Schizophernia

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Abstract

* Schizophrenia

* Describe the general behaviors associated with the disorder.

In the active phase of schizophrenia, patients typically exhibit delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms like alogia, avolition, anhedonia, and affective flattening. Audio, visual, or olfactory hallucinations are often present. People with schizophrenia see, hear, or smell things that are not real. In addition, delusions, persistent thoughts and fantasies, which have no basis in reality frequently occur. Other characteristics of schizophrenia include disorganized speech and behavior. Someone in the active phase of schizophrenia may speak in nonsensical phrases, rhyming words, or gibberish. Other schizophrenia symptoms include bizarre behaviors like catatonia, posturing, inappropriate dress, poor grooming, and overtly sexual or aggressive behaviors. Negative schizophrenia symptoms like flattened affect, anhedonia, and alogia occur during the active and residual phases of schizophrenia. (APA,2000)

An individual is diagnosed with schizophrenia when symptoms persist for six months or more and cannot be accounted for by any other mental disorder, substance abuse, or a related medical problem. 

* When does schizophrenia start and who gets it?

Schizophrenia affects men and women equally. It occurs at similar rates in all ethnic groups around the world. Symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions usually start between ages 16 and 30. Men tend to experience symptoms a little earlier than women. Most of the time, people do not get schizophrenia after age 45 (Mueser KT and McGurk SR. Schizophrenia. Lancet. 2004 Jun 19;363(9426):2063-2072.)3 Schizophrenia rarely occurs in...