Schizophrenic disorder trends in diagnosis and treatment.

Charles J. Varner II
BEH/225
4/8/2012
Josie Shrader Schizophrenic disorder trends in diagnosis and treatment.
Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that consists of four different classification types. These classifications types are disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia and undifferentiated schizophrenia. According to National Institute of Mental Health (1993), “60% of American adults have sought treatment/services in a twelve month period” (Treatment/Services Use) and the MedicineNet (2012) website states that schizophrenia “affects about 1% of the population, more than 2 million people in the United States alone”. This life altering disease interferes with a person’s ability to function on a day to day basis.
There is no single cause of why schizophrenia affects certain individuals, however genetic factors are universally acknowledged as playing a role in developing the disorder. Genetic factors only play the role of predisposing an individual to schizophrenia where family and social interaction along with daily life stressors contribute to activating the disorder (University of Phoenix, 2010).
Schizophrenia may occur suddenly in an individual suddenly without any warning signs; however in many cases this disorder occurs slowly with multiple warning signs. Males are more likely to experience symptoms of schizophrenia disorder earlier than women, even though the disorder affects both sexes equally.
The early warning signs that may be noticed by family and friends that an individual is possibly suffering from schizophrenia disorder are: social withdrawal, hostility, depression, oversleeping/insomnia and odd/irrational statements. These symptoms fall under the five characteristic types of schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and the so-called “negative” symptoms (Smith, 2012). These signs and symptoms can vary from one individual to another as not everyone with schizophrenia will exhibit all or the same symptoms of this disorder. An individual’s symptoms may worsen and be more noticeable over time.
In today’s current times there are no medical tests that can diagnose an individual with having a schizophrenia disorder. Family and friends or the individual himself should consult a psychiatrist if they are exhibiting any of the classic signs of schizophrenia disorder. The licensed psychiatrist will evaluate the patient for the possibility of schizophrenia based on a few simple questions. These questions are: How long has the symptoms the patient is having lasted? How has these symptoms affected the person's ability to function? and Is there a genetic and family history of the disorder? ("Schizophrenia," n.d.). The examining physician may require the patient to undergo other laboratory test to include a computerized tomography (CT) scan of the brain (Coconcea, 2005). Other imaging techniques that a physician may require the patient to undergo is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET) ("Schizophrenia," n.d.). A patient undergoing a CT, MRI, SPECT or PET brain scan are currently utilized for research tools in order to gain possible information for identifying candidates with high risk for early treatment ("Schizophrenia," n.d.). A patient can be diagnosed with one of four types of schizophrenic disorder: disorganized, catatonic, paranoid or undifferentiated schizophrenia. Each disorder has its own symptoms. Disorganized schizophrenia contains the most bizarre symptoms such as giggling and frantic gestures. Patients with this form of schizophrenia disorder are often active but incoherent to normal conversations (University of Phoenix, 2010). Catatonic schizophrenia patients take on two forms. The worst case form is patients that remain immobile, mute and impassive. The extreme side of this disorder is patients that become excessively excited and tend to continuously talk or shout (University of Phoenix, 2010). Paranoid schizophrenia occurs when a patient has extreme suspiciousness and complex delusions, this form of schizophrenia disorder is more severe than paranoid personality disorder (University of Phoenix, 2010). Individuals with paranoid schizophrenia have weird delusions and lose touch with the reality of their environment. The final type of schizophrenia that a patient may be diagnosed with is undifferentiated schizophrenia. This form of schizophrenia is primarily diagnosed for patients that have several of the characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia, but don’t show the typical symptoms of the other types of schizophrenic disorder (University of Phoenix, 2010).
Currently there is no permanent cure for someone that is diagnosed with schizophrenia disorder. However there are a few options the patients has in regards to treatment based on the severity of the disorder. Some options a patient has are medications, psychosocial therapy, and hospitalization and in very rare cases psychosurgery. Medications such as prolixin, navane, geodon and zyprexa are the most widely used to reduce hallucinations and delusion that schizophrenia patients may have ("Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorders", 2012). Psychosocial therapy has been considered the most effective way in dealing with this disorder. Therapy may include rehabilitation in order to help the patient focus on skills and training in order to function in day to day activities and also allows the patient to interact with family members. Hospitalization is utilized in extreme cases where the patient demonstrates severe symptoms of the disorder and exhibit signs of hurting themselves or others. This treatment is utilized to prevent the patient from hurting themselves or anyone else while the patient gains stability in taking their medication. The last and most severe treatment is psychosurgery. This form of therapy is utilized in very limited cases of a patient with chronic and severe schizophrenia. This form of treatment considered hazardous due to the nature of the operation being a lobotomy and the damage that the surgery may cause the patient ("Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorders", 2012).
Schizophrenia disorder is a non curable condition that affects about 1% of the population, more than 2 million people in the United States alone, according to MedicineNet (2012). There is no single cause of why certain individuals develop any of the four types of schizophrenic disorder. However with various forms of treatment individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia disorders can function on a daily basis in society. With educating yourself more about this disorder, you can help identify family members and friends that are exhibiting signs of schizophrenia disorder and get them medical treatment to live a productive and normal lifestyle.

References
National Institute of Mental Health. (1993). Schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/1SCHIZ.shtml MedicineNet. (2012). Schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/schizophrenia/article.htm
University of Phoenix. (2010). Chapter 12 Psychological Disorders. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, BEH225-Introduction to Behavioral Science course website.
Smith, M. (2012). Understanding Schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/schizophrenia_symptom.htm#authors
Schizophrenia. (n.d.). In The New York Times Health Guide. Retrieved from http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/schizophrenia/overview.html
Coconcea, C.M. (2005). Emegicinehealth. Retrieved from http://www.emedicinehealth.com/schizophrenia/page5_em.htm
Schizophrenia, Psychotic Disorders. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.psyweb.com/Mdisord/jsp/schid.jsp