Schizophrenia
...ot always lead to progressively poorer functioning, but lean towards Kraeplin's definition of symptoms and cause (Robbins, 1993). Schizophrenia remains a difficult disorder in which to diagnose and categorize." (Larson, Reiten, and Voorhees, 2004). Discussion "Early schizophrenia symptoms are benign enough to go unnoticed by family and friends. As the illness progresses the variety of schizophrenia symptoms increase as well as intensify. Schizophrenia symptoms are triggered by a number of processes coupled with genetic factors and environmental stresses." (Harris County Psychiatric Center, 2004) Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders that causes irregularities in thought, perception, affect, behavior, and also communication. A person's thoughts often become distorted and the person jumps from topic to topic when talking or even when listening to someone else. Their perception becomes distorted causing them to lose sight of reality. They often see and hear things that are not actually there. People with the disease often have false beliefs that they think is the absolute truth. Some even think that they are living a different life than the one that they are actually living. A person's emotions may change from time to time even when they are in the same situation. People who have schizophrenia go through periods of Page 3 getting better and worse. They can go long periods of time without ever getting symptoms, but they still need to take their medication. There are also many myths about schizophrenia and people that have this disease. Below is a list of a couple of the main myths: MYTH: Schizophrenics kill other people and/or are violent FACT: People with schizophrenia are no more likely to kill or harm anybody than other individuals. They are more likely to hurt themselves rather than other people. "According to Dr. Bhagat, 10% of the people suffering from schizophrenia kill themselves. This is a stage when they are recovering." (Indiatimes, 2004) MYTH: Schizophrenia is split or multiple personality disorder FACT: The two are often confused but they are actually not the same things. "The confusion arose because the word schizophrenia comes from two Greek roots meaning, "split mind." (Indiatimes, 2004) MYTH: People with schizophrenia are mentally retarded FACT: Schizophrenia and mental retardation are two completely different illnesses. Schizophrenia can occur in people of all levels of intelligence. Schizophrenia does cause problems but it doesn't affect overall intelligence. MYTH: Schizophrenia is caused by evil spirits and/or witchcraft FACT: There are many things that may cause schizophrenia, but it is not caused by any evil spirits and/or witchcraft. Page 4 MYTH: People never recover from Schizophrenia FACT: The truth is that there are some patients that have actually recovered completely. "According to Dr. Bhagat- "About 50% of the people respond very well and some of them I know today are owners of Fortune 500 companies. 25% continue to have symptoms but are able to lead satisfying and productive lives, working and living independently in the community. And the other 25% do not recover significantly." (Indiatimes, 2004) ...