The risk of inheriting schizophrenia ranges from about 10% for those who have one first-degree family member (mother, father, sister, brother) with the disease to about 40%-65% if the disease affects both parents and an identical twin. However,
Today I am going to talk to you about Schizophrenia and a closer look into my experiences of being diagnosed with it. When a doctor describes schizophrenia as a psychotic disorder, it means that, in their view, the patient can’t tell their own intense thoughts, ideas, perceptions and imaginings from reality. There are different types of schizophrenia. The most common one is paranoid schizophrenia which if generally a manifestation on multiple symptoms. Different patients will have different symptoms which will indicate what type of schizophrenia they have.
Critical Analysis of the History and Treatment of Schizophrenia in Modern Psychology In the field of modern psychology and in American society at large schizophrenia remains a largely misunderstood mental illness since its first mention in the DSM-I under the classification of “schizophrenic reactions” (Tartakovsky, 2010). Schizophrenia, as with many mental disorders and illnesses, remains somewhat of a taboo subject in today’s culture. For that reason, it is vitally important to understand the diagnosis, along with its history, prevalence, causes, treatment and impact. Today, the DSM-V has six main criteria for diagnosis including characteristic according to Tandon et al. (2013).
Gregory (2010) describes Schizophrenia as the perfect example of a severe mental illness. The world is an incomprehensible jumble for Schizophrenics and the line between delusion and reality is blurred, if not obliterated. The American Psychiatric Association (2013) categorises Schizophrenia as a psychotic disorder, with abnormalities in one or more of 5 domains. These are delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thinking and speech, and grossly disorganised or abnormal motor behaviour such as catatonia. If these delusions and beliefs are not understandable to cultural peers and not related to ordinary life experiences, they are deemed to be bizarre (The American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
It was concluded that 5 of the children with mothers with schizophrenia were diagnosed with the disease compared to none of the controls. As well as this 37 our of the 47 were given some kind of psychiatric diagnoses in comparison to 9 from the 50 controls. This study compared to that of the twin study focused slightly more on the environment rather than just the genetic links the child had with their parent. Chemical Imbalance also known as “The dopamine hypothesis” is early research that proposed that dopamine was produces in excess in individuals with schizophrenia. More recent research suggests that there are six times the density od the post synaptic receptor for dopamine and this leads to an overall increased excitation as more impulses are carried across the synapse.
There are three main symptoms of schizophrenia, delusions, hallucinations, and thought disorder. Delusions are false beliefs in which the person cannot change, such as believing they are a fictional character, or icon. Hallucinations are usually voices, sights, or visions that only the patient can hear, see, or even smell. These voices can make demands by ordering their victim to do things, or sometimes giving warnings. When a patient has a thought disorder, this usually means he or she has difficulty organizing thoughts.
Outline and evaluate the issues associated with the classification and/or diagnosis of schizophrenia (24 marks) Schizophrenia is a severe debilitating psychotic disorder that involves abnormal perceptions and thoughts. It has been described as a disintegration of the personality. The person loses insight and touch with reality thus failing to realise that they have a mental problem. It involves a range of psychotic symptoms where there is a break from reality. Crow (1980) distinguishes between two types of schizophrenia: Type 1 is characterised by positive symptoms were something is added to the sufferer’s personality such as auditory or visual hallucinations; Type 2 is characterised by negative symptoms where something is take away such as there is lack of emotion or limited use of speech.
is a complex disorder characterized by hallucinations (mostly being hearing voices), delusions (beliefs with no basis in reality), and disturbances in speech. Psychiatrists classify the symptoms into negative and positive categories for schizophrenia. The positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders, and an altered sense of self. The negative symptoms are a lack of motivation or apathy, blunted feelings, depression or social withdraw. There are three main types of Schizophrenias.
This problem may affect the part of the brain involved in developing higher functioning skills” (Schizophrenia, 2009). The age of diagnoses for men is in the mid 20’s and women in their late 20’s. “Many environmental factors may be involved, such as exposure to viruses or malnutrition before birth, problems during birth, and other not yet known psychosocial factors” (Schizophrenia, 2009). Environmental factors include prenatal stressors, drug use and living environment. Living in urban areas as a child or as an adult significantly increases the risk of developing schizophrenia.
There are more complications in diagnosing adolescents with schizophrenia. Some of the same symptoms used to diagnose schizophrenia are also common for other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and depression (Tossell, 2003). Therefore misdiagnosis is fairly common further pointing out that ruling out other possible disorders is extremely