Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia = “Split Mind” = “A Split from Reality”
What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects how people think, feel, and perceive. (DSMV) It is often triggered by stress or trauma but no event causes it.
What are symptoms of Schizophrenia?
· Disorganized thinking and speech.
· Emotions and behaviors not congruent with their situation.
· Disturbed perceptions such as delusions and hallucinations.
o Delusions: False beliefs not based in reality.
§ Persecutory: When a person believes someone is hurting or harming them despite no evidence.
§ Erotomanic: When a person believes someone is in love with them, despite no evidence. The person supposedly in love with them is often a celebrity or person in power.
§ Somatic: When a person believes that they have an illness, despite no evidence.
§ Grandiose: When a person believes they have superior abilities, despite no evidence.
o Hallucinations: False perceptions that effect senses.
§ Audio: Hearing things that are not there. Most common is hearing voices.
§ Visual: Seeing objects, people, lights, or patterns that are not there.
§ Olfactory: Tasting things that are not there. May believe there is poison in their food.
§ Tactile: Movements or feelings in the body that are not there. Most common is feeling like bugs are crawling on skin.
· Loss of contact with reality.
· Psychotic symptoms.
o Positive: Adds things to it.
§ Hallucinations
§ Delusions
o Negative: Takes away or is lacking in something.
§ Lack of pleasure – May not enjoy anything anymore. (Anhedonia)
§ Trouble with speech - May not talk much or has trouble speaking. (Alogia)
§ Flat affect – Flat sound when speaking, flat face with no emotion.
§ Withdrawal – May no longer be making plans with others, become a hermit. (Apathy)
§ Struggling with basic daily life – May stop bathing or taking care of themselves.
§ No follow-through – May not stick to a schedule or cannot get started at all. (Avolition)
o Disorganized
§ Loose associations – Rapidly shifting between topics with no connections.
§ Perservation – repeat same thing over and over again.
§ Made up words that only the speaker knows the meaning to.
§ Decline in overall daily functioning.
§ Unpredictable or inappropriate emotional responses.
§ Lack of impulse control.
§ Bizarre behaviors with lack of purpose.
· Breakdown in selective attention.
· Paranoia
Men VS Women?
Men can start to have symptoms anytime from early 20s to mid 20s.
Women can start to have symptoms in their late twenties.
Symptoms can gradually come into play or can come all at once.
Brain chemistry behind it?
Researchers suggest that brains of patients with Schizophrenia may have extra Dopamine receptors which influences movement, learning, attention, emotion, and the reward system.
Overly magnified Dopamine may over stimulate and may be able to create positive symptoms.
Are there medications to help?
There are medications that can block Dopamine called Antipsychotics.
· Haloperidol
· Clozapine
· Quetiapine
· Olanzapine
· Aripiprazole
Where is this happening in the brain?
When hallucinating, there is activity in the Thalamus which is in charge of filtering incoming sensory signals.
Paranoid patient’s brains showed activity in the Amygdala which is where fear comes from.
What is causing these brain informalities?
Diathesis-Stress Model – Mental and physical disorders develop from a genetic or biological predisposition for that illness combined with environmental stressors that play a facilitating role.
This can help explain why more lower SES or poverty level people are at higher risk.
Are there resources to help better understand Schizophrenia?
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
The Soloist (2009)
Benny & Joon (1993)
Memento (2000)
Shutter Island (2010)
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