Schizophreni A Mental Illness

Schizophrenia, an uncontrollable psychotic illness, is a disorder characterized by the disturbance of thinking. Those afflicted with this thought disorder have a keen focus on information that is irrelevant or peripheral to the situation and topic currently at hand. A schizophrenic person has difficulties making sense of the world and differentiating their thoughts from reality; schizophrenia is rooted in the definition “shattered or fragmented personality”. The main character in Benny and Joon, Juniper Pearl, “Joon”, is a young schizophrenic woman exhibits all three of the essential features of schizophrenia: incoherent thoughts, linguistic problems and a distortion from reality, and an irregular display of emotion and/or

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).

Genetics can cause differences in brain chemistry and biochemistry may be important in the development and maintenance of schizophrenia. The dopamine

Another major problem with the dopamine theory is that it only takes into consideration a single neurotransmitter and neglect the roles of other neurotransmitters in schizophrenia. The findings are inconsistent where some findings proposed that the abnormality causes the availability of dopamine transporters changed, and effect to the increased or decreased of dopamine level (Fusar-Poli, and Meyer-Lindenberg, 2012), while some other findings suggested that there are other neurotransmitter such as glutamine which involved in excitatory response in the brain has played a role in resulting cognitive deficits of schizophrenia (Stone, Howes, Egerton, Kambeitz, Allen, Lythgoe, et al, 2010). These assumptions have allowed researchers to implicate schizophrenia by using another pathway or biochemical mechanism other than dopamine hypothesis or dopaminergic

Currently there are no cures for schizophrenia, but the symptoms are helped by taking antipsychotic medication. The symptoms experienced by those with schizophrenia are grouped in to three categories: negative symptoms, positive symptoms, and cognitive symptoms (Regier 1993, p.92). The positive symptoms include, hallucinations, delusions, unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking, agitated body movements. Negative symptoms include, flat affect, reduced pleasure in everyday life, difficulty sustaining tasks, and reduced speech. Cognitive symptoms include, disruption in executive functioning and working memory, as well as reduced ability to concentrate. The etiology of schizophrenia is still debated by psychologists and neuroscientists, but factors such as neuroanatomy, and environmental influences are believed to play a key role. A genetic predisposition to schizophrenia has been established by researchers, but it remains unclear what causes the phenotype to be expressed. The most agreed upon cause of schizophrenia refers to the diathesis-stress model, which explains schizophrenia as a response to an individual’s allostatic load becoming too much for the brain to cope with. Another popular explanation amongst neuroscientists is the dopamine

(Do People Inherit Schizophrenia?) Research shows that the disease is not caused by a single gene but has to do with several different ones. People with the disease also have higher rates of extremely rare genetic mutations that may occur when a specific gene that produces important brain chemicals malfunctions. However, it is not yet possible to use genetic information to predict whether a person will develop schizophrenia or not.

Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder that affects the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional parts of the brain. The symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and cationic behavior, and negative symptoms. The DSM-5 states that symptoms delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech must be present for at least one month in order for one to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Also, the DSM-5 mentions that the symptoms have to be ongoing for at least six months to be schizophrenic. Hallucinations include hearing voices, smelling distinct odors, and seeing unrealistic figures. The disorganized speech or behavior of the affected person includes those saying random words and moving excessively with an agitation which

According to James G. Hollandworth of the University of Southern Mississippi, schizophrenia is primarily characterized by a disintegration of reality perception, consciousness, and thought process which results in a debilitated proficiency in social and professional faculties (Hollandworth, 1990). While schizophrenia can most arguably be classified as a predominantly genetic affliction, there are others factors which can contribute to its development even without a genetic predisposition. These elements include birth defects such as hypoxia and low birth rate, neuroanatomical anomalies, viral infections, along with low IQ and cerebral atrophy (Hollandsworth, 1990). While these components in themselves are not sufficient enough to cause the disorder, they result in an increased risk for developing the disease. One theory for the cause of schizophrenia that has been studied with great validity is the dopamine hypothesis. This theory postulates that schizophrenia is caused by an overabundance of the dopamine-dependent areas of the brain causing an imbalance that affects the entire system (Hollandsworth, 1990). For this reason many of today’s schizophrenia treatment drugs inhibit dopamine receptor activity in an attempt to return it to its natural equilibrium. Although even with advances in modern science and new drugs being developed every day, the illness is still only treatable and its symptoms still emerge even

