Schiophrenia and Twins

What is Schizophrenia & Paranoid Schizophrenia
Home
What is Schizophrenia & Paranoid Schizophrenia
Differences and Similarities Between Twins
Schizophrenia and Twins
Case Studies and Alternative Research
Process Work
Bibliography

Schizophrenia is a very serious and chronic brain disease but it is also highly treatable. Although there is no cure (as of 2006) for schizophrenia, the treatment success rate with antipsychotic medications and psycho-social therapy can be high. If the appropriate level of investment is made in biological and genetic brain research, it has been estimated that a cure for schizophrenia could be found within 10 years (by the year 2013). Traditionally, however, schizophrenia has only received a small fraction of the amount of medical research dollars that go into other serious physical (non-brain) diseases

What is Schizophrenia?

 

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder, which causes distorted thoughts and perceptions. Thoughts may be scrambled or jump from subject to subject. Perceptions may be unclear outside reality, causing people to see or hear things that are not there.
             Schizophrenia is frequently a chronic illness requiring ongoing medical attention, much like hypertension or diabetes. Those with schizophrenia can go for long periods of time without any symptoms (remission) but then they could see the return of their symptoms (relapse).  

There are many forms of Schizophrenia. For example, a person who is incoherent but has no delusions is said to have disorganized schizophrenia. A person who has constant feelings of being watched, followed or victimized is said to have paranoid schizophrenia. Also someone who lacks initiative, motivation, social interest, enjoyment and emotional responsiveness is said to have undifferentiated schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can differ in intensity, severity and frequency of both psychotic and residual symptoms from person to person. Therefore, scientists use the word "schizophrenia” to refer to a range of illnesses from mild to severe.

 

Causes

 

            There are three main factors scientists are exploring:

 

Genetics- Schizophrenia is seen as a disorder that runs in families and is inherited by certain members. Also it may be triggered by an environmental stress. Like other genetically related illnesses, schizophrenia appears when the body undergoes hormonal and physical changes, like those that occur during puberty in the teen and young adult years.

Chemistry- Many people with schizophrenia have a chemical imbalance within their brain of the neurotransmitter Dopamine. It has been shown that drugs that reduce schizophrenic symptoms also block dopamine receptors and those that mimic schizophrenic symptoms increase activity at dopamine receptors.

Problems during pregnancy and birth- some people believe that viral infection; improper nutrition during pregnancy, or birth difficulties may increase the chances of a person developing schizophrenia.

 

What is Paranoid Schizophrenia?

 

Paranoid schizophrenia is defined in the DSM-IV as,
           

A type of schizophrenia in which there are:

1.      Preoccupation with one or more systematized delusions or with frequent auditory hallucinations related to single theme.

2.      None of the following: incoherence, marked loosening associations, flat or grossly inappropriate affect, catatonic behaviour, grossly disorganized behaviour.

 

It is the most common form of schizophrenia in most parts of the world. Paranoid schizophrenia may be episodic, with partial or complete remissions, or chronic. Some of its symptoms include relatively stable, often paranoid delusions, usually accompanied by hallucinations, particularly of the auditory varies, and perceptual disturbances. “Psychosis, a common condition in schizophrenia, is a state of mental impairment marked by hallucinations, which are disturbances of sensory perception, and/or delusions, which are false yet strongly held personal beliefs that result from an inability to separate real from unreal experiences. Less obvious symptoms, such as social isolation or withdrawal, or unusual speech, thinking, or behavior, may precede, be seen along with, or follow the psychotic symptoms.”[1]

 

[1] http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/sz.overview.htm