Free Essay

Schizophrenia

In:

Submitted By goldendiva
Words 1089
Pages 5
Schizophrenia
Anna Samora
PSY/340- Biological Foundations of Psychology
Stephanie Fernandez
September 2, 2013

Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that can and had affect many people thought out history. There is many symptoms that can help diagnose this disorder. After there is way you can treat the disorder as well. I have thought is there a way to better the way we diagnose and treat people with this disorder.
The first thing I am going to talk about is what is schizophrenia? This is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder. People with this disorder think people are reading their mind. There no telling what they are think in tell they talk. When they talk they do not make sense at all. They can sit still without say a word for hours. They also have a hard time holding down job, so they need other to take of them. They can barely take care of themselves or other.
People that have schizophrenia is not the only one that is affect by this disorder. Their family and community is affect by it to. If they have right treatments or therapy to control their symptoms they can live normal life within the community and with their family. This disorder has five subtypes and they are paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual.
Potential problems I am assume that it something that has to do with symptoms and medication to help people with some disorders. There is many symptoms that doctor separate in to three categories and they are positive, negative, and cognitive. The first I will talk about the positive symptoms and some of them are hallucination. That is when you may see, smell, or hear something that it not there. An example of that, one day I was smelling Clorox in my car and there was none in my car. Another one is delusions and that is believe something that does not really not there.
Some negative symptoms are emotional flatness. I believe that have a lack of emotion for anything at all. Another one is a general loss of interest in life. That is when they do not want to do anything. They are not interest the daily life. The next type of symptoms is cognitive. That is something to do with the way they think. They cannot pay attention or stay focus on their daily activities.
They next thing that I am going to talk about is type of medication that may help them to cope with the disorder. There two type of medication classes the doctor can use the first one is typical antipsychotics. The second one is atypical antipsychotics is another one that the doctor may use. Both medications block receptors to the brain chemical dopamine. As I was talk about medication and symptoms I was wondering what cause it and how it diagnosis?
If a person may have this if they have two active flare-up in the last few months. If there flare-up have two or more of the symptoms. If the daily life is affected by the flare-up especially in work, school, and self-car. Also, if the symptoms last more than six months with no flare-up. One important thing is to rule out that the doctor rule out any other possible medical problem. There is many causes for this disorder such as genetic factors, and brain chemistry and structure. Some of the risk factor is age, gender, family history, and environmental factor.
Some of the treatment is medicines and therapies. Medicines is the first thing that the doctor use to treat the brain disorder. Take any medicines can have some side effect. A study that was in the New England journal of Medicine held a study with a total of 1493 people with schizophrenia. About 74% of those people drop out of the study cause of the side effect of the medicines they were given.
Some other treatment is psychosocial, illness management skills, integrated treatment for co-occurring substance abuse, rehabilitation, family education, cognitive behavior therapy, and self-help group. Each of these of treatment along with medicine will help the person live a normal life. This disorder does not only effect the person but other around them as well. There is place as well to the people that have the disorder to cope with it. Those same place also will help family to learn about and how to help the love one to cope with it.
The future of schizophrenia I do see it moving forward to make medicines and other treatment for it. There a lot of people that do not like to depend on medicine but other treatment to control it. I do not know if there will be a better way to diagnose schizophrenia. I do think the treatment will be better. To prevent it I do not think it will ever be possible. We cannot change family history. Well if we go straight to the brain and somehow stop it there.
Think about I wonder if there ever be a way to control it without medicine. Other treatment like therapy will not work on its own. I do think there should be other choose for people with disorder. Not a lot people like to do some of the stuff. I also think that there need to be more information on this disorder and that information should also include information on treatment and place that can receive help and support. This all coming from me personally because I have family members that have this brain disorder. It hard for them to cope with and it does affect other member.
I also wonder if there anything for me to do for them? The only thing that I can do is be there for them and support them in any way I can. In conclusion, schizophrenia is something that can be very bad for someone that have the disorder. If they do not have the proper treatment. Important thing to remember is you cannot help someone that does not want to be help. All we can do is provide the material to live a normal life and do their daily activity.
References
National institute of mental health. (Unknown). Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml#part7
University of Maryland Medical center. (2011). Retrieved from http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/schizophrenia
The New England journal of medicine. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa051688#t=article

