Schizophrenia: Reality Distorted
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.
---W.A.F. Browne, MD, 18371
Schizophrenia is considered a disease of the brain, a physical disorder that, thanks to modern technology, is able to be visualized. Schizophrenia, along with other diseases of the brain, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and multiple sclerosis, are all brain diseases which alter both functionality and structure of the brain. Schizophrenia has been called a cruel disease, one that impairs life greatly in a degenerative fashion, altering emotions and various abilities
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.(3) Schizophrenia is often present in familial clusters. Monozygotic twins have an even slightly higher concordance rate. It has been found through studies that adoptive parents do not have any effect upon children in relation to developing the disease, which is also another strong biological marker. The risk factor of children with parents suffering from the disease rises from one percent to twelve percent . Another finding that backs up the biological basis claim is that lower levels of platelet monomania oxidase B are found in people suffering from chronic schizophrenia. Higher levels in the cerebral spinal fluid of these monoamine metabolites, HVA, and 5HIAA are found in people with a family history of schizophrenia as opposed to people without the genetic predisposition afflicted with the disease. .(4) These varying levels result in varying biochemical changes that are predetermined and passed through families.
Environmental factors are still unclear in relation to this complicated disease. Clinical psychologist Meggin Hollister from the University of Pennsylvania researched the Rh factor, a blood protein. She found that a fetus with a differing Rh factor than its mother is more prone to developing the disorder. This difference is a condition that allows the immune system of the mother to attack that of the child, which can cause substantial damage. Higher possibilities of the disease has also been
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain affecting how one acts, thinks and sees the world around them. Persons with schizophrenia have an altered perception of reality and may see or here things
In this week’s readings chapter twelve is about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which personal, social, and occupational functioning deteriorate as a result of strange perceptions, unusual emotions, and motor abnormalities. This disorder is very interesting, but also kind of scary to me. They literally end up in their own world, losing contact with reality. With that, they also experience hallucinations or delusions, which can cause them to do abnormal, possibly dangerous actions. These symptoms must last six months or more before the person can be diagnosed with schizophrenia. It will affect 1 out of 100 people in the world during ones lifetime. This disorder, unlike many others, is just as common among men and women,
This can also be accounted for distant relatives who are unlikely to share the same environment. We can therefore assume that to confirm a genetic base for schizophrenia, research must separate genetic influences from environmental influences. In order to do this, researchers must look at the evidence presented through twin studies. A set of MZ twins share the same genes, therefore if only one of the develops schizophrenia, it is more likely to be through environmental factors.
Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease
Throughout psychology today there are six different theoretical models that seek to explain and treat abnormal functioning or behavior. These different models have been a result of different ideas and beliefs over the course of history. As psychology began to grow so did the improvements in research techniques. As a result psychologists are able to explain a variety of disorders in terms of the six different theoretical models. In the movie A Beautiful Mind it follows the mathematician John Nash as he struggles with schizophrenia. It an attempt to explain John Nash’s disorder the six different theoretical models will be looked at, they include biological model, psychodynamic model, behavioral model, cognitive model, humanistic model,
When I lived in Germany, I had a friend who played on my High School tennis team. On a sunny afternoon after our tennis lessons we decided to drink an ice tea and have a little snack at the tennis snack bar. We started talking about tennis strategies, but my friend, Thomas, was kind of depressed and sad. When I asked him what was really bothering him, he started tell me about his sick mother. He tried to explain her disease to me, but I could not understand it. He said, “ my mother is suffering from persecution mania and in addition, she sometimes talks about things that make no sense. Nevertheless, I saw Thomas again after the summer holidays and I asked him how his mother was doing now. He responded with a very sad voice and also had
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that’s not very common. It causes you to see and hear things that are not really there and because of this it is like you are living a very different life. I am diagnosed with more specifically schizoaffective, which as I was told was because along with my illusions and voices, I also have a temper
I will be discussing my topic on how schizophrenia is treated and the affects of the disorder. In the book Psychology: A Journey, “schizophrenia is defined as delusions hallucination, apathy, thinking abnormalities, and a “split” between thought and emotion” (Coon and Mitterer). The illness usually occurs during late childhood or early adulthood.
Insight which is known as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon in schizophrenic patients means the awareness of having a mental disorder, its related social outcomes and the need for the treatment. (1). only a few researchers have discussed the importance of insight as a Clinical descriptor in the context of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Although for several years, poor insight in psychotic patients was explained by the basis of different psychological phenomenons such as denial or conscious will of not being a psychotic patient, Recent researches suggest that insight is multidimensional phenomenon, because it is believed to result from psychological, neuropsychological and neurostractural factors. The level of insight in psychotic patients may be associated with the patient’s functions or their clinical symptoms(2).Lack of awareness of illness, is found to be the most common symptom in patients with schizophrenia by the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia (3).
This essay focuses on the diagnosis of schizophrenia, a major mental illness with much stigma and misinformation associated with it. World Health Organisation (WHO, 2012) epidemiological evidence suggests that schizophrenia is a mental illness affecting 24 million people worldwide. This essay will define schizophrenia and its characteristic signs and symptoms in relation to cognition, mood, behaviour and psychosocial functioning. The criteria enabling a diagnosis of schizophrenia are explored, as well as contemporary nursing care and pharmacological treatments. The positive and negative signs and symptoms of schizophrenia will be discussed and the treatment and care requirements outlined by the NSW Mental Health Act (2007) are also
A man chooses to stay home from work for a day, not because he is sick, but just because! He starts to eat breakfast and decides to watch TV. He finds a TV show that shows a man going to work and his duties throughout the day. The second day the man decides not to go to work again and he watches the same program. The only difference is that today he recognizes that the man on the TV program is himself. He is watching his own day at work. The TV self is more ambitious, more of everything. The home self continues day after day, watching his TV self. He flips channels and sees his TV self as a catcher of jewel thieves on one channel, a doctor on another channel, and on another a popular lover. On still another channel he is a
are not sure exactly what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not
confusion in all portions of a person's life. Psychosis is seen in a wide range
Participants were eighty college-aged students (expected sample size) not selected at random. Instead, researchers used convenience sampling by selecting half of the participants in person by going up to students on the UT campus who did not appear to be busy, while the other half of participants were recruited through a survey link posted on a UT Facebook group. Participants were randomly assigned into four conditions, twenty participants in each group. They ranged across ages 18-21, multiple ethnic backgrounds, and a mixture of males and females.
Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder characterized by a dysfunctional thinking process and withdrawal from the outside world. The word schizophrenia comes from two Greek words schizo which means split and phrenia, which means mind. This doesn't mean that a person with the disorder has multiple personalities, but rather parts of the mind seem to be operating independent of each other. The disease affects approximately 1 in 100 people and there are thought to be over 2 million schizophrenics in the United States today. Schizophrenia has been found to be a biologically based brain disease due to the imbalance of two of the brains chemicals dopamine and serotonin. In the brain of a schizophrenic there are