareness deficits are more severe and pervasive in patients with schizophrenia than in patients with schizoaffective or major depressive disorders with or without psychosis and are associated with poorer psychosocial functioning (Xavier et