Schizophrenia is a chronic, complex, and disabling brain disorder that effects people throughout the world. Those with schizophrenia tend to have difficulty acting normal in social situations, experiencing normal emotional responses, thinking clearly, and being able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not real.
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| People with Schizophrenia find it hard to determine what is real and what is not |
Over 2.1 million people in America have been diagnosed with schizophrenia not counting undocumented immigrants. The number of people with this complex illness is increasing at an alarming rate with an estimated 100,000 - 200,000 diagnosed each year.
Schizophrenia effects those diagnosed as well as those surrounding the person(s) diagnosed. Self - harm and harm to others is a factor when determining the functionality of one with schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia are diagnosed with one of five subtypes at a time. While no case is typical, a person may experience signs of multiple subtypes of schizophrenia and be diagnosed with several of these subtypes throughout the course of their life. These five subtypes are; Paranoid, Disorganized, Catatonic, Undifferentiated, & Residual.
Schizophrenia used to be thought of only as a psychological issue and did not have very many treatment options until the 1950s with the development of the first dopamine antagonist used as an antipsychotic, Chlorpromazine. Since the development of this drug, there have been leaps in the advancement regarding treatments and knowledge of schizophrenia.
Synthesis Structure of the antipsychotic dopamine antagonist Chlorpromazine (right)
Synthesis Structure of the antipsychotic dopamine antagonist Chlorpromazine (right)
One of these advancements is the fact that researchers are getting closerand closer to finding the cause of schizophrenia by looking more into the difference of their brian function compared to those without schizophrenia. There have also been studies done determining the genetic differentiation of the disorder showing that it may be hereditary. Although it may increase the chances of person(s) to develope schizophrenia if there are blood- related relatives diagnosed with the disorder, it is not purely genetic.
Many treatments for schizophrenia are available but there has yet to be a cure.
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I haven't looked at this, but it sounds interesting. http://www.ted.com/talks/elyn_saks_seeing_mental_illness.html
ReplyDeleteIts a tough disease, and doubly hard because of stigma and fear. Glad you are tackling this one.
Interesting post. I find schizophrenia infinitely interesting and one of the main reasons I want to become a psychiatrist.
ReplyDeleteSchizophrenia is a very terrible disease. One of the saddest things about this mental illness is the stigma that is associated with the disease. It's amazing how if someone has hypertension or other diseases we don't stigmatize them for it, but people with mental illnesses are treated like they are somehow responsible for the fact that they have these diseases. I have had the opportunity to speak with some people who are affected by this disease and listening to them just talking about some of the symptoms they experience such as the voices they hear and the hallucinations that they experience just broke my heart. Another sad thing is that according to some of the people suffering from this disease, the anti psychotic medications that they take do not actually get rid of the voices or the hallucinations, but it helps them to recognize them as unreal so that they are less likely to act on them. Overall, this is a very interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteSchizophrenia is an interesting topic because people associate the disease with spirits (from a religious perspective), but most doctors relate it to a brain disorder. The brain is such an amazing organ, we still have no idea about what all the brain can really do and how it really functions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jazzmen religious people do relate it malignant spirits and science relates it abnormalities in the chemicals of the brain. Is this hereditary or does it happen after a post-traumatic situation? Cool topic though keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteI like your article. Here's some supplementary info in a graphic I just finished. It's simple but essentially tries to highlight how common schizophrenia is, and that people do "recover" (or at least learn to cope with their illness). Another simple, but important, semantic point is that people with schizophrenia rarely get talked about (it's a scary illness), and when they do they're talked about as "schizophrenics," not "people with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is alienating enough in and of itself, at the very least we can remember that these are people in the way we talk.
Well I've rambled enough, good post, and here's my infographic: http://www.bestmedicaldegrees.com/schizophrenia/
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ReplyDeleteFAKE. The image of the different brain is after psychiatric medicines/drugs have been used. The changes in the "schizophrenic" brain are due to the drugs/medicines.
ReplyDeleteThe brain adapts to the psychiatric medicine/drugs, then if a person quits they have a withdrawal reaction, like people have withdrawal reactions to any habituated drug.
When/if they have a withdrawal reaction " Oh they are mentally ill again and need medication". A multi billion dollar industry that has no incentive to change.