Schizophrenia is Mental Disorder
Schizophrenia is Mental Disorder Diseases occur to different people in different levels of severity. Certain conditions are classified as common and of little or no severity while others are out rightly classified as severe. An example of a severe ailment is schizophrenia. The severity of a disease should indicate the level of treatment administered to the affected.
Definition
Schizophrenia is a chronic, mental dysfunction of the brain that interferes with the normal thought process, personality and emotional balance in a person. It therefore results into a mental disorderliness in where a person experiences thought, behavioral, and social complications. A person’s thinking is mostly in disarray and completely out of touch with reality. It is a severe condition lacking a cure but could be treated if necessary steps are adopted within an appropriate time. It is also referred to as a split personality disorder. It must be noted that its treatment might end up being a lifelong process owing to its chronic nature.
Signs and symptoms of Schizophrenia
Just like any other complication, schizophrenia has certain indications that should be checked out for quick treatment. Generally these symptoms and signs are classified into three major classes: Positive symptoms: These are signs that appear to touch on the excessive or destruction of the normal functioning system. Include herein are hallucinations and delusion (the state of believing or having false ideas about things and majorly infests itself as paranoia), Negative symptoms: these appear to show a reduction or loss of normal functioning system. They are generally persistent in nature and their evaluation is difficult. They comprise emotional discordance, exhibitions of catatonia (physically rigid and sluggish behavior), incoherence of speech, increased social isolation and deservedness. Since the disease affects the emotional composition of the affected, there is always an evident emotional non-responsiveness. Cognitive symptoms: They refer to the difficulties associated with concentration levels and memory of the affected. They consist of among others; losses of usual interests or pleasures, slow thinking, slow understanding and poor levels of concentration and memory lapses, reduced personal hygiene for instance poor dressing codes and loss of motivation and proper judgment. In remote instances, a person may go mute, assume abnormal postures, or exhibit unnecessary restlessness.
There is widespread resentment on the part of the affected as failure to attain success in academic and occupational fields is evident. Coordination of major body systems is generally lost.
Causes of Schizophrenia
The major causes of schizophrenia are not clearly defined but are believed to be as a result of complex interactions between environmental variations, psychological makeup and a person’s genetically composition. Otherwise known as split personality disorder, the causative agents of schizophrenia tend to alter the personality of an individual thus interfering with practically every functioning of the body from thought to speech. The interaction between one’s biological make up and the environment within which he or she interacts affects in a big way such an individual’s development in relation to all the threats posed by the social, physical set up. Schizophrenia is not a hereditary disorder though existence of the disorder in certain members of a family could affect in a way the health of a new born. Existence of multiple genes in a parent could be early indications of schizophrenic baby. Environmentally, there could exist high possibilities of contracting the disease (in the case of a new born) even before birth. This is entirely dependent on the conditions the mother is subjected to during pregnancy. For instance children whose mothers fall ill during pregnancy could be at higher risks of contracting this disease. The nature of the environment in which the child is brought up would act as a major influencing factor considering acts of molestation, bullying neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, and domestic violence on the part of the parents among other things could provide breeding grounds for this disease to spread. Other things like poverty and trauma resulting from losing a loved one at a tender age could come into play as major causes of schizophrenia. In the event one is exposed to his circumstances at an early age, risks of psychological trauma are very high.
Types of Schizophrenia
Owing to the diversity in the causes of Schizophrenia various forms of this disease exist and could be categorized as: Paranoid (Characterized by high levels of hallucination and excessive delusions), Disorganized (Incoherence is a major problem as well as emotional detachments), Catatonic (Withdrawals in this case is in extreme and prefers isolation), Residual ( interest and motivation in life is often deficient), Undifferentiated and Schizoaffective abnormality( here mania is evident in a mixed form).
Treatment of Schizophrenia
Considering this disease is chronic in nature and has no cure care should be taken to offer effective treatment to any affected persons. Of importance in treating schizophrenic conditions would be to realize that there exists no precise cause of this condition. Therefore all efforts taken to treat it should and must focus on the signs and symptoms rather than the cause itself. Fort his reason therefore, its treatment could encompass a lot considering its symptoms are in plenty. Its treatment consists of medication and therapeutic methods. Medication here involves administering drugs or medicine on the patient while therapeutic channels include counseling as well as attention. Antidepressants could be administered to cub depression and general mood disorders. There exist a host of different therapeutic treatments that could be administered. These include family therapy whereby the family takes responsibility to encourage the affected individual, cognitive and behavioral therapy that would help to identify efficient skills and aim at encouraging he affected to incorporate efficient ideas. Apart from those there is also the option of psychotherapy that would involve building one’s personal relationship. Early treatment measures should be adopted to achieve efficient long term outcomes.
Statistics
As a result of widespread research, certain statistics have been arrived at to help us understand the effects of this disease better and learn to identify it at any slightest opportunity. For instance, the male species is at a higher risk of contracting the disease as compared to the female species. Statistics show certain comparisons that prove this like for example men are likely to contract this disease at a younger age than women, respond slower to medication as compared o women and tend to experience disastrous long term effects when compared to their female counterparts. This difference is thought to come about as a result of the estrogen hormone possessed by women and is lacking in men. Due to this therefore he rate of prevalence of this disease is higher in the male species as compared to the female species. As for the national prevalence rate, 1% of the total population of the United States of America is affected by this disease.
Conclusion
Having explored the schizophrenia condition at large, it is important that everyone takes it upon himself to be on the forefront to help curb this disease that apart from causing pain and bodily harm to many individuals, also causes financial losses to the various families affected. Like the adage says prevention is better than cure and so we should be careful not to let this condition destroy the very fabric of our nation; – our families.
