Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Stephanie Pickett HCA/240 May 24, 2011 Tamara Purnell Schizophrenia What is a mental disorder' According to righthealth.com, a mental disorder is defined as a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress of disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not part of normal development. As of today, there are many different types of conditions that are recognized as a mental illness. Some of these include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, impulse and addiction order, and psychotic disorders. In the psychotic disorder category, I will be discussing Schizophrenia. I will be explaining the history of the disorder, the myths and misconceptions as well as treatments of the past, signs and symptoms, available treatments, and how it is diagnosed. Schizophrenia is a defined as a severe mental disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, incoherence and physical agitation. It has been estimated that one person in one hundred suffers from Schizophrenia, but those who suffer today are a lot luckier than those who suffered from the mental disorder in the past because of the advance in treatments. The word schizophrenia is less than one hundred years old; however the disease was first identified as a discrete mental illness by Dr. Emile Kraepelin in 1887. (IMHRO 2009) Schizophrenia has been traced back to the Pharaonic Egyptians ages which are as far back as 2000 B.C. During this era, people with Schizophrenia were thought to be possessed by demons and evil spirits and could be cured by an exorcism. Better documented records of Schizophrenia have been recorded as early as the 1700’s and it was during this time that a more detailed and accurate description of the abnormal mental behaviors such as speech, emotions and gestures were noticed. In 1878 Emil Kraepelin was the first person to name this disease as “Dementia Praecox” meaning early dementia and divided it into four categories. These categories included simple, paranoid, hebephrenic and catatonic. In 1911 the actual creator of the name Schizophrenia was Eugen Bleuler who gave the illnesses its current name because of the split symptoms. As we know, many words are coined from Greek meanings, the word schizo means split and phrene means mind. As with every illness and disorder there is always the truth and myths. According to PsychCenteral.com there are thirteen myths of Schizophrenia. This list consists of, individuals with Schizophrenia all have the same symptoms, people are dangerous, unpredictable and out of control, it’s a character flaw, cognitive decline is a major symptom, there are psychotic and non- psychotic people, the disease develops quickly, is purely genetic, untreatable, needs to be hospitalized, can’t lead productive lives, can never again regain normal functioning, medications make sufferers zombies and medications are worse than the illness itself. These are the thirteen most common myths that people believe because they don’t have all of the facts on the mental disorder. Because people believe these myths about Schizophrenia, a stereotype further hurt people with this mental illness and causes many negative consequences for people such as low self- esteem and stress. It’s hard for people living with this mental illness to get past the disease itself because of these myths and stereotypes. The treatment methods of the past differ in many ways, since the medical technology thirty years ago was not as advanced as it is today. Schizophrenia was a mental disorder that people weren’t sure how to handle, they basically locked away their loved one to let them live and die in solitude alone. Treatment of the past for Schizophrenia includes electro shock therapy, chemotherapy, and insulin comas. The only method that seemed at all promising was the electroshock therapy, but this had to be done two to four times a day to improve and change the individuals and in the end there was a high relapse rate by individuals. Some people wonder what the signs and symptoms of Schizophrenia are and how the mental disorder is diagnosed. People living with Schizophrenia may have a number of different symptoms depending on the severity of the disease. The symptoms of Schizophrenia are grouped into three different categories, positive, disorganized, and negative symptoms. Most people would hear the work positive and think of the words as being good, but in this case, positive does not mean good. The positive symptom in Schizophrenia refers to symptoms that are not present in people without Schizophrenia. The positive symptoms are referred to as psychotic symptoms and they include delusions or strange beliefs that are not reality, and hallucinations which means they are hearing voices. Disorganized symptoms of Schizophrenia include; moving slowly, unable to make decisions, talking in sentences that do not make sense, forgetting or losing things, repeating