Schizophrenia

Introduction

Schizophrenia is a disorder that effects many people in the United States. Schizophrenia s classified as a Psychotic disorder. Schizophrenic's symptoms are not usually present all the time. Having abnormally high level of a chemical called Dopamine sometimes causes schizophrenia. (McMahon, 1995)

Description of the Disorder

Schizophrenia is one of the most serious mental illnesses. (McMahon, 1995) Schizophrenics usually have trouble forming coherent sentences and staying focused on a task. This disease is a chronic and debilitating illness. A person with schizophrenia might withdraw from social situations and have strained relationships. Schizophrenia also usually causes the person with the ailment to experience deterioration in their ability to perform in employment or have personal relationships. (Litin, 2003)

Overview of the category of this mental illness

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, are usually marked with hallucinations and delusions. A psychosis can also include the person suffering from bizarre speech or behavior. Psychosis is sometime associated with another mental disorder and, its symptoms can be caused by a physical illness. Psychosis is an impairment of the way a person interrupts reality. (Litin, 2003)

Symptoms of this disorder

Two of the most serious symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations are the sensations of seeing, smelling, or hearing something that isn't there. Hallucinations can cause the person with the disorder to talk to voices that no one else can hear. Or may be the person will hear voices telling them to do something. (Litin, 2003)

Delusions are personal beliefs that have nothing to do with reality. Some versions of delusional schizophrenics believe that people are persecuting them or that people are forming conspiracies against them. They may also believe that people or things are controlling their mind. Schizophrenics sometime believe that they are someone else that is famous. These beliefs are called delusions of grandeur. (Litin, 2003)

Some other symptoms of schizophrenia include incoherent speech or thought, word salad, or lack of emotions. They may also have trouble focusing at work or if social situations. But, the symptoms of schizophrenia vary greatly from person to person. (Litin, 2003)

Causes or Origin of the Illness

Though the true cause for schizophrenia is unknown some believe that a sequence of events trigger something in the persons mind that sets off the disorder. (McMahon, 1995) Other researchers claim that the cause for schizophrenia and BI-polar disorder could be very closely related. Some researchers claim to have found that a flaw in a persons genetic code effects the way that