Schizophrenia

A detailed Summary of Schizophrenia

The term "schizophrenia" is often misused in colloquial language. When a person appears perfectly normal at one time and suddenly changes into a different person, he is frequently described as schizophrenic or "schizo". An example of this might be someone who is typically a wallflower, but suddenly becomes the life of the party on a particular night. Rather than accepting the behavior as simply a part of human nature, the unusual behavior is jokingly attributed to the existence of another personality within that individual.

It bothers me to hear the term bandied about so casually and callously. Schizophrenia has touched our family in a profound way. My great-uncle was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1987. He experienced a psychotic break, an episode during which he lost all sense of reality, and behaved in a dangerous and bizarre fashion. Over time, he had become convinced that some of his neighbors were trying to harm him in some way. He literally hid inside his home, trying to convince others that no one was there. Finally, one night he concealed himself in some bushes outside his bedroom window. He had rubbed dirt on his face to further camouflage himself, and was armed with a semiautoma

Though the informal use of legitimate mental health terms is not uncommon, such use tends to perpetuate myths about various mental illnesses. Schizophrenia is not marked by the presence of more than one personality within an individual. Someone with schizophrenia does not appear to be perfectly normal at one time and then suddenly change into a different person. Rather, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling mental illness that often leaves its victims fearful and withdrawn. Recovery is often possible, but only when affected individuals have access to continuous treatment and rehabilitation over many years. Indeed, people with schizophrenia will probably be under medical care for the rest of their lives.

People with schizophrenia exhibit an array of symptoms including hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and speech. The most common hallucination in schizophrenia is hearing voices that comment on the victim's behavior, insult the victim or give commands. Visual hallucinations, such as seeing nonexistent things, and tactile hallucinations, such as a burning or itching sensation, can also occur.

Delusions are thoughts that are fragmented, bizarre, and have no basis in reality. Delusions may take on different themes. For

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Approximate Word count = 853
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science

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Schizophrenia

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