Schizophrenia Research Essay Example
Imagine you grew up with a hard life, maybe abusive parents, drug addicts, and it was so traumatic, it followed you to your adulthood. You start seeing things that others say are not there, hearing voices that no one else can hear. Thoughts of people trying to kidnap you or make your loved ones unsafe flood your mind all day. You’re suspicious of everything and everyone around you and their intentions with you. That is a difficult and sad state to be in and not real, right? It’s real and this mindset is a mental illness that 1.1 percent of the population of 78 million suffer from. It’s called “Paranoid Schizophrenia,” (pronounced skiht-zo-FREH-nee-uh) is a severe mental condition that intrudes with regular thought processes, causing hallucinations, delusions, and mental disorganization. It can ruin relationships, jobs, and your everyday life in just a blink of an eye. This illness was discovered in 1887 by Dr. Emile Kraepelin and is believed to have followed man all through life. Paranoid schizophrenia is a mental disorder that causes people to lose touch with reality after tragic events in early life.
Before we dive into the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and life of schizophrenia we must first know how it works inside our brain. There are many theories and beliefs on how schizophrenia is developed or caused by our brain. In the article “Schizophrenia and Your Brain,” by MD, Smitha Bhandari the author writes, “They’ve found that people who have the disorder may be more likely to have glitches in their genes that may disrupt brain development. There’s another key brain difference. Studies show that certain brain chemicals that control thinking, behavior, and emotions are either too active or not active enough in people with schizophrenia. Doctors also believe the brain loses tissue over time. And imaging tools, like PET scans and MRIs, show that people who have schizophrenia have less “gray matter” -- the part of the brain that contains nerve cells -- over time.” (par 2-4, Bhandari) As you can see there are many beliefs and understandings of this mental illness and the brain. Studies done by doctors suggest that there is no full understanding but they are starting to figure out how this works. There are many ways schizophrenia works inside our brain.
Schizophrenia has many causes. Although the cause of schizophrenia has never been discovered, some doctors believe that it is caused by traumatic events or genetics. In the article “Schizophrenia” by the UXL Encyclopedia of Science, it states, “Schizophrenia appears to have both genetic and environmental causes. There is a definite genetic link; people with schizophrenic parents or twin siblings are much more likely to develop the condition than others. Environmental conditions such as an urban setting, social isolation, and family dysfunction increase the risk.” (Part 6, Blackwall & Manar) The causes of schizophrenia rewire the brain into having these wild tantrums that are hard to be controlled. People start experiencing the symptoms like hallucinations along with voices in their head commenting on their actions or telling them to do certain acts. People with this mental illness are victims of stressful situations, that cause their minds to be scared and paranoid of everyone and everything. This is an illness that is scary for the people around them but also for them. They are stuck in a cycle of crazy thoughts that make them act the way they usually wouldn’t. The cause of Schizophrenia is genetics or traumatic events.
Schizophrenia has a long diagnosis process. The diagnosis of Schizophrenia takes time as you have to rule out other mental disorders. Before we get into the diagnosis you first have to learn how to get a diagnosis. First, patients must find a primary care doctor or psychiatrist. Then the person has to tell them what they have been noticing and experiencing and the steps to take to get help. During the diagnosis, doctors have to make sure that it is not caused by substance abuse, medication, or medical conditions. On “webmd.com” the author talks about the different tests that doctors use during the diagnosis. They write, “The doctor may also want to do a urine or blood test to make sure that alcohol or drug abuse isn’t causing the symptoms. Tests that scan and make pictures of the body and brain, like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT scan), might also help rule out other problems, like a brain tumor. They’ll also do tests to measure how much the person understands (they might call these cognitive tests), personality tests, and open-ended tests like the inkblot test (you might hear a doctor call it the Rorschach test).” These tests are needed to be done as early as possible so that the person can have a better grasp on handling the mental illness. Many tests that people would do for fun like inkblot tests are what can determine what a person has to go through the rest of their life. The diagnosis process of Schizophrenia takes a long time.
Schizophrenia has a long history of treatments. Years of trying to understand how to help people with Schizophrenia. The article “Schizophrenia” by the UXL Encyclopedia of Science discusses the history of treatment with Schizophrenia. “Before the 1950s, electroconvulsive treatment or shock therapy was the only known method of treatment. In the 1950s psychiatrists began prescribing drugs such as Thorazine and Haldol. In the 1990s, a new group of antipsychotic drugs was produced that were very effective in keeping delusions and hallucinations under control, though they continually require fine-tuning to prevent patients from losing all motivation and interest in life.” (Paragraph 7, Blackwall & Manar) Every couple of decades the world has tried to find a way to cure this illness. People would shock others to get them out of their frenzy. That sounds terrifying. Although all this treatment has been discovered to help the patients, many resent it. Partly out of thinking delusionally but also the effects of the drugs. Many of the medicines cause weight gain, drowsiness, and dizziness. If this treatment is a no-go then some people take CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) which is also used for anxiety such as OCD. Group therapy is also another option used that people have come with so that people can develop community and trust. As you can see, there is a long history of Schizophrenia.
The difficult life of people who live with Paranoid Schizophrenia. Many stories have been collected through time, interviewing the life of people living with this illness. There is this video interview with a man named Juno. He started having hallucinations and hearing voices when he was 14 years old. When he was diagnosed he was hospitalized in an under-18 hospital for a while. He went to a specialized school where he learned in his tiny room. He is here to share his story of living with Schizophrenia and the struggles he faced and faces now. Their thoughts, experiences, and hardships of their life. In this interview, “I prominently have two voices, the first one that sort of turned up was Norman Bates, he talks directly to me. Humphrey Bogart was the other one, he’s more third person. I had a lot of people whose parent’s wouldn’t let their children be friends with me. Even now sometimes I go to like relative’s house, well like friend’s relative’s house and they won’t leave ther kids alone in the room with me. Which is really not nice. My friends, my friends know now that I can’t go out clubbing or anything like that. Or being in really busy areas because they know that its much better for me to stay at home or go to a quiet pub during the day and going home at night especially.”. (Mind, the mental health charity) This man, Juno, has been limited to being able to do certain things because of his mental disorder. He is safe but he knows that he can’t do everything that everyone else can. People treat him like he is going to hurt them when he is the one facing being scared of what could happen.
In conclusion, Paranoid schizophrenia is a difficult thing to overcome. It’s a mental disorder that's causing people to lose touch with reality after their experience with traumatic events in early life. I can’t imagine the feeling of having to live with those voices and hallucinations clouding my mind. Can you? I wish that in the future we can dig deeper into schizophrenia and figure out all the questions that have been asked throughout history. Being able to help people control this would save the lives of so many. We have created a stigma for this and many other mental illnesses, but our world is growing and we can change that. What’s next to be discovered in the pathway of Paranoid schizophrenia? What are the causes that we have yet to understand? We have discovered and created so much, whatever is in store for learning more about schizophrenia will impact this world and the lives of so many.
