Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects a person’s thinking, the way of expressing emotions, relating to others as well as how they act and perceive reality (Frith, 2014). Although it is a rare mental disorder, Schizophrenia is the most chronic and most disabling of the major mental illnesses. People with Schizophrenia often develop symptoms of the illness during their early adulthood stages but symptoms tend to appear earlier in men than in women. There is no established cause of Schizophrenia but the genetic composition, exposure to viruses, malnutrition before birth and some psychosocial problems are some risk factors associated with the disorder (Frith, 2014).
Symptoms
Schizophrenia is associated with a range of cognitive, behavioral and emotive problems (Frith, 2014). One of the common symptoms of Schizophrenia is Delusions. Delusions mostly affect Schizophrenic persons and may involve false beliefs that are resistant to actual facts. Additionally, hallucinations that in most cases involve seeing or hearing things that do not exist is another symptom associated with Schizophrenia. People with Schizophrenia also exhibit extremely disorganized or abnormal motor behavior. Patients may display childlike behaviors like unpredictable agitation over insignificant concerns and useless and agitating body movements. Furthermore, Schizophrenic patients often exhibit disorganized speech that otherwise affects their thinking ((Khandaker et al., 2015). As a result, patients often put together meaningless words that cannot be understood by others. However, symptoms may vary from one patient to another depending on the type of the illness and its severity.
Treatment
Treatment for Schizophrenia includes antipsychotic medications in pill or liquid forms that are taken on a daily basis. However, some antipsychotics are injections administered after a certain period of time (Khandaker et al., 2015). Psychosocial therapies that involve learning effective coping skills to deal with life challenges are also effective for minimizing the symptoms of schizophrenia. Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) is another treatment option aimed at reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia and improving the quality of life. CSC involves the integration of medication, psychosocial therapies and family involvement in the treatment of the disorder (Khandaker et al., 2015).
References
Frith, C. D. (2014). The cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia. Psychology press.
Khandaker, G. M., Cousins, L., Deakin, J., Lennox, B. R., Yolken, R., " Jones, P. B. (2015). Inflammation and immunity in schizophrenia: implications for pathophysiology and treatment. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2(3), 258-270.
