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schizophrenia is a severe disturbance of the brain's functioning. In The Broken Brain: The Biological Revolution in Psychiatry, Dr. Nancy Andreasen states "The current evidence concerning the causes of schizophrenia is a mosaic. It is quite clear that multiple factors are involved. These include changes in the chemistry of the brain, changes in the structure of the brain, and genetic factors. Viral infections and head injuries may also play a role....finally, schizophrenia is probably a group of related diseases, some of which are caused by one factor and some by another." There are billions of nerve cells in the brain. Each nerve cell has branches that transmit and receive messages from other nerve cells. The branches release chemicals, called neurotransmitters, which carry the messages from the end of one nerve branch to the cell body of another. In the brain afflicted with schizophrenia, something goes wrong in this communication system. "In most people the brain's switching system works well. Incoming perceptions are sent along appropriate signal paths, the switching process goes off without a hitch, and appropriate feelings, thoughts, and actions go back out again to the world....in the brain afflicted with schizophrenia...perceptions come in but get routed along the wrong path or get jammed or end up at the wrong destination." Schizophrenia may develop so gradually that the family and even the person with the disease may not realize that anything is wrong for a long period of time. This slow deterioration is referred to as gradual-onset or insidious schizophrenia. A gradual build-up of symptoms may or may not lead to an acute or crisis episode of schizophrenia. An acute episode is short and intense, and involves hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and an altered sense of self. Sometimes schizophrenia has a rapid or sudden onset. Very dramatic changes in behaviour occur over a few weeks or even a few days. Sudden onset usually leads fairly quickly to an acute episode. Some people have very few such attacks in a lifetime; others have more. Some people lead relatively normal lives between episodes. Others find that they are very listless. depressed, and unable to function well. In some, the illness may develop into what is known as chronic schizophrenia. This is a severe, long-lasting disability characterized by social withdrawal, lack of motivation, depression, and blunted feelings. In addition, moderate versions of acute symptoms such as delusions and thought disorder may be present in the chronic disorder. Psychiatrists divide the symptoms of schizophrenia into "positive" and "negative" categories. This can be confusing. Dr. E. Fuller Torrey explains that the adjective "positive" "...denotes those symptoms which are present and should be absent..."; "negative" those "...that are absent but should be present...." (Torrey, Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual, revised edition, p. 79). This classification system is believed to be helpful for research purposes. It may suggest more promising forms of treatment and may help predict the outcome of the illness. Positive Symptoms Hallucinations, Delusions are strange and steadfast beliefs that are held only by the observer and that remain despite obvious evidence to the contrary. Thought disorder refers to problems in the way that a person with schizophrenia processes and organizes thoughts. Altered sense of self is a term describing a blurring of the ill person's feeling of who he or she is. It may be a sensation of being bodiless, or non-existent as a person. Negative Symptoms Lack of motivation or apathy is a lack of
energy or interest in life that is often confused with laziness.
Schizophrenia is not now curable, but through the use of anti-psychotic medication and psychotherapy, the positive symptoms of schizophrenia can usually be controlled. APPLYING FOR DISABILITY WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA DISORDER Other Sites On This Subject 1. http://www.schizophrenia.com/ Home The Truth Claim Process About Us FAQ Contact Us Privacy Policy |