Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

 

     What is the first thing that you think about when you hear the word schizophrenia? Well when I first heard about schizophrenia I pictured a man going wild attempting to choke and kill everyone that walked beside him. Well, that is not schizophrenia. According with one of my professors, people with schizophrenia are probably the people that you should fear the least. Actually they are more likely to harm themselves than others.*

 

     Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard to:

• Tell the difference between what is real and not real
• Think clearly
• Have normal emotional responses
• Act normally in social situations

     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 These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. We know very little of what causes schizophrenia and more research is still necessary to come to a firm conclusion.

     There are three main types of schizophrenia

Paranoid schizophrenia symptoms may include:

• Anxiety
• Anger or arguing
• False beliefs that others are trying to harm you or your loved ones

Disorganized schizophrenia symptoms may include:

• Childlike behavior
• Problems thinking and explaining your ideas clearly
• Showing little emotion

Catatonic schizophrenia symptoms may include:

• Grimacing or other odd expressions on the face
• Lack of activity
• Rigid muscles and posture
• Not responding much to other people

Undifferentiated schizophrenia may include symptoms of more than one other type of schizophrenia.

 

 

Here is a video explaining one of the hypothesis of schizophrenia. (Dopamine) 

 

Refrences: Schizoprenia.com;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001925/

Mood Disorders

The Other Side of Antidepressants
     Antidepressants are drugs that are suppose to help a person feel better. We have become a nation of quick fixes beginning with our economy all the way to our medical field. I am very concerned of where we are going as a nation when it comes to prescribing pills to help people deal with the stresses of life. Most of us probably know someone that has been depressed and has been given medication to "cure" the "illness". I, for example, have my mother in law that is going through grief as she lost her 19 year old son in a terrible accident. Doctors have told her that is she takes medication for depression she will feel better. I have spoken with her and warned her about the consequences of antidepressants. One thing that I have learned is that psychotherapy is more effective and with no side effects.
   Antidepressants have been known to cause suicidal thoughts and even the FDA has made the pharmaceutical companies put a warning label on the box. Many of the antidepressants are used to target different diseases and the dosage is the same. We know very little about what causes depression and yet we are willing to fill our brain with substances that who knows the long term effect. What bothers me the most is that many of this powerful antidepressants are given to children. Many of this drugs were never meant to be given to children, they were meant for adults. Yet we continue prescribing this medications more than ever.
     I can spend hours with you telling you why antidepressants should be reconsidered but who am I? I am an undergraduate student with no experience in this field that is why I am directing you to a very reputable magazine and psychologist to explain this better. Click Here

***  Also here is a video from ABC also talking about the negative effects of the use of antidepressants.***

Stress and Emotions

Amygdala
     According to the Merriam Webster dictionary the amygdala is one of the four basal ganglia in each cerebral hemisphere that is part of the limbic system and consists of an almond-shaped mass of gray matter in the anterior extremity of the temporal lobe. It has long been linked with a person's mental and emotional state. But recently scientific advances, researchers have grasped how important this 1-inch-long structure really is. Associated with a range of mental conditions from normalcy to depression to even autism, the amygdala has become the focal point of numerous research projects. 
   To this day, we have learned that the amygdala is one of the main areas in our brain responsible for agression, alcoholism, sexual orientation, post traumatic brain disorder, social interaction just to name a few. Or maybe a better way to say it is that there is plenty of electrical activity in that area of the brain that leads us to believe that the amygdala is responsible for the disorders mentioned.
   So what happens if a person has damage to the amygdala? Well there was a case where a woman had damage to the amygdala and she was fearless. At one point she was held at gunpoint and with a knife and she reported no fear. She has been the subject of many tests and conclusions are that the damage to the amygdala is what makes her fearless. Now they are linking combat veterans without PTSD with damage to the amygdala. There are still no evidence that that proves that all of this is responsible due to the amygdala but maybe later in the future we will have the answer. I have included a video that talks about the link of PTSD and the amygdala. Enjoy!