Your Schizophrenia Questions Answered

It can devastate a person, his or her job, family and personal interactions with other people. Sometimes it can mean prolonged time in an institution. In the past this disease was not understood and as a result the individuals afflicted with schizophrenia were often locked away in an insane asylum for most of their lives. The treatment methods were barbaric and did not have a positive outcome for the patients. In this article we will cover the basics of schizophrenia and what it could mean to you as either a patient or a family/friend of someone diagnosed with this illness.

What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a mental diagnosis of a disorder of the brain and personality. It is very serious and can cause great difficulties for the person diagnosed and living with the disease. It has only been coined since 1908 but great strides have been made in recent years to further understand how this disease affects the personal and occupational functions of patients.

Who discovered it?

It is not so much as who discovered this mental disease as who it was that first coined it "schizophrenia." Eugene Bleuler a Swiss psychologist worked to understand the illness and to study how and what type of symptoms affected the patient. He observed that patients with auditor and visual manifestations truly believed they were real even though they were not. Bleuler was the first person to observe that the patients did not suffer from dementia and were not always young people. Schizophrenia could affect anyone of any age though most symptoms did manifest themselves in early adulthood. He termed "schizophrenia" based on the Greek root words "schizein" which meant "to split" and "phr?n" which meant 'mind.'

What causes schizophrenia?

Researchers have some theories regarding what causes schizophrenia. They believe it can be: genetic, prenatal, social, substance abuse, psychological and neural. Each of these cases has involved individuals who displayed certain symptoms that led to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Many people who have been diagnosed are still being treated even though there may not be an obvious root cause that has manifested their symptoms.

What are the types of schizophrenia?

There are five different classifications of schizophrenia. These classifications are: residual, undifferentiated, catatonic, paranoid and disorganized. Each of these classifications differs on the symptoms and how the person interacts with other people as well as their state of living with their own personality and mental disorder. The classification helps doctors and psychiatrists help treat the patient and prescribe the right medication for the disease. This is important for helping the person lead as normal of a life as possible.

How is it treated?

Schizophrenia has to be treated for the entire course of the patient's life. It is a mixture of medication, therapy and a good support network for when there are times of crisis and the person feels as if they are slipping into the abyss of schizophrenia. Psychotherapy is not the usual treatment method of choice by itself. It can work in combination with the right mixture of medications to help the brain levels balance themselves out.

What are the symptoms?

There are about ten signs that psychologists and psychiatrists look for when diagnosing a patient with schizophrenia. The first is whether or not they are having delusional episodes where they believe things that are simply not true. No, it is not exactly the people that have conspiracy theories. The next is hallucinations where they see or hear things that are not actually there at all. Disorganized thinking, agitation and disorganized speech are other symptoms. They may have a lack of drive or become socially withdrawn. They are generally apathetic to the world and themselves and have an emotional unresponsiveness. Another symptom is having catatonic behavior.

What is the prognosis for schizophrenia?

With the right treatment and medications a person can live with schizophrenia. It may never be easy but at least they can begin to function in a way that allows them to interact with others, work and have a functioning home life with real relationships. Some people may never get better or see improvement but those cases are rare.

How is it prevented?

Like other mental diseases there is no prevention. There is merely observation for the signs by both the patient and the patient's family or friends. Researchers do not know yet if the disease is truly genetically passed down but there have been studies that do support this hypothesis.

If you have schizophrenia are you violent?

Some schizophrenics do become violent when in the midst of an auditory or visual hallucination. The most important factor is not allowing them to harm themselves or someone else if they are in the midst of a violent episode.

How does substance abuse affect schizophrenia?

Alcohol and illegal drugs can make the symptoms of schizophrenia much, much worse and are why doctors highly advocate that patients do not engage in risky behaviors such as those. It can make the hallucinations and social withdrawal even worse. It may seem to mellow out the symptoms at first but it is only a mask for the bigger issues and can becomes a crutch that leads to great detriment to the sufferer.

What are some alternative approaches to schizophrenia?

The only accepted and proven method of combating schizophrenia is through the use of medications and therapy. It is a chemical imbalance in the brain that medication must solve. Therapy helps the patient cope with many of the affects of schizophrenia but it cannot work alone. If you or a family member suffer from this disease it is important to get the right help. Homeopathic remedies and untrained medical personnel can make the disease much worse.

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