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia Stephanie Renee Huston PSY 326 Research Methods Instructor: Keisha Keith 11/23/2015 Schizophrenia Introduction Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder that gives a misleading or false account of the way a person thinks, behave, communicate their feelings, realize or understand, and relates to others. Schizophrenia has been considered as one of many chronic and disabling conditions for people that suffers with a major mental illness. People with schizophrenia often have problems fulfilling a task in the general population, at work, at school, and in relationships leaving an individual not wanting to communicate with other people and frightened. Schizophrenia suffers will live with it the rest of their life, it cannot be cured but treatments are available and controllable with proper and advance treatments. Contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia is not a split or multiple personality. Schizophrenia is a psychosis, a type of mental illness in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined. In writing this paper on Schizophrenia I will show how popular belief, has an antithesis of what is really Schizophrenia? Is it really a split...

Words: 3391 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Running head: SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 Schizophrenia Excelsior College SCHIZOPHRENIA 2 Abstract This paper discusses the features and symptoms of Schizophrenia. This paper addresses the issues associated with Schizophrenia such as stress. It also addresses the bio psychosocial explanations that are associated with the development of this disorder. In this paper I address the type of therapies used for the treatment of Schizophrenia. The remainder of this paper discusses the rationale uses of these therapies and the effectiveness for Schizophrenia. SCHIZOPHRENIA 3 Schizophrenia The key features of the disorder, including its symptoms Schizophrenia is a disorder that is characterized by unorganized thinking and odd perceptions that dysfunction in major activities within a person’s life. These sometime include withdrawals from society; they have delusions and also hallucinations. They also may not be able to show emotion, feel pain, pleasure. They also have a lack of facial expression. They suffer from depression, mania and paranoia. Schizophrenia is the main example of psychosis. Psychosis is a disorder that people suffer from, they become irrational and they have lost contact with reality. This...

Words: 1657 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia has affected people throughout history and is the least understood of the major mental illnesses. Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Contrary to what people believe, schizophrenia is not a split personality or multiple personality disease. According to the “Mayo Clinic” (n.d.), “The word ‘schizophrenia’ does mean ‘split mind,’ but refers to a disruption of the usual balance of emotions and thinking.” Families and society are also affected by those who suffer from schizophrenia because people who suffer with schizophrenia have difficulty holding down jobs or even caring for themselves which means they have to rely on others for help. There are five types of schizophrenia and each type is based on what symptoms the person is experiencing during the assessment. • Paranoid schizophrenia is when the person is preoccupied with one or more delusions or auditory hallucinations but they do not have symptoms of disorganized schizophrenia. • Disorganized schizophrenia is when the person is showing prominent symptoms of disorganized behavior or speech and their affect is flat and or inappropriate. • Catatonic schizophrenia is when the person is experiencing at least two of the following symptoms: difficulty moving, resisting moving, excessive moving, and abnormal movements and or repeating what others do or say. • Undifferentiated type is when the person shows two or more of the following symptoms:...

Words: 1160 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia Almar Lim CNI College ADN Program NSG 265 Holistic Health Concepts Ms Shadia Maksemous RN, MSN February 4th, 2015 Schizophrenia is not a single disease, but a broad category of mental illnesses. Schizophrenia is a psychiatry disorder where several structural disturbances occur in the brain. It normally takes place in the temporal and frontal lobes, changing the neural systems and affecting the neurotransmitters in charge of controlling the functioning that takes place in these areas. It is not a structural brain disease that shows up early on X-rays CAT scans, or EEGs. Schizophrenics also have defects in the handling of amino acids. Etiology The exact causes of schizophrenia are unknown, but research suggests that a combination of physical, genetic, psychological and environmental factors can make people more likely to develop the condition. Current thinking is that some people may be prone to schizophrenia, and a stressful or emotional life event might trigger a psychotic episode. However, it's not known why some people develop symptoms while others don't. (Smith & Segal, 2014) Clinical Manifestation There are two ways that schizophrenia begins. One way is called Acute Onset. This happens very fast, about a couple of weeks. It is easier to recover from this. You are able to get help faster because people notice it sooner. The other way is called Process Onset. This takes a longer period of time to show. It is gradual, sometimes up to years. You...

