Understanding Schizophrenia
When a person hears the word "crazy", their first thoughts are probably of symptoms of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is seen as the ideal case of insanity. The causes of this disease remain unknown, but scientists are constantly searching for answers. Although a cure for schizophrenia is surely far in the future, research and understanding is making more and more progress every day.
To find a cure for schizophrenia, scientists must first understand the disease itself. Over the years, professionals have come up with a fairly accurate definition: When a person's thinking, feeling, and behaving are so far from normal so as to interfere with his or her ability to function in everyday life, and delusions,
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Since not all schizophrenics act alike, professionals have sorted them out into three classic types. The first type is paranoid schizophrenia. Paranoid schizophrenics usually have a single theme or idea on which they focus their delusions and hallucinations. They are constantly afraid that people are "out to get them". The second type of schizophrenia is disorganized schizophrenia. Disorganized type schizophrenics show very unorganized behavior. Facial grimaces, extreme withdrawal, and constant health complaints are typical symptoms of this type of schizophrenia. Hallucinations and delusions are symptoms of all types of schizophrenia, but the disorganized schizophrenic also exhibits senseless laughter and silliness. The third type of schizophrenia is catatonic. Someone with catatonic schizophrenia may hold a single position for hours on end. This is called a "stupor". Their condition resembles that of suspended animation. Sometimes the person is rigid and hard to move, but at other times may flail around highly excited for no apparent reason. Although, through use of newer medications, catatonic schizophrenia is rare today.
Medication has been the most successful treatment by far. Antipsychotic drugs do little for helping the patient understand and deal with various aspects of their illness. Because of this, psychotherapy is absolutely necessary along with medication. Alarmingly, a recent study shows that only a third of schizophrenia patients are getting the correct
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)
By taking the time and educating ourselves, we are eliminating possible misconceptions about the illness. Working with people that have a mental disorder is the best way to understand how and why they act the way they do. While the cause of schizophrenia is still unknown, it is believed that both genetics and environmental factors play a role. Schizophrenia consists of five subtypes; paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Symptoms can range from hallucinations to delusions, and disorganized thinking. Since there is no cure for schizophrenia, treatment is aimed at controlling the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. By starting with a single antipsychotic medication and evaluating the efficacy in four to six weeks, they are able to determine if that medication will work or if they need to try a different one. Once they find out what works, they must adhere to it. Through improved public awareness society can break the pervasive stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illnesses that stand in the way of finding cures and help people with schizophrenia lead full lives they
People all over the world suffer from this dreadful disease, but you may be wondering what it is, what causes it, and if there are treatments? All these questions and more with be answered, but first of all, what is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by irrational thought processes. A person dealing with this debilitating illness may think that people are going to kill them, or kidnap them. Some Schizophrenics often have “voices” in their heads telling them what to do. In some cases this has caused people to take their lives or try to.
In the world today, there are many illnesses and disorders that affect people each and every day. One illness in particular that is very big in the US and all around the world is Schizophrenia. It is also the most researched topic. A person who is diagnosed with Schizophrenia lives a very different lifestyle than someone who is not. Many people would consider a person with schizophrenia to be “crazy.” Sadly enough, people with this illness do posses symptoms that might come off as crazy or insane. There are many different causes that come along with schizophrenia. A person who is diagnosed may not know it at first but they do later realize that they have some interesting thoughts, depending on the type of symptoms they posses while having this illness. Although the symptoms may be very brutal and causes cannot be controlled, there still is hope and treatments for individuals who have schizophrenia.
According to NAMI (), schizophrenia is a long term mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, make decisions, and relate to others, impairing a person from functioning to their full potential when left untreated. For these persons affected, it is many times difficult to distinguish what is real from what is not. “Unfortunately, no single simple course of treatment exists.” Research has linked schizophrenia to a multitude of possible causes” (NAMI).
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.
Schizophrenia, although affecting only one percent of the population, has a direct affect on society today. This disease, if left untreated, poses threat to health care professionals (including psychiatrists), law enforcement personnel, and family members responsible for the care and support of the schizophrenia patient. This paper addresses the causes of schizophrenia and the myths surrounding this complicated ailment, the affect of untreated or misunderstood aspects of schizophrenia has on society and important crisis intervention strategies for those in close contact to victims of schizophrenia.
There is a considerable amount of different concepts that can be used when thinking about schizophrenia; unfortunately, since it continues to be a misunderstood disorder, there also exist numerous misconceptions about the schizophrenia. The most common misconceptions deal with the treatment options for schizophrenia, the potential recovery rate, and the ability of people who are diagnosed with the disorder or symptoms to live productive and meaningful lives. Though there are no permanent cures to treat the disease, there are certain medications that help manage the symptoms in order to help people lead healthy and satisfied lives. The recovery rate for the disease is also
Schizophrenia is the most commonly diagnosed psychotic disorder (Steel, 2012), affecting 1 out of every 100 hundred people on average (Taurier & Wykes, 2004). Symptoms of the disorder include positive symptoms, which are auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as disordered patterns of thought such as delusions (Taurier & Wykes, 2004). Auditory hallucinations are the most common positive symptom, and often come in the form of voices (Steel, 2012). Delusions, which are the most common symptom of schizophrenia, involve a false belief that exists despite evidence being available that suggests otherwise (Steel, 2012).
There are numerous different types of medications that you can take with schizophrenia. There was “a 4-week of placebo-controlled trial in hospitalized patients with acute Schizophrenia.” “Risperidone was used as an active control in this study.” There are physiological treatments that include cognitive behavior therapy, family therapy and one-on-one therapy that contribute to help manage the schizophrenia. Anti-psychotic medicines are called “atypical”, it helps to contribute to improve and maintain symptoms. You can get them as injections, liquid form and also pills. You have to participate in a maintenance plan that helps to manage and prevent acute episodes from coming back
Schizophrenia is a complex and puzzling illness. Even the experts in the field are not exactly sure what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not
The article was written by Frederick J. Frese III, Edward L. Knight and Elyn Saks; all trained professionals specialising in schizophrenia. This article focuses on schizophrenia and the history and evolution of treatments that have been used. It looks to shed
cause an ongoing loss of contact with reality. Other mental health conditions that may sometimes
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)
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that causes severe mental disturbances which disrupt ones thoughts, speech, and behavior. According to Paul Thompson, Associate Professor of Neurology, one percent of the world’s population suffers from this disorder. There is no one specific cause of schizophrenia, because it is caused by a combination of problems during development. It is a disorder which not only affects the patient, but their family and society as well. Schizophrenia can be a debilitating disorder, however, there are many treatments that can allow people who suffer from it to lead normal lives.