Schizophrenia and Psychosis and Lifespan Development

Schizophrenia and Psychosis and Lifespan Development

Paper

Mihaela Ciobanu-Osborne

PSY/410

May 22nd, 2012

University of Phoenix

Instructor: Dr. Tamara White

Schizophrenia and Psychosis and Lifespan Development

There are five common stages of development; birth, infancy, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Development occurs throughout these stages. If during one of those stages a break in development occurs an individual is likely to develop a mental disorder such as psychosis and/or schizophrenia (Hansell & Damour, 2008).

There have been many theories on the causes of mental disorders. Some of the earliest include possession by demons or the devil, or physical factors such as pressure on the brain. Today research explores four main factors; genetic, biochemical, psychodynamic, and social.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder, which consist of a chronic sever brain disorder. This disorder affects individuals every day and affects 1% of Americans. Schizophrenia has a severe impact on an individual’s impairment, their emotions and behavior. One who is diagnosed with schizophrenia can maintain a healthy yet normal life as long as they continue to make healthy decisions and take their medication as directed (Hansell & Damour, 2008).

Schizophrenia and Psychosis

Schizophrenia can be characterized by different types of unusual behaviors and the most important aspect of schizophrenia is the human thought process. This type of disorder can be difficult to diagnose and it does not come out or be persistent like some disorders. People can go with having schizophrenia for years until something happens causing it to come out of the wood works. Schizophrenia can be inherited or is known to be inherited from a family member that suffers from this disorder. Behavioral components can also play a role in schizophrenia as well as biological components.

Types of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia can be put into sub types which are...