Words: 1321 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Psychology Laura McCormick, Professor February 15, 2014 Thomas Wallace Dementia Praecox Mental Deterioration at an Early Age Introduction to Psychology Laura McCormick, Professor February 15, 2014 Abstract Schizophrenia, a classification of psychological disorders considered to be one of the most extreme in terms of psychological dysfunction and breakdown (Carson and Butcher, 1992). This disorder can result in a complete breakdown or alteration of reality. Schizophrenia is often termed psychotic in order to separate it from other disorders that are much milder in nature, such as Mood and Anxiety disorders. It is the goal of this paper to provide an overview of some of the issues and debates regarding this difficult and oft misunderstood disorder. What is Schizophrenia? Dementia Praecox, otherwise known as Schizophrenia, has been regarded as a uniquely distinct disease for well over a 100 years. This disease affects those areas that control how a person functions. It manipulates the individual’s thoughts, distorts their perceptions and causes hallucinations, particularly auditory. The person becomes delusional believing others can read their mind and thoughts of others are being placed in their head. According to the criteria for Schizophrenia described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), individuals affected by this disorder suffer from disorganized thought processes, diminished...

Words: 1771 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Schizophrenia

...the most hindering of these disorders is schizophrenia, which affects about one percent of the entire world population. Once the symptoms of schizophrenia occur, usually beginning in early adult hood, they continue for the entire lifetime of the patient and are almost totally disabling (Sawa & Snyder, 2002). Schizophrenia is a severe psychopathology which is categorized by positive and negative symptoms (Breedlove, Watson & Rosenzweig, 2010). This disorder distorts thoughts and perceptions. It is described as a loss of contact with reality and a disturbance in one's thoughts, perception, mood and movement. This mental disorder starts to become apparent during early adulthood and usually carries on for the rest of an individual's life (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2001). Symptoms of schizophrenia can be divided into two categories: Positive and negative. Positive symptoms "reflect the presence of abnormal thoughts and behaviours" (Bear, et al., 2010, p. 695). These symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and catatonic behaviours. Positive symptoms may be related to an excessive amount of dopamine function in the brain, such as the use of antipsychotic drugs which are highly effective in treating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia (Iversen, L., Iversen, S., Bloom & Roth, 2009). Negative symptoms on the other hand reflect the absence of responses that normally present themselves with schizophrenia (Bear, et al., 2010). These include reduced...

Words: 1511 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia, referred to as a split personality disorder, is a chronic, severe, devastating mental illness that affects approximately 1% of the population, equivalent to more than 2 million people in the United States. Statistics indicates schizophrenia affects men about 1½ times more frequently than women. (National Comorbidity Survey, 1994) It is a psychotic mental disorders characterized by symptoms of thought, behavior, and social problems. The thought problems linked with schizophrenia described as psychosis, in that the individual thinking is totally out of touch with reality. The individual with this disorder may also have disorganized speech, and behavior, physically or careless behavior, extensively decreased behaviors or feelings, as well as delusions, which are ideas about themselves or others that have no basis in reality. The term schizophrenia first introduced in 1911. In 1887, Emil Kraepelin deemed it a separate mental illness. Regardless of recent history, (Addington, Bouchard, Goldberg, 2005) described throughout written history. Ancient Egyptian, Hindu, Chinese, Greek, and Roman writings described symptoms comparable to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. During medieval times, schizophrenia, like other illnesses, often viewed as evidence of the sufferer possessed by spirits or evil powers. Schizophrenia is a multifaceted illness. Experts in the field are somewhat baffled as to what causes it. Some doctors believe that the brain may not be able to process...

