Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious, chronic mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality and disturbances of thought, mood, and perception. Schizophrenia is the most common of the psychosis, affecting approximately 1% of the world's population at one point or another.

Many people outside the mental health profession believe that schizophrenia refers to a "split personality". Possessing multiple personalities is a very common result of suffering from a phycosis. The word "schizophrenia" comes from the Greek schizo, meaning split and phrenia refers to the diaphragm (once thought to be the location of a person's mind and soul.) When the word "schizophrenia" was established by European psychiatrists, they meant to describe a shattering, or breakdown, of basic psychological functions. The first recognition of this disease dates back to the 1800's when Emil Kraepelin concluded after a comprehensive study of thousands of patients that a "state of dementia was supposed to follow precociously or soon after the onset of the illness." Eugene Bleuler, a famous Swiss psychiatrist, coined the term "schizophrenia," referring to what he called the "splitting of the various psychic functions" (Honig).

There have been many theories to explain what causes schizophrenia. Heredity, stress, medical illness, and physical injury to the brain are all thought to be factors but research has not yet pinpointed the specific combination of factors that produce the disease (Sinclair). While schizophrenia can affect anyone at any point in life, it is somewhat more common in those persons who are genetically predisposed to the disease (Torrey). Studies have shown that approximately 12% of the offspring will be schizophrenic if one parent has the disorder and 50% if both parents have the disorder. This may be due to the fact that the offspring are raised in an environment other than normal, although statistics from adoption agencies show that these rates are more affected by genes rather than environment (Chapman). Three-quarters of persons with schizophrenia develop the disease between 16 and 25 years of age. Onset is uncommon after age 30 and rare after age 40 (Torrey). Psychiatric patients are generally insulted by contentions that their trouble was brought on by bad parenting, childhood trauma, or week character (Willwerth). Sigmund Freud has suggested that schizophrenia is developed from a lack of affection in the mother-infant relationship in the first few weeks after birth. Increased levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain's left hemisphere and lowered glucose levels in the brain's frontal lobes have been coupled to schizophrenic episodes

Schizophrenia patients experience delusions, hallucinations and often lose thought process. Victims share a range of symptoms that can be devastating to themselves as well as to families and friends. They tend to have trouble dealing with the most minor everyday stresses and insignificant changes in their surroundings. They also avoid social contact, ignore personal hygiene and behave oddly (Kass). People with schizophrenia describe strange of unrealistic thoughts. Their speech is sometimes hard to follow because of disordered thinking. Phrases seem disconnected, and ideas move from topic to topic with no logical pattern. In some cases, individuals with schizophrenia say that they have no idea at all or that their heads seem "empty". Many schizophrenic patients think they possess extraordinary powers such as x-ray vision or super strength. They may believe that their thoughts are being controlled by others or that everyone knows what they are thinking. These beliefs are caused by delusions. Most specialists agree that symptoms are provoked by chemical disturbances of the brain, but no exact mechanism is known (Mueser). Those with schizophrenia regularly report unusual sensory experiences, especially when the illness is in an acute stage. Often these experiences are in the form of hearing voices. Patients may hear one or two voices making comments on their behavior. They may not know the voice, or they may believe it is the voice of God, the Devil, or a friend. When the voice issues orders to behave in a particular way, the experience is known as a command hallucination. These hallucinations can be very dangerous to the sufferer and others. When the voice commands the person to do something, the schizophrenic person will perform that task as instructed (Kass).

When compared to other people in general, those with schizophrenia are less likely to marry or remain married; more likely to have school problems; often unable to keep their jobs; more prone to suicide attempts. People with schizophrenia also tend to fall into other groupings that can help in diagnosis. The majority range in age from adolescence to the mid twenties at the time the psychosis begins. No single patient is likely to show all the symptoms associated with the illness or fall into all of the categories listed. (Arasse.)

The modern era of medical treatment