schizophrenia

Examples of schizophrenia in the following topics:

• Etiology of Schizophrenia

  • Schizophrenia is a severe neuro-psychiatric disease that affects approximately 1% of the world's population.
  • The pathenogenic theory of schizophrenia suggests that in-utero exposure to pathogens that affect the central nervous system may cause a predisposition for the development of schizophrenia.
  • Research has shown that neurotransmitter activity is significantly related to schizophrenia.
  • Seratonin and glutamate have also been linked with schizophrenia.
  • Finally, the basal ganglia also affect schizophrenia.

• The Schizophrenia Spectrum

  • The spectrum of psychotic disorders includes schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, and catatonia.
  • In the previous version of the DSM (the DSM-IV-TR), schizophrenia was divided into five subtypes: catatonic, disorganized, paranoid, undifferentiated, and residual.
  • Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, perception, emotion, and behavior.
  • Delusional disorder cannot be diagnosed in an individual previously correctly diagnosed with schizophrenia.
  • This self-portrait of a person with schizophrenia represents their perception of a distorted experience of reality.

• Introduction to Schizophrenia and Psychosis

  • Schizophrenia is a disorder of psychosis in which the person’s thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors are out of contact with reality.
  • Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by major disturbances in thought, perception, emotion, and behavior.
  • Schizophrenia has a wide range of symptoms, and not all symptoms may be present in all forms of schizophrenia.
  • The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia are usually divided into two categories: positive and negative.
  • People with schizophrenia can exhibit too little (negative) or too much (positive) movement.

• Cluster A: Paranoid, Schizoid, and Schizotypal Personality Disorders

  • In addition, the person's symptoms must not be due to schizophrenia or any other psychotic disorder.
  • These symptoms must not be attributable to an autism spectrum disorder or to schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder.
  • These symptoms must not be attributable to an autism spectrum disorder or to schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder.
  • This suggests that there is a genetic component to STPD and that it is also genetically linked to schizophrenia.
  • When patients with STPD are prescribed medication, they are most often prescribed the same drugs used to treat patients suffering from schizophrenia.

• Introduction to Biomedical Therapies

  • Both types of treatment help people with psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
  • For example, an individual with schizophrenia who is bombarded with visual or auditory hallucinations may find it difficult to focus in psychotherapy; with medication, the individual's hallucinations can be eliminated or reduced to a level that allows the individual to benefit from psychotherapy.
  • Others, with severe disorders like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, may need to take psychotropic medication continuously for effective symptom management.
  • In some countries it is also used in the treatment of schizophrenia and other disorders.

• Electroconvulsive Therapy

  • It is currently used in the treatment of major depressive disorder, mania, schizophrenia, and catatonia.
  • ECT is rarely used in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but is sometimes recommended for schizophrenia when short-term global improvement is desired, or the subject shows little response to antipsychotics alone.

• Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Therapy

  • In contrast, a 2001 systematic review of the medical literature by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that no data exist demonstrating that psychodynamic therapy is effective in treating schizophrenia and severe mental illness, and cautioned that medication should always be used alongside any type of talk therapy in schizophrenia cases.
  • The Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team in particular cautions against following a psychodynamic approach in treating cases of schizophrenia due to its lack of empirical support.

• The Biopsychosocial Model of Health and Illness

  • The greatest single risk factor for developing schizophrenia, for example is having a first-degree relative with the disease (risk is 6.5%); more than 40% of monozygotic twins of those with schizophrenia are also affected.
  • It is clear that genetics have an important role in the development of schizophrenia, but equally clear is that there must be other factors at play.

• Pharmacotherapy (Medication)

  • Antipsychotics are used to treat schizophrenia, but also may be used for treating mania, delusional disorders, and other disorders.
  • They have been found to work for as many as 70% of individuals with schizophrenia; however, approximately 30% of users develop serious side effects from using antipsychotics.
  • For example, an individual with schizophrenia who is bombarded with visual, auditory, or other hallucinations, may find it difficult to focus in psychotherapy.
  • For example, the primary treatment of schizophrenia is antipsychotic medication, but it can be combined with psychosocial interventions like therapy.

• Preventing Psychological Disorders

  • A person’s risk of developing schizophrenia increases if a relative has schizophrenia—the closer the genetic relationship, the higher the risk.