Inside Schizophrenia

Inside Schizophrenia

In 1887, Dr. Emile Kraepelin, a German physician, discovered a distinct mental disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and extremely impaired thinking, emotions and overall behavior. He called it “dementia praecox”; however in 1911, a Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Blueler found that the term, “schizophrenia” was more fitting for the disorder. Blueler coined the phrase and it was found that the word has a Greek origin with the meaning, “split brain”. This definition is spot on because the symptoms of schizophrenia demonstrate a split between perception and senses. Although schizophrenia was only named just over one hundred years ago, its symptoms and behaviors have been around since Pharaonic Egyptian times and two millenniums before Christ. Despite the history of schizophrenia, scientists have advanced knowledge on the causes, effects and treatments the mental disorder

There are five types of schizophrenia: disorganized, residual, catatonic, paranoid and undifferentiated. Disorganized schizophrenia is characterized as disorganized speech or behavior that is difficult to understand, or the presence of inappropriate emotions. This may mean that random, irrelevant statements are blurted out for no apparent reason, or perhaps laughter when a humorous situation is lacking. Residual schizophrenia is described as schizophrenia without hallucinations, delusions or disorganized thoughts or actions, and with perhaps only one past schizophrenic episode. Most times it is seen after treatment of another type of schizophrenia when the schizophrenic goes into remission and attempts to return to a normal life. It is seen to be the hardest type of schizophrenia to identify because often it merely looks as if the individual has lost all pleasure in life. Paranoid schizophrenics experience extreme delusions, and auditory hallucinations. However, they express intellect and emotions relatively normal. Those with paranoid schizophrenia tend to be very...