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).
For most people, the voices they hear present no problem and are not associated with schizophrenia. Delusions Usually strongly held beliefs or experiences that are not in line with a generally accepted reality. Delusions associated with schizophrenia are probably distressing for you, or those around you, as they may be unusual or extreme. For instance, a patient might believe secret agents are following them or that outside forces are controlling or putting thoughts into their mind Negative Symptoms: Being withdrawn, being apathetic, and being unable to concentrate are all described as ‘negative’ rather than ‘positive’, because they show a reduction in thought or function. It can be very difficult to tell whether negative symptoms are part of the schizophrenia, or whether they are present because you are reacting to other frightening or distressing symptoms.
Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, experience of control, hallucinations and disordered thinking. Delusions are bizarre beliefs that seem real to the person with schizophrenia but in fact, are not actually real. Sometimes these delusions can be paranoid in nature. Delusions may also involve inflated beliefs about the person’s power and importance. Experience of control is where a person with schizophrenia may believe that they are under the control of an alien force that has invaded their mind or body.
A problem of the diagnosis of schizophrenia known as co-morbidity this is when the symptoms of schizophrenia overlap with many other disorders, such as, depression and bipolar disorder. This is a problem because the patient may be misdiagnosed and given the wrong type of treatment which will not cure the symptoms they have and may cause another type of illness. This can be solved by multiple diagnosis this will also improve the inter rater reliability. Reliability is the extent in to which two or more medical specialists have consistent results in their diagnosis. The validity externally is very difficult as there are cultural barriers, as psychiatrists from different cultures interpret symptoms differently resulting in people being diagnosed schizophrenia in one culture but not in another.
The positive symptoms are the symptoms that are which a person is delusions and they will believe things that are not true and began believing that they are something that they are not. They tend to hear or see things that are not there, this is another positive form of schizophrenia which is called hallucinations. The disorganized symptoms will includes not being able to communicate in a good way they will began doing odd things that are not necessary to being doing at the time such as writing for no reason, always forgetting important things that have always been important to them and moving around very slowly. The last category that this disorder are under is the negative or less obvious symptoms they also will began losing their appetite, neglecting their personal hygiene duties, having trouble functioning with activities they use to get pleasure out of doing, not having energy majority of the time, and they will also have terrible mood swings they will have people no longer wanting to be around them (Webmed.com,
Schizophrenia is a disorder of the thought process where patients lose a normal sense of reality. They also have difficulty with basic cognitive functions such as thinking clearly and have disorganized thoughts, expressing feelings, and using appropriate behaviors. This disorder is characterized by the presence of strong delusions, which are irreversible false beliefs that patient’s entertain, even when their beliefs are disproved by presenting strong evidence. Another very characteristic symptom seen among these patients is the presence of hallucinations, both auditory and sensory, but predominantly auditory, which reflects an impaired perception of reality. There are several variants and subtypes of schizophrenia based on the patient demographics, severity and duration of symptoms and response to
Schizophrenia cannot be diagnosed if an existing mood disorder or developmental disorder has been diagnosed, or if there are organic origins. Diagnosis is complicated by having to rule these things out. However, some individuals do not fit within the categories created. Schizophrenia has a strong co-morbidity with mood disorders that it is considered a fundamental characteristic. Buckley et al (2009) identified the following co-morbidities with schizophrenia and suggested that they might represent sub types of schizophrenia: panic disorder 15%, post traumatic stress 29%,
You may find that you startle more easily at little noises or abrupt movements. You also may be disturbed by new feelings of vulnerability and loss of control similar to what you felt during the assault. How victims react to assault varies from person to person. Your reaction may be immediate or delayed. Although you may feel as if you are the only one experiencing these feelings—and that no one else understands what you are going through—your reactions are normal.
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