Schizophrenia
Painting by Amber Christian Osterhout
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Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized where the individual experiences hallucinations and/or delusions. Unlike what the myths surrounding schizophrenia suggest, it isn't a split personality or multiple personality disorder. The word "schizophrenia" does mean "split mind," but it actually is an imbalance of emotions and thought.
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Facts about Schizophrenia
- Schizophrenia is among the world’s top ten causes of long-term disability
- 1% of the population is affected by schizophrenia
- The illness tends to develop between the ages of 16 and 30 years, and mostly persists throughout the patient’s lifetime
- Patients with schizophrenia occupy about 25% of all psychiatric hospital beds and represent 50% of admissions to hospital
- Costs of treating schizophrenia are high, estimated to be US$44.9 billion in the USA for the year 1994
Symptoms
- Psychosis
- Apathy and withdrawal
- Cognitive impairment
What Causes Schizophrenia?
There is believed to be multiple factors to why a patient may develop Schizophrenia. The primary ones being genetic and environmental. For genetic factors, rates of schizophrenia are higher among relatives of
patients than in the general population. It is believed that Schizophrenia is not caused by a single gene but caused by multiple genes that each give a small effect to the illness. Environmental risks for schizophrenia include biological
and psychosocial factors. The risk of development of
schizophrenia is increased by prenatal and perinatal
events. These include maternal influenza, rubella,
malnutrition, diabetes mellitus, smoking during
pregnancy and obstetric complications. Several sociodemographic factors are associated with
increased risk of schizophrenia. Poverty and lower social
class have long been linked to higher rates of
schizophrenia.
Treatment of Schizophrenia Antipsychotic medications are the primary treatment of Schizophrenia. Over the last 30 years, despite many advances in brain imaging, genetics, and neurochemistry, the drugs routinely used to treat Schizophrenia have not changed. On the other side, psychosocial intervention hopes to improve the patients with Schizophrenia and to enhance their functioning in areas
such as independent living, relationships, and work.
Such examples of interventions that have been proven to help include educating the patient's family, supported
employment, social skills training, teaching illness
management skills, cognitive-behavior therapy for
psychosis, and treatment for substance abuse.
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Artwork designed by joedragt. Made
by Zazzle Art in San Jose, CA. |