Essay, Research Paper: 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 women, the age of onset is usually later in life, on average between the ages of 20 to 30 years of age. (Schizophrenia)
While researchers do not know what directly causes schizophrenia, many pieces of the puzzle are becoming clearer. (Schizophrenia) People with schizophrenia appear to have a neurochemical imbalance. Researchers study neurotransmitters, the substances that allow communication between nerve cells. Modern antipsychotic medications, now target three different neurotransmitter systems (dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.).
With modern brain imaging techniques (PET scans), researchers can identify areas that are activated when the brain is engaged in processing information. People with schizophrenia appear to have difficulty coordinating activity between different areas of the brain. For example, when thinking or speaking, most people show increased activity in their frontal lobes, and a lessening of activity in the area of the brain used for listening. People with schizophrenia show the same increase in frontal lobe activity, but there is no decrease of activity ("dampening" or "filtering") in the other area. (Schizophrenia)
Genetic research continues, but has not identified a hereditary gene for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia does appear more regularly in some families. If you have one grandparent with schizophrenia, your risk of getting the illness increases to about 3%. If you have one parent with schizophrenia, your risk is about 10%. When both parents have schizophrenia, the risk percentage rises to approximately 40%. (Schizophrenia)
Just as other diseases have signs or symptoms, so does schizophrenia. Symptoms are not identical for everyone. Some people may have only one episode of schizophrenia in their lifetime, while others may have recurring episodes, but lead relatively normal lives in between. However others may have severe symptoms for a lifetime. Schizophrenia always involves a change in ability and personality. The person with schizophrenia will usually show a decline in work or academic activities, relationships with others, personal care, and hygiene. To diagnose and treat schizophrenia more effectively, psychiatrists try to classify it into different types. Classifications are based on experience and on various symptoms described by patients and observed by family members, nurses, and clinicians. Symptoms common to schizophrenia, can in fact, be caused by other diseases or illnesses, so it is very important to seek medical attention early. There are at least six types of schizophrenia:
Disorganized type (also referred to as "hebephrenic" type).
Early symptoms: poor concentration, moodiness, confusion, and strange ideas. Speech frequently incoherent, difficult to understand, and rambling. Delusions or false beliefs. Lack of emotion, or inappropriate emotion (i.e., silly giddy laughter for no reason).
Paranoid type
Characterized by delusions and/or hallucinations about persecution, or an exaggerated sense of self-importance, or both. Other features include anxiety for no apparent reason, anger, argumentiveness, jealousy, and occasionally, violence.
Catatonic type:
Diagnostic criteria include: Catatonic stupor (marked decrease in reactions) or mutism (no speech), motionless resistance to all instructions or attempts to be physically move. Maintenance of a rigid or bizarre posture, and excited physical activity which seems purposeless, not influenced by environment.
Undifferentiated type:
Sometimes major psychotic symptoms cannot be classified into any particular category, or they may match criteria for more than one type of schizophrenia.
Residual type:
This term is used when there is at least one recognizable episode of schizophrenia but no ongoing obvious psychotic symptoms. Less florid signs of the illness may continue -- social withdrawal, eccentric behavior, inappropriate emotions, illogical thinking, etc. (Schizophrenics)
Schizophrenia is a very sad, and devastating disorder. With proper diagnosis, and treatment, schizophrenics can, and do go on to live a normal and healthy life. Many do not go on to live a normal life, they live in metal institutions. Hopefully through further research, a cure for schizophrenia may be found. The cure will help millions of people to reclaim their lives wrongfully taken from them by schizophrenia. I hope this paper has help to shed a little more light on schizophrenia.
Gormly, Carter, and others. Understanding Psychology. New York, Glenco, 1992.
Schizophrenia. http://www.mentalhealth.com/book/p40-sc02.html#Head_3
Schizophrenics. http://www.it.rtc.edu/psy/schizophrenics