Unraveling the Complexity of Schizophrenia: Understanding Etiology, Symptoms, and Treatment Approaches
Erfan Jam
7/20/2023
The medical condition being covered in this report is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. It is characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and difficulty in social interactions. The reason for covering schizophrenia is its significant impact on individuals, families, and society as a whole. Understanding this complex disorder is crucial for providing appropriate care and support to those affected.
The discovery and labeling of schizophrenia can be attributed to Emil Kraepelin,
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The disease pathology involves abnormalities in specific brain areas, neurotransmitter dysregulation, and disrupted neural circuits. Cognitive deficits, mood deficits, and, in rare cases, motor or sensory deficits are observed. Understanding schizophrenia from a patient's perspective helps foster empathy and compassion toward those living with the disorder. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of schizophrenia's pathology and its impact on the brain, body, and mind, we can strive towards improved interventions and support systems for individuals with this challenging …show more content…
In the CNS, the brain, as the central hub of neural activity and cognition, is the primary site of dysfunction in schizophrenia. Abnormalities in brain structure, neuronal connectivity, and neurotransmitter systems contribute to the symptoms and cognitive deficits associated with the disorder. Schizophrenia can also influence the functioning of the endocrine system, which regulates hormone production and release. Hormonal abnormalities, including increased cortisol levels, have been observed in individuals with schizophrenia. Lastly, there is evidence to suggest that immune system dysregulation and inflammation may play a role in the development and progression of schizophrenia. Abnormal immune responses and activation of immune cells in the brain can contribute to neuroinflammation and affect neural circuitry.
In the brains of individuals with schizophrenia, several abnormalities have been identified. These include structural abnormalities, connectivity disruptions, and neurodevelopmental factors.
People with schizophrenia often exhibit differences in brain structure compared to individuals without the disorder. These structural changes can contribute to cognitive deficits and emotional imbalance.
Schizophrenia disrupts the connectivity between different brain regions and neural circuits. Connectivity deficits between the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions contribute
Accessed 10 Feb. 2023. Gulli, Laith Farid, MD, et al. " Schizophrenia. " The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, edited by Tracie Moy and Laura Avery, 4th ed.
Supporting the DSM-5 checklist for a diagnosis of schizophrenia is the fact that the symptoms first began when Randy was in college and these have increased over time. The information provided on Randy’s family history, his school/social history, plus the description of his current lifestyle and the symptoms he now displays, could be used by the biological theorist
A countless number of symptoms come with schizophrenia, since it is a mental disorder, it mainly affects the brain. Even though, it generally deals with the brain, there are physical symptoms that come along with it. The way that schizophrenia affects you as a person depends on the degree of the disease and your own mental capabilities. One man, very well known by the world, John Nash, suffered from schizophrenia. John Nash not only had mental side effects but he also had physical side effects.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease. Approximately 1 percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime, more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year. Although schizophrenia affects men and women with equal frequency, the disorder often appears earlier in men, usually in the late teens or early twenties, then in women, who are generally affected in the twenties or 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. These symptoms may leave them fearful; and withdrawn.
According to Mental Health America (n.d), in its article regarding Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Someone with schizophrenia may have difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imaginary may be unresponsive or withdrawn; and may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations. Schizophrenia is considered as a severe mental illness as it can lead to serious injury to the patient or people around them. Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects about one percent of the population. When schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation.
In 1898, a German psychiatrist, Emil Kraepelin, described the confusion with the side effects and named this disorder in the Latin expression, dementia praecox. Later in 1908, Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist, initially named the expression "Schizophrenia" Schizophrenia comes from the mix of the Greek words for split (skhizein) and brain (phren). Schizophrenia is a disorder which is severe and chronic and disables the brain. It is most commonly described as a psychosis which is a type of illness that causes mental disturbances that affect thoughts, emotions, and actions. In America, schizophrenia affects one percent of the population from any gender, race, and cultural group.
Schizophrenia is considered a serious mental health disorder that causes significant impairments to an individual's daily life. An individual suffering from Schizophrenia interprets reality in an abnormal way, which can cause them to experience hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thoughts and speech, and abnormal behavior. An estimated one percent of the national population is affected by schizophrenia; in other words, about one million people are directly affected according to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). In addition, schizophrenia is best explained from a biological perspective, categorizing it as a biological disorder. Since it deals with biological details, researchers have been studying the “neurotransmitters responsible
The Soloist What is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a serious disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. Someone that has schizophrenia may have difficulty distinguishing between reality and imaginary. They may have difficulty expressing normal emotions in social situations and may be unresponsive or withdrawn. Schizophrenia is not split personality or multiple personality.
Schizophrenia contains distortion in thinking, perception, emotion and behavior. Schizophrenia is usually caused by a combination of genetics, brain chemistry and environmental contributes. There are many symptoms of schizophrenia that vary depending on age. Teenagers show symptoms similar to adults, such as withdrawal from friends and family. Bad school performance, sleeping trouble, also depressed moods and lack of motivation.
Schizophrenia is a mental illness which is best known as one that causes people to believe others are talking to them, but it is much more than that. It also consists of symptoms such as hallucinations, apathy, and paranoia. This mental illness is caused by a combination of being born with it and environment factors that trigger it, such as a traumatic event or stress. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth goes through the story slowly losing his mind and becoming less and less human. Although many blame Macbeth for his ultimate downfall, he is not at fault because he is mentally ill with schizophrenia, which are shown through the symptoms throughout the play.
Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave. It often develops in men aged in their early twenties, however, is rarely found in men over the age of forty. Causes of schizophrenia include genetics, prenatal environment, brain chemistry, and substance use. To be diagnosed with the disease, a patient must persistently exhibit two or more of the above symptoms, as stated by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
After numerous decades of research and studies, the medical community has a broader and more in-depth understanding of the psychology behind this complex illness resulting in thousands of lives being saved. Researchers have been able to identify the behaviors and triggers associated with schizophrenia, providing accurate diagnosis’ and treatments of the individual. Nancy C. Andreasen summarizes that schizophrenia “…is characterized by symptoms that reflect multiple mental processes: hallucination or abnormality in perception; delusion, or abnormality in inferential thinking; disorganized speech, or abnormalities in language; absence of normal behaviors, or disorganized behavior” (Andreasen, 107). This discovery allows physicians to fully understand what the ill are experiencing and giving them the ability treat the sick. In contrast to the Middle Age modern society is more educated on the subject of
What are some thoughts that come to mind when a person brings up the word schizophrenia? According to Ford-Martin, “Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder or group of disorders marked by disturbances in thinking, emotional responsiveness, and behavior” (2139). The character, Alice, from the film, Alice in Wonderland is a perfect example of schizophrenia, and the director, Tim Burton, further emphasizes the disorder by his use of film techniques. One characteristic of schizophrenia is delusions. According to Fallon, “The delusions of paranoid schizophrenics usually involve thoughts of being persecuted or harmed by others or exaggerated opinions of their own importance, but may also reflect feelings of jealousy or excessive religiosity” (2957).
Annotated Bibliography Chase, Ronald. Schizophrenia. “A Brother Finds Answers in Biological Science.” Library Journal. 2013.
The symptoms are being divided into negative and positive which include hallucinations, delusions, behavior and disorganized speech. The latter symptoms include avolition, alogia, affective flattening and asociality (MHA, 2014). There is no clear cause of schizophrenia. Some theories about the cause of this disease include genetics, biology and possible viral infections and immune disorders. Scientist have been able to prove this disorder runs in families.