Symptoms Of Schizophrenia example essay topic

Schizophrenia is serious and chronic brain disease. Schizophrenia Affects 1% of the world develops schizophrenia sometime in their life time. 2 million people in the US suffer from it every year it will affect men and women both but shows up earlier in men usually in the teen or early adult years, women usually are diaongnosed in their early thirties. People with schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices not heard by others, or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them.

Their speech and behavior can be so disorganized that they may be incomprehensible or frightening to others. Available treatments can relieve many symptoms, but most people with schizophrenia continue to suffer some symptoms throughout their lives; it has been estimated that no more than one in five individuals recovers completely. Schizophrenia is found not only in the US but the whole world. The first signs of schizophrenia often appear as confusing, or even shocking, changes in behavior. The sudden onset of severe psychotic symptoms is referred to as an "acute" phase of schizophrenia. "Psychosis", a common condition in schizophrenia, is a state of mental impairment marked by hallucinations, which are disturbances of sensory perception, and / or delusions, which are false yet strongly held personal beliefs that result from an inability to separate real from unreal experiences.

Schizophrenia can be traced back to Egyptian times. The word 'schizophrenia' comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phren e (mind) to describe the thinking of people with the disorder. His term was not meant to convey the idea of split or multiple personality, a common misunderstanding by many people. Since Bleuler's time, the definition of schizophrenia has continued to change, as scientists attempt to more accurately determine the different types of mental diseases.

Without knowing the exact causes of these diseases, scientists can only base their classifications on the observation that some symptoms tend to occur together. Both Bleuler subdivided schizophrenia into categories, based on the symptoms and prognoses. Over the years, those working in this field have continued to attempt to classify types of schizophrenia. Five types were delineated in the DSM- : disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, residual, and undifferentiated.

The first three categories were originally proposed by Kraepelin. Many researchers today are using different systems based on the severity of the symptoms. Schizophrenia is the disruption of cognition and emotion affecting the human's language, thought, perception, affect, and sense of self. Symptoms include hearing voices inside your head, hallucinations, delusions, and depression. No single symptom is definitive for diagnosis; rather, the diagnosis encompasses a pattern of signs and symptoms with social changes and personality changes.

Symptoms are typically divided into positive and negative symptoms because of their impact on diagnosis and treatment. Positive symptoms are those that appear to reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions. The diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to DSM-IV, requires at least 1-month duration of two or more positive symptoms, unless hallucinations or delusions are especially bizarre, which would be a sign of the disorder. Negative symptoms are those that appear to reflect a loss of normal functions. Loss of usual interests or pleasures (anhedonia); disturbances of sleep and eating; dysphoric mood (depressed, anxious, irritable, or angry mood); and difficulty concentrating or focusing attention, are also symptoms oh the disorder. Your relative may become odd, distant or just different from how they used to be.

They may avoid contact with people and become be less active. If they have delusional ideas, they may talk about them, but may also keep quiet about them. If they are hearing voices, they may suddenly look away from you as if they are listening to something else. When you speak to them, they may say little, or be difficult to understand. Their sleep pattern may change so that they stay up all night and sleep during the day. You may wonder if this behavior is just rebellious.

It can happen so slowly that, only when you look back, can you see when it started. It can be particularly difficult to recognize these changes during the teenage years, when young people are changing anyway. You may start to blame yourself and wonder 'Was it my fault?' You may wonder if anyone else in the family is going to be affected, what the future holds, or how they can get the best help. Families have often been left out of discussions about their relative because of worries about confidentiality. This should not be the case now. If someone with schizophrenia is living with or being supported by their family, their family should be able to have the information that will allow them to care most effectively for them.

Even if there are difficulties in this area, they cannot stop the family from informing the mental health team about what is going on with their relative. Families need as much help and information as possible and the mental health team needs to listen to their worries and concerns. It can advise on drugs and their side-effects, as well as suggesting small, manageable tasks that may help recovery. Medication is the first step in treating schizophrenia. The aim is to reduce the effects of the symptoms on your life.

Medication should: weaken delusions and hallucinations gradually, over a period of a few weeks help you to think more clearly increase your motivation and ability to look after yourself. In the mid-1950's, several medications appeared that could reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia. They became known as 'antipsychotic' medications. These older drugs are called 'typical" or 'first-generation' antipsychotic.

They work by reducing the action of a particular chemical messenger in the brain called dopamine. There are many new medications to take these days: Amisulpiride, Clozapine, and Risperidone are just some of the newer medications. These medications work well for many people - about 4 in 5 people get help from them, they control the disorder, but do not cure it. Many psychological treatments are also available: stress relief, making sure the patient feels good about themselves, also helping families deal with it and help them help the patient. Schizophrenia is a very serious mental disorder that more people have to take serious. Anyone can be diagnosed with the disorder and suffer life long affects from it.

We need to be more aware of it and research more on new treatment methods. Although there is success stories there are many more stories that end in death because of suicide from the person and their depression from the disorder. We need to educate the public about the disorder and use technology to our advantage and try to find a definite cure for the disorder. Although there is treatment for the symptoms it is not the way a person should live taking a pill every day or spending thousands of dolars on doctor bills to try and be cured. Schizophrenia is a very serious disorder that needs to be researched ever more so we can stop the suffering of the over 2 million people that have and deal with the disorder everyday..