Schizophrenia is a complex and highly debilitating mental illness that we are currently unable to treat in any way that guarantees success or return to previous function. It affects around 1% of the population and is associated with a thirteen-fold increase in the likelihood of suicide, so its effective control is paramount (Gogos et al., 2015). There have been several hypotheses as to the cause of schizophrenia. Many link genetic and environmental factors, and dysregulations of neurotransmitters dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin (Egbujo, Sinclair, & Hahn, 2016). The dopamine hypothesis currently suggests that hyperactive dopamine transmission in the basal ganglia leads to psychosis and underactive dopamine transmission in the prefrontal

Schizophrenia can be passed down thru generations even though there is not a specific gene associated with the disorder. It is considered to be a combination of genes that make a person susceptible to becoming schizophrenic. This information is found mainly thought the study of twins. By having the same genes it can be viewed why genes contribute to the potential of schizophrenia. Even though genetics is a viable factor in the analysis of the cause of schizophrenia there are more supporting factors found in neurotransmitters.

Schizophrenia is a very but serious mental disease which 1.2% of the American population is diagnosed with this. . It 's not known what causes schizophrenia, but researchers believe that a combination of genetics and environment contributes to development of the disorder. Problems with certain naturally occurring brain chemicals, including neurotransmitters called dopamine and glutamate, also may contribute.

Over the years, experiments have produced evidence to suggest that dopamine plays a role in the development of Schizophrenia (Howes, McCutcheon, & Stone, 2015). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental regions of the brain. The belief that dopamine was involved in Schizophrenia arose after multiple studies performed with compounds produced an increase in extracellular concentrations of dopamine (Lieberman, Kane, & Alvir, 1987). The patients that were administered these compounds had similar symptoms to those observed from patients who were diagnosed with Schizophrenia (Lieberman et al., 1987).

The development of schizophrenia can progress slowly or can be a fast, abrupt onset. The onset is usually between the teenage years and mid-thirties. A theory of the PBS channel on what schizophrenia teaches us, states how people become schizophrenic, the genes for schizophrenia can lay dormant until certain circumstances trigger their expression, the diagnosis is mostly based on what the patient reports (Eck, 2014). Each patient presents the onset, signs, and symptoms of schizophrenia in a different way.

Researchers also believe that genes are one of the causes of schizophrenia, however they are convinced that genes alone can’t be the main cause, they just make a person more likely to develop the mental disease. (Nimh.nih.gov,

In some people's cases, Schizophrenia appears suddenly and without warning. But for most it comes slowly, with subtle warning signs and a gradual decline in functioning long before the first severe episode. “In the early phases of Schizophrenia people often seem eccentric, unmotivated, emotionless, and reclusive (Helpguide.org).” They may isolate themselves and not want to participate in daily activities such as playing with their children, going outside, or getting off the couch. They abandon their hobbies and they do not do well in their jobs. “The most common early warning signs of Schizophrenia include: social withdrawal, hostility or suspiciousness, deterioration of personal hygiene, having a flat and expressionless gaze, the inability to cry or express joy, inappropriate laughter or crying, depression, oversleeping or insomnia, odd or irrational statements, forgetfulness or the inability to concentrate, extreme reaction to criticism, and or strange use of words or way of speaking (Helpguide.org).” There are five types of symptoms of Schizophrenia. Positive is a symptom that involves having hallucinations or delusions. Negative is when one shows no emotion or flat behavior. Avolation is when a person shows little interest in whatever they are doing. Cognitive behavior is when you have disorganized speech or memory loss. Catatonic behavior is considered poor functioning such as your voluntary muscles