Symptoms of Schizophrenia Essay - 1657 Words

Approximately 20% of North Americans will be affected by a mental illness during the course of their lifetime (Saha, Welham, Chant, McGrath, 2008). Schizophrenia continues to develop new challenges today and continues to be a complex mental illness. It is a brain disorder that can happen to anyone occurring in any culture, affecting men and women equally and all areas of functioning, including thought, emotion, perception, and behavior. Most commonly, schizophrenia strikes a person between his or her late teens and early 20s. Nonetheless, it can affect children as young as 12-years-old, or may lay dormant in a person until their late 20s (Saha, et al., 2008; Ueland Rund, 2005). The cause of Schizophrenia is not fully known.†¦show more content†¦People with schizophrenia believe the time they are living through is nothing but a dream, or that the individual they pass on the street was only a hallucination. On the contrary, they may have a dream or experience a hallucination that they are sure is real. Hallucinations are another common symptom of schizophrenia. People diagnosed with schizophrenia may see people or things that do not exist, and may hear voices or sounds that do not exist (Saha, et al., 2008). A person with schizophrenia often converses with the people he or she sees or the voices he or she hears, which appears to others as if he or she is talking to himself or herself. Often, this causes others to be uncomfortable and avoid people with schizophrenia. As a result, people with schizophrenia to lead lonely lives. Issues associated with Schizophrenia as a disorder Again, schizophrenia is a brain disease, just like Alzheimer’s. It cannot be predicted or prevented as moral weaknesses, character flaws, or poor parenting skills. Schizophrenia is also not a Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). This is a common misconception that has greatly contributed to the ‘schizophrenic stigma,’ which makes life for people with schizophrenia even more difficult (Saha, et al., 2008). Because of the nature of the disease, schizophrenia can be very difficult to detect. People with schizophrenia are often misdiagnosed as having anxiety, antisocialShow MoreRelatedSymptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophrenia899 Words   |  4 PagesSchizophrenia What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is defined as a psychotic disorder that strikes about one percent of the world population. It is a disease that makes it difficult for a person to think logically, to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences like hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices, and paranoia. 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Some symptoms of Schizophrenia include hallucinations, delusionsRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophrenia1176 Words   |  5 Pages Symptoms The symptoms of schizophrenia are wide and varied, typically falling into three main categories, positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Each of these symptom types affect the patient in different ways, and in different degrees of severity. The symptoms may range from mildly irritating, to severe and debilitating. Positive symptoms are behaviors not normally seen in healthy people. Negative symptoms are behaviors that are usually exhibited in healthy people but areRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophrenia1671 Words   |  7 Pages Schizophrenia is defined many ways, but each definition of this disorder is correct. No two individuals will have the exact same symptoms of schizophrenia. The word schizophrenia comes from the Greek words that mean â€Å"split mind†. This disorder can lead to many other problems throughout a person’s lifetime. There are many different symptoms that can help with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but each of the sym ptoms can also be contributed to other disorders. The symptoms of schizophrenia appearRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Schizophrenia1077 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Schizophrenias is a serious mental illness characterized by incoherent or illogical thoughts, bizarre behavior and speech, and delusions or hallucinations, such as hearing voices (APA,2015). I choose to touch on the topic of schizophrenia because I always been interested the topic itself. The one thing I wondered is if there are different stages of schizophrenia and why it may be hard to diagnose. Schizophrenia is a mental disease that’s very hard to pinpoint in a person, which