movements and gestures, and having problems making sense of everyday sights, sounds and feelings. As you can see, disorganized symptoms of Schizophrenia affect the person’s ability to think clearly and respond correctly. The last category of Schizophrenia symptoms is negative symptoms and they include, lack of emotions, withdrawal from social activities, lack of motivation and energy, loss of interest, poor hygiene and problems functioning. As with the word positive, the word negative doesn’t mean bad, but it reflects the absence of normal behaviors in people with Schizophrenia. Many people often wonder how a mental disorder is diagnosed. Of course, with any sort of illness or disease a complete medical history and physical exam needs to be done. Since there are really no labatory tests that can be done to diagnosis a mental disorder, the physician will rule all other physical illness out as a potential cause to the problem. Only after this has been done and the physician can’t find any other reason for the Schizophrenia symptoms, the patient will be referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist. When a person is being possibly diagnosed with a mental disorder, the therapist uses specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a person. A person is considered to have Schizophrenia if they have signs and symptoms that last as long as six months. After doing some research, I found that dopamine is the neurotransmitter associated with schizophrenia. Dopamine in a schizophrenic’s brain is increased and causes problems similar to that of those who use amphetamines and cocaine. When it comes to the treatments of mental disorders, there can be several different options such as medications, surgery, hospitalization, shock therapy, and psychosocial therapy. The primary medications that are used to treat Schizophrenia are called antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs do not cure Schizophrenia, but reduces the symptoms. A person with Schizophrenia can also choose to go to therapy, which can help them control the problems associated with the disorder. Another option is hospitalization which a person can choose to gain control over the disorder. Many patients are put into outpatient hospitals, because they may be a danger to themselves or others. This treatment options is used for severe cases of Schizophrenia. The only difference in treatments of the past and present I have found is surgery. Surgery is only used in the most severe cases of Schizophrenia because this is a drastic and hazardous procedure that severs certain nerve pathways in the brain. This is a very dangerous and risky procedure and is rarely used as a current treatment method. Because of movies and books, people with Schizophrenia come across as dangerous and violent people. If you do research on people with Schizophrenia, you will find that the majority of people with this mental disorder and more withdrawn from people and keep to themselves, but in some cases people with schizophrenia who abuse drugs and alcohol can exhibit dangerous behaviors. The only person they are more dangerous to is themselves as people living with Schizophrenia have a high suicide rate. As with every mental disorder, there are many different treatment methods available to people suffering. People that suffer from Schizophrenia can lead normal healthy lives with the help of therapy and medications. There is no way to prevent or stop the development of Schizophrenia in a person, but there are several ways to detect and reduce the symptoms of the disorder. As thought in the earlier centuries, Schizophrenia was considered to be a demon or evil spirit in some people, but now we know this is not the case. Schizophrenia is a real mental disorder that has affected people throughout history and now has been classified as a disease. Hopefully before people assume people with a mental disorder are dangerous and violent, they will do their research and realize this affects many people. References History of Schizophrenia (2011) Buzzle.com retrieved on May 28, 2011 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-schizophrenia.html Schizophrenia Definition from About.com Bipolar Disorder. (2011) Retrieved from http://bipolar.about.com/od/glossary/g/gl_schizophreni.htm on May 28, 2011 PsychCentral.com Illuminating 13 Myths of Schizophrenia, Tartakovsky, Margarita M.S. (2011) Retrieved on May 28, 2011 from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2010/illuminating-13-myths-of-schizophrenia/ Schizophrenia.com, History of Schizophrenia (2010) Retrieved on May 28, 2011 from http://www.schizophrenia.com/history.htm Potential Risk Factors for Schizophrenia. Authors ; Sivas Devlet Hastanesi, Psikiyatri Anabilim Dalı, Sivas, Türkiye Sep2010, Vol. 47 Issue 3, p230-236 y Baumeister AA, Francis JL, Journal Of The History Of The Neurosciences [J Hist Neurosci], ISSN: 0964-704X, 2002 Sep; Vol. 11 (3), pp. 265-77; PMID: 12481477. 2008