Schizophrenia, a widely misunderstood form of mental psychosis, is a chronic illness in which individuals have difficulty distinguishing reality from imaginary thoughts and actions. Sudden changes in personality affect patients in minutes or can last over the course of days. Psychotic disorders such as this are not widespread, but their effects can be extremely detrimental.
Schizophrenia is one of many psychotic disorders of the brain, and it affects approximately one percent of Americans. Typically affecting thought processes, parts of speech, as well as their outside relationships, people with schizophrenia suffer greatly. Many people with the mental disorder have difficulty carrying on conversation, caring for themselves, or holding a job.
Although there are no statistics that show higher occurrences of schizophrenia in either men or women, most people show first signs of psychotic disorders between the ages of sixteen and thirty. Mental capabilities of most affected individuals appear normal until the onset of the illness.
Types of Schizophrenia
There are five types of schizophrenia, each with different characteristics and psychotic disorders. Catatonic, disorganized, paranoid, residual, and undifferentiated schizophrenics experience different symptoms and mental disorders of the illness.
Catatonic Schizophrenics are impaired in the way of movement. Some move enormous amounts, while others sit still and do not move for hours. These types of psychotic disorders affect the individual’s ability to care for himself/herself and most people with this type require a nurse’s or family member’s care at all times.
Disorganized schizophrenia is apparent in thought processes and behavior and may include random mood changes and babbling speech. Sometimes, people suffering from these psychotic disorders are unable to function in society because their actions appear out of place and can be offensive.
Paranoid schizophrenics are defined by their hallucinations, delusions, and other odd beliefs. In many cases, people with this type of schizophrenia believe they are someone famous, or that others are persecuting them without reason. Irrational thought processes produce nervous actions.
Residual schizophrenia is exactly as it sounds: people with this type have experienced at least one episode of the illness, but currently have no problems. Schizophrenia symptoms and other psychotic disorders may resurface later in full-blown form, or the person may never have trouble with these mental disorders again. On occasion, individuals in this category may be in complete remission.
Undifferentiated-type schizophrenia contains characteristics of more than one of the above types and is difficult to categorize. Sometimes, people may suffer from all or just a few of the effects of the psychotic disorders.
Schizophrenia Symptoms
Typically, symptoms of schizophrenia can be categorized into positive, negative, and cognitive areas.
Positive symptoms are behaviors that show outwardly in a person with schizophrenia. Normally developing individuals do not have these symptoms. Some include delusions, hallucinations, and mental disorders. Schizophrenic people sometimes experience ways of thinking that are irrational, and often believe that others are trying to control their thoughts, movements, or ways of life. Even after being proven untrue, these thoughts continue to possess the individual and often become worse over time. Psychotic disorders resulting in dysfunctional ways of thinking are also positive symptoms and result in speech disturbances and inability to communicate with others. Many people with schizophrenia experience difficulty gathering thoughts and putting thoughts into words. Occasionally, imaginary words are made up and are not able to be understood by others. On one end of the spectrum, repeated movements may occur, or complete lack of movement, called catatonia, can happen as well.
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia can include lack of speech and conversation, flat facial expressions, low interest in regular or planned activities, or the inability to follow through with tasks. Because of this possibility in psychotic disorders, affected people must often bring individuals with them to help in conversation or with career responsibilities.
Cognitively speaking, schizophrenia has the largest affect of all the mental disorders on decision making and memory. Individuals with psychotic disorders are often unable to remember information immediately after learning it. Sometimes they have a blockage of thought processes that does not allow them to gather information in order to make a decision. Most symptoms of schizophrenia are not obvious in this category. They appear more clearly in the aforementioned categories.
Causes of Schizophrenia
Although not entirely sure, scientists believe that both genetic and environmental factors may cause schizophrenia. The mental illness does run in families, and odds of developing schizophrenia are highest for those with identical twins that also have this or other mental disorders. Those with parents, siblings, aunts, or uncles who have the psychotic disorders also have heightened risks of suffering from symptoms.
Many believe that schizophrenia is caused by a malfunctioning gene that is supposed to control certain chemicals in the brain. Poor nutrition before birth, exposure to harsh chemicals or environmental factors may also contribute to the development of mental disorders. Scientists have observed a slight difference in brain fluid and cells between normal individuals and those with schizophrenia. It is possible the onset of puberty, with all of its chemical changes to the body, can trigger schizophrenic symptoms in those that are highly susceptible to psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is arguably preventable. While genetic factors do play a role, drug use may also contribute to the onset of the illness. Adolescents who participate in recreational drug use have a higher percentage of developing the disorder than those who do not use drugs.
Schizophrenia Treatment
Most patients with schizophrenia are treated with medication because the actual cause of these mental disorders remains unknown. Symptoms are typically suppressed using antipsychotic medications in liquid or pill form. Several of these include: perphenazine, fluphenazine, and haloperidol. Many patients that experience hallucinations are aided greatly by these medications. Newer antipsychotic medications have fewer problems, but still are capable of producing a wide variety of side effects for patients with psychotic disorders. Blurred vision, sensitivity to the sun, and dizziness are common, and menstrual problems for women also occur regularly. Antipsychotics can cause weight gain and individuals taking these drugs must manage their glucose levels and diet. Doctors prescribing these treatments watch for drug interactions, patient relapse, and long term effects as well.
Electroconvulsive therapy can be effective for individuals with extreme cases of any of the aforementioned mental disorders. By using electric currents, doctors can produce a brief seizure in the schizophrenic individual in hopes that the current causes changes in brain chemistry. This relief sometimes works when medications do not.
Consuming certain amino acids and regulating food intake may also be beneficial to people affected by schizophrenia’s devastating symptoms. A combination of psychotherapy and medication has proven to have positive effects on reducing the number of episodes and avoiding future mental outbreaks as well. Because psychotic disorders can be sensitive to certain factors, making sure to combine healthy habits, medication, and rehabilitation can have lasting positive effects on patients.
Aside from medication, counseling, social interaction, job assistance, and other forms of supplemental help are available to those with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Because the illness affects mental as well as physical aspects of life, many areas may be treated and monitored while patients are being rehabilitated. Family support and peer support groups are important to one’s recovery, and the individual’s willingness to cooperate and self-help are key factors in the success of any program as well.