Words: 1173 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia is one of the most common serious and scary psychiatric illnesses in the United States. It’s a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has affected people throughout history. Approximately 1% of all Americans suffer from this illness, but it occurs in 10% of people who have a first-degree relative with the disorder. A person with schizophrenia hears voices that no one else around them hears. They believe that people around them are constantly plotting to harm them. They act really agitated. Schizophrenia not only affects the person but it also affects their friends and family. The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three general categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms are psychotic behaviors. Some of the positive symptoms of n,Disorders. Negative symptoms are related with interruptions to normal emotions and behaviors. Negative symptoms are often confused for Depression. Some of the negative symptoms are: Little or no interaction, Lack of beginning or completing a planned activity, & Flat affect which is when their face doesn’t move or they speak in a monotonous voice. Cognitive symptoms are more restrained. These symptoms are harder to recognize. They are often detected during more intense tests. Some Cognitive symptoms are: Having a hard time understanding information and using it to make decisions, hard time focusing or paying attention, and having a hard time using information immediately...

Words: 878 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Lesson on Schizophrenia As an overview, schizophrenia is a disease to the brain. It is one of the most disabling and emotionally devastating illnesses known to man. It has been misunderstood for a long time. It has a biological basis, so it is like other diseases. It is a very common disease; one percent to one and a half percent of the U.S. has been diagnosed within some point in their life. There is no cure for this disease, although there is treatable medicine. Schizophrenia is not a multiple personality disorder. People who take medicine for it are able to lead normal fulfilling lives. There are two ways that schizophrenia begins. One way is called Acute Onset. This happens very fast, about a couple of weeks. It is easier to recover from this. You are able to get help faster because people notice it sooner. The other way is called Process Onset. This takes a longer period of time to show. It is gradual, sometimes up to years. You may say or do strange things every now and then. It could be a long time before you go to the doctor. There are three main types of delusions a person can have. Delusion of Persecution is when the person thinks that people are out to get him or her. For example the government. Grandeur is when the person thinks he or she is very important, rich, famous, ect. Reference is when the person thinks that the TV is talking directly to him or her. They also think some outside source is talking to them. Schizophrenia has three main...

Words: 451 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...controlling hold of his father costs him opportunities to study music in several renowned schools, before David finally develops enough strength to defy his father and study at the Royal College in London. The consequence he faces is disownment and a lifelong estrangement from his father, which sadly never mends. While in London he begins to experience the beginnings of his mental decline with what appears to be schizophrenia. After achieving notoriety as a musician, the musical world loses him to his mental illness. David finds himself living in psychiatric hospitals, and with support of others, eventually lives back on his own. Through a series of events, he finds himself reunited with the piano, first in a local restaurant and eventually returning to the concert hall. His reclamation of music parallels his reclamation of relationships as he adjusts to a functional life with schizophrenia. The movie instills hope as it shows a marked return to positive functioning as David finds love and fulfillment in his life. Client name: David Helfgott Psychiatric diagnosis: Schizophrenia—Disorganized Type DSM-IV-TR criteria: * Client has two or more of the following characteristic symptoms for a significant portion of 1 month: 1. delusions 2. hallucinations 3. disorganized speech 4. grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior 5. negative symptoms (affective flattening, avolition, or alogia) * Client has...

Words: 877 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Schizophrenia

...The causes of schizophrenia are unknown so the treatment is primarily focused on elevating the symptoms of the disease. This is primarily done with medication therapy using typical and atypical antipsychotics. This is often paired with psychosocial treatments. This helps the schizophrenic deal with the daily challenges of life such as work, communication, self care, forming and maintaining relationships. Schizophrenics that receive psychosocial therapy along side medication are more likely to continue taking their medication resulting in stabilization of their illness. Other treatments for schizophrenia are: Illness Management Skills: Teaching the schizophrenic to assume an active part in managing their own illness by educating them in basic facts of the illness helping them to identify early signs of decompensation Treatment for Co-occurring Substance Abuse: Substance abuse often accompanies schizophrenia as the person who is undiagnosed will self medicate with drugs and alcohol resulting in a need for dual treatment. Rehabilitation: This helps reintegrate them back in to social a vocational areas of their lives. Family Education: Educating the family helps them understand the symptoms of the illness, so they can be supportive and help the schizophrenic cope. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: This focuses on the thinking and behavior of the schizophrenic, helping the schizophrenic deal with symptoms that do not go away with medication therapy. This can help reduce the severity...

