Monday, November 26, 2012

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 These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn.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/
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 28, 2012 at 8:17 PM

    I was kind of surprised as well in the sense that people with Schizophrenia are more than likely to harm themselves rather than other people. I always thought people with this disease were erratic and could just snap at any moment, as you mentioned as well, but this does not seem to be the case. Interesting post!

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  2. Frankie EnriquezNovember 28, 2012 at 10:06 PM

    I found your blog post on the different types of schizophrenia (paranoid, catatonic, and disorganized) very informative. I agree that most people suffering from schizophrenia are more likely to harm themselves rather than physically harm other people. I also agree with your assertion that little is known of the causes of schizophrenia and that conclusions should not be made until further valid research is done. I agreed with your video partially until about halfway through. When it started mentioning dopamine pathways, I got a little skeptical. However, I am glad that under the treatment section they put Psychological Counseling before Antipsychotic Medications. I doubt pharmaceutical companies would agree with that.

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