what exactly is schizophrenia?
Question:
Answers:
I don't know and neither do I.
Other Answers:
Often not what you think!
Schizophrenics have trouble deciding what is real and not real.
Look here:
Source(s):
http://www.nelmh.org/home_schizophrenic_schizophrenia.asp?c=10&fc=001&fid=263
Schizophrenia is often described in terms of "positive" and "negative" symptoms. Positive symptoms include delusions, auditory hallucinations and thought disorder and are typically regarded as manifestations of psychosis. Negative symptoms are so named because they are considered to be the loss or absence of normal traits or abilities, and include features such as flat, blunted or constricted affect and emotion, poverty of speech and lack of motivation. Some models of schizophrenia include formal thought disorder and planning difficulties in a third group, a "disorganization syndrome."
Additionally, neurocognitive deficits may be present. These may take the form of reduced or impaired psychological functions such as memory, attention, problem-solving, executive function or social cognition.
Onset of schizophrenia typically occurs in late adolescence or early adulthood, with males tending to show symptoms earlier than females.
Psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin was the first to draw a distinction between what he termed dementia praecox ("premature dementia") and other psychotic illnesses. In 1911, "dementia praecox" was renamed "schizophrenia" by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, who found Kraepelin's term to be misleading, as the disorder is not a form of dementia, premature or otherwise.
The diagnostic category of schizophrenia has been widely criticised as lacking in scientific validity or reliability, consistent with evidence of poor levels of consistency in diagnostic practices and the use of criteria. One alternative suggests that the problems and issues making up the diagnosis of schizophrenia would be better addressed as individual dimensions along which everyone varies, such that there is a spectrum or continuum rather than a cut-off between normal and ill. This approach appears consistent with research on schizotypy and of a relatively high prevalence of psychotic experiences and delusional beliefs amongst the general public.
The wider anti-psychiatry movement also often argues against the diagnosis, for example arguing that classifying unusual thoughts, feelings and behaviors as a medical illness in this way is unscientific, stigmatizing, and legitimises the social control of people who society finds undesirable but who have committed no crime.
Although no common cause of schizophrenia has been identified in all individuals diagnosed with the condition, currently most researchers and clinicians believe it results from a combination of both brain vulnerabilities (either inherited or acquired) and stressful life-events. This widely-adopted approach is known as the 'stress-vulnerability' model, and much scientific debate now focuses on how much each of these factors contributes to the development and maintenance of schizophrenia.
It is also thought that processes in early neurodevelopment are important, particularly prenatal processes. In adult life, particular importance has been placed upon the function (or malfunction) of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway in the brain. This theory, known as the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia largely resulted from the accidental finding that a drug group which blocks dopamine function, known as the phenothiazines, reduced psychotic symptoms. However, this theory is now thought to be overly simplistic as a complete explanation. These drugs have now been developed further and antipsychotic medication is commonly used as a first-line treatment. Although effective in many cases, these medications are not well tolerated by many patients due to significant side-effects, and have little effect on some individuals.
Differences in brain structure have been found between people with schizophrenia and those without. However, these tend only to be reliable on the group level and, due to the significant variability between individuals, may not be reliably present in any particular individual
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