Words: 325 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia is defined as: a group of psychoses characterized by confused and disconnected thoughts, emotions, and perceptions. (Gromly,526) Schizophrenia is a brain disorder, which is identified by specific concrete symptoms. Schizophrenia is not a split personality, or multi-personality. It has been proven that schizophrenia is not caused by childhood trauma, bad parenting, or poverty. Schizophrenia is not the result of any action or personal failure by the individual afflicted with this terrible mental disorder. Schizophrenia is marked by extreme thought disorder, and is usually treatable with medication. Given proper support, many people with schizophrenia can learn how to deal with their symptoms, and lead reasonably comfortable and productive lives. (Schizophrenia) Schizophrenia is a very common disorder, which affects 1 out of 100 people in the world. (Schizophrenia) Schizophrenia can affect people of any age. Schizophrenia usually strikes young people between the ages of 16 and 25. It can also appear later in adulthood however, onset is less common after age 30, and rare after age 40. Although rare, there is a childhood form of the illness, it can be found in children as young as the age of 5. Schizophrenia does not discriminate. The disease affects men and women with equal frequency, the only difference is the common age that the onslaught of schizophrenia begins. For men, the age of onset for schizophrenia is often between the ages of 16 to 20 years of age. For...

Words: 883 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...SCHIZOPHRENIA UNIT9 GE375 Richard Riggins 5/24/2012 Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has affected people throughout history. About 1 percent of Americans have this illness. People with the disorder may hear voices other people don't hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illness and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated. People with schizophrenia may not make sense when they talk. They may sit for hours without moving or talking. Sometimes people with schizophrenia seem perfectly fine until they talk about what they are really thinking(Schizophrenia, 2012) The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three broad categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms are psychotic behaviors not seen in healthy people. People with positive symptoms often "lose touch" with reality. These symptoms can come and go. Sometimes they are severe and at other times hardly noticeable, depending on whether the individual is receiving treatment(Carpenter, Huffman 2010). Negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors. These symptoms are harder to recognize as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for depression or other conditions. People with negative symptoms...

Words: 579 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...SHCIZOPHRENIA BY: ANNALINA RIVERS SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia is a mental illness that usually strikes in late adolescence or early adulthood but can also strike at any time in life. The signs and symptoms are always different from one individual to the next. All those who have the disorder show one or more of the following symptoms delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behavior, and negative symptoms. People with schizophrenia suffer a decline in their level of functioning. Schizophrenia is a mental illness that can be overwhelming, complicating and can only get worse. Schizophrenia usually appears during a persons late teens and mid 30’s but its course differs with each patient. Some may go through three phases prodromal which means that symptoms are there but not yet obvious. What often happens during the prodromal stage they’ll start to withdrawal from others, have strange ideas, and some may not express much emotion? During the active phase they can have negative symptoms, start blurting emotions out but some patients may recover from schizophrenia. The phases may or may not last for days some even years, those who do recover from schizophrenia are those who have been ok, being able to function really good before getting the disorder or those who were diagnosed due to stress. When it comes to race and diagnosis of schizophrenia there is a biases as far as who has it. The prevalence rates of schizophrenia really depend on a range of factors, such as the availability...

Words: 1050 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Schizophrenia

...Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary; may be unresponsive or withdrawn; and may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations. Contrary to public perception, schizophrenia is not split personality or multiple personality. The vast majority of people with schizophrenia are not violent and do not pose a danger to others. Schizophrenia is not caused by childhood experiences, poor parenting or lack of willpower, nor are the symptoms identical for each person. What causes schizophrenia? The cause of schizophrenia is still unclear. Some theories about the cause of this disease include: genetics (heredity), biology (the imbalance in the brain’s chemistry); and/or possible viral infections and immune disorders. Genetics (Heredity). Scientists recognize that the disorder tends to run in families and that a person inherits a tendency to develop the disease. Schizophrenia may also be triggered by environmental events, such as viral infections or highly stressful situations or a combination of both. Similar to some other genetically-related illnesses, schizophrenia appears when the body undergoes hormonal and physical changes, like those that occur during puberty in the teen and young adult years. Chemistry. Genetics help to determine how the brain uses certain chemicals. People with schizophrenia have a chemical...

Words: 1186 - Pages: 5