Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia


     "In my senior year of high school, I began to experience personality

changes.  I did not realize the significance of the changes at the time, and I

think others denied them, but looking back I can see that they were the earliest

signs of illness.  I became increasingly withdrawn and sullen.  I felt alienated

and lonely and hated everyone.  I felt as if there were a huge gap between me

and the rest of the world; everybody seemed so distant from me."  This excerpt

describes part of Esse Leete 20-year battle with schizophrenia.  She committed

herself to leading the fullest life her disease will allow and to educating

others about mental illness.  Schizophrenia is a very serious disease, but

through defining schizophrenia and getting  the patient help and treatment a

schizophrenic can lead a full life like any other person.

     Schizophrenia is defined as any of a group of psychotic reactions

characterized by withdrawal from reality with highly variable affective,

behavioral and intellectual disturbances by the American Heritage Dictionary.

No definition of schizophrenia can adequately describe all people with this

illness.  Schizophrenia is an extremely complex mental illness.  It is clear

that schizophrenia is a disease which makes it difficult for the person with the

illness to decide what is real and what is not (Swados 5).  It is also clear

that this brain disease affects normal, intelligent people in all walks of life.

There are six concrete phrases that describe schizophrenia:  it is a real

disease, has concrete and specific symptoms, is different from other mental

illnesses, is the result of flaws brain biochemistry, may be treated by specific

antipsychotic drugs, and is almost always treatable.

     Scientist are unsure of the causes of schizophrenia, although research

is progressing rapidly.  Scientist are almost certain that schizophrenia has

more than one cause.  One cause could be a chemical imbalance.  An imbalance of

the brain's chemical system has long been suspected as the main cause of the

illness (Youth 2).    A second cause could be stress.  Most authorities disagree

that severe stress can cause the illness. Stress can however, worsen the

symptoms when the illness is already present.  A third cause could possibly be

genetic predisposition.  Genetic transmission has yet to be proven even though

schizophrenia tends to run is some families(Youth 3).  For example,

schizophrenia occurs in 1% of the general population but children with one

schizophrenic parent have a 10% chance of developing the illness.  When both

parents have schizophrenia the percentage of risk rises to approximately 40%

(Youth 3). Scientists today think that in some types of schizophrenia, the

illness may ride along not only on one common gene, but on various rare genes or

a combination of fairly common genes (Youth 3).  While the causes are unclear,

schizophrenia definitely is:  not caused by childhood diseases, poverty,

domineering mothers and/or passive fathers, or guilt, failure or misbehavior.

     Just like an other illness, schizophrenia has signs or symptoms.  The

symptoms are not identical for each person who has the illness.  Approximately

one-third of those affected may have only one episode of schizophrenia in his

lifetime while another one-third may have recurring or continual episodes but

lead relatively normal lives in between.  A final one-third have symptoms for a

lifetime (Youth 3).  Schizophrenia always involves deterioration and changes

from a previous level of functioning.  Family members and friends often notice

that the person is "not the same".  The person with schizophrenia has difficulty

in separating what is real from what is unreal.  As the person becomes more

stressed by the demands of day to day living, the person may withdraw and the

symptoms become more pronounced (Video).  Deterioration is noticeable in ares

such as: work or academic achievement , how one relates to others, and personal

care and hygiene (Video).  Symptoms of schizophrenia are noticed in sever
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