Schizophrenia Types, Symptoms, Medications, Treatment...

HISTORY EPIDEMIOLOGY CLINICAL FEATURES COURSE PROGNOSIS DIAGNOSTIC TYPES ETIOLOGY NEUROPATHOLOGICAL STUDIES GENETICS DOPAMINE HYPOTHESIS OTHER NEUROTRANSM1TTER SYSTEMS TREATMENT Schizophrenia is sometimes considered the most devastating of the mental illnesses because its onset is early in a patient’s life, and its symptoms can be destructive to the patient and to the patient’s family and friends. Although schizophrenia is usually discussed as if it were a single disease, this diagnostic category can include a variety of disorders that present with somewhat similar behavioral symptoms. Schizophrenia probably comprises a group of disorders with heterogeneous causes and definitely includes patients whose clinical†¦show more content†¦Since the parents of schizophrenics have a social class distribution similar to that of the general population, lower position of the patients appears to be as a result of the illness rather than as a cause. Since the highest incidence of schizophrenia is in young people, whose illnesses often become chronic, the number of cases is constantly increasing. Seventy percent of schizophrenics become ill between 15 and 35 years, and the illness affects males more than females. Peak onset in males lies between 15 and 24 years and in females between 25 and 35 years. There are slight ethnic differences with a high incidence in the Scandinavian countries and in non-whites. The chronicity of the illness presents an enormous cost. A recent study notes that although schizophrenia affects only one twelfth as many persons as myocardial infarction, the cost is six times as great. CLINICAL FEATURES: The two most common affective presentations of schizophrenia are reduced emotional responsiveness or even anhedonia and overly active and inappropriate emotions. Feeling tones include blunted affect and ambivalence, anxiety, terror, perplexity, or exaltation. Hallucinations may occur in any of the five sensory modalities. Auditory hallucinations are the most common and the patient may complain of hearing one or more voices which may be threatening, obscene, accusatory, or insulting. Illusions may also occur which may beShow MoreRelatedSchizophrenia: Types, Symptoms, Medications, Treatment Essay2472 Words   |  10 Pages Schizophrenia is a neurological disorder that affects the cognitive functions of an individual. The cause of this illness is unknown, but there are several theories of how an individual may acquire schizophrenia. Because there are many symptoms of the disease and because the symptoms can vary quite dramatically among several individuals and even within the same individual over time, the diagnosis of schizophrenia can be quite difficult. 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