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.
Schizophrenia is defined as a psychotic disorder in which people are disturbed by their own thoughts. Whether it be voices or illusions people that suffer from this illness tend to distort reality. Schizophrenia is usually diagnosed between the ages of 16-30, though it is still being researched today, we are not certain how schizophrenia is developed. Some scientists believe that schizophrenia is caused by a gene malfunction; other scientists say it is caused by family genetics. There are three main symptoms of schizophrenia, delusions, hallucinations, and thought disorder.
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).
Schizophrenia & Other Psychotic Disorders: Schizophrenia, Delusional Disorder, brief Psychosis, Schizo-affective Disorder & Shared Psychotic Disorder. SchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a psychotic illness which can affect people in variety of ways, there is no evidence as yet why one develops the illness. Studies suggest there can be a combination of factors which can trigger the illness. It is agreed by health professionals that schizophrenia is most likely caused by a combination of factors, which can include the following: Dopamine is one of the chemicals that carry messages between brain cells and if there is too much Dopamine it can be a factor of one developing the illness. Genetic can play a big part in someone developing the illness as they are more vulnerable to the illness.
The manuals are frequently revised and it has recently been updated to DSM V. There are five different types of schizophrenia; paranoid, disorganised, catatonic, residual and undifferentiated. The paranoid type believe people are plotting against them, are anxious, suffer from delusions, are suspicious of people and they respond to medication. The disorganised type is the silly mind and they suffer from the ‘flat effect’ which is a monotone voice and disorganised speech and behaviour. The catatonic type is when a person has problems with their motor movements; either uncontrollable motor movement or being stood like a statue and mute. The residual type is a milder form of schizophrenia and symptoms are reduced in number and intensity.
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.
Schizophrenia Childhood-onset schizophrenia Last reviewed: February 7, 2010. Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder that makes it difficult to: •Tell the difference between real and unreal experiences •Think logically •Have normal emotional responses, •Behave normally in social situations Causes, incidence, and risk factors Schizophrenia is a complex illness. Mental health experts are not sure what causes it. However, genetic factors appear to play a role. •Certain environmental events may trigger schizophrenia in people who are genetically at risk for it.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, is a severe mental disorder that cause the patient to experience severe dissociation from the environment and others around them. Dissociation is kind of like daydreaming, which most of us have experienced. People with DID experience a “lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity”, according to WebMD, a reputable site that provides health information (Costello). Many doctors and psychiatrists believe that DID starts because of a traumatic experience and victims of this disorder dissociate themselves from certain situations to alleviate pain and anxiety that the situation may cause. Although many doctors believe this, there is no proven cause of Dissociative
Schizophrenia is diagnosed using the DSM-IV, if a patient shows two or more clinical characteristics symptoms of schizophrenia such as delusions, hallucinations, negative symptoms etc. for significant period of time during a one month period then they will be diagnosed as schizophrenic, however evidence shows this is not always a reliable way of diagnosing schizophrenia. Diagnosis of schizophrenia has been found to be unreliable based on cultural differences which are not taken into account, in some cultures hearing voices or having hallucinations are seen as normal and are sometimes often
There are three main types of Schizophrenias. The first type is Paranoid Schizophrenic; people with this suffer preoccupation with persecutory and/or grandiose delusions. The second type is Disorganized Schizophrenic; they suffer from speech and behavior problems and they have a flat of inappropriate affect. The third type is Catatonic Schizophrenic; in this case the person gets motor immobility or excessive motor activity that is purposeless, peculiar movements, echolalia, orechopraxia. In America there are about 2.2 million people with this illness.