Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia Written By: Amanda Higgins June 23, 2013 Week 8 - HCA/240 Instructor David Rodvein
I am pretty sure most of us have all heard the word schizophrenia, but very few of us are actually aware of what it is. Schizophrenia goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
People have always had misconceptions of this illness, and often confuse it with a different dis- orders. Fortunately today, science and medicine has come a long way and we know a lot more about this illness, and have more ways to treat people who have been diagnosed. Schizophrenia goes way back in history. Before we knew anything about mental illness or schizophrenia, people with the disorder were often called possessed and insane. Nobody could understand why or how people could act so “crazy” unless evil spirits were involved in some way. Needless to say, people wanted to stay away from the “possessed people” and the condition was avoided and neglected. Today we have a better understanding of this illness and even though schizophrenia is not curable, it is treatable. Even though we have a better understanding of things today, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t many misconceptions about this illness. Some popular ones are that a schizophrenic person cannot live outside a facility, that they are violent, or that it is untreatable. However, many people with schizophrenia are able to live and maintain very healthy and normal lives.
(Grohol, J. (2010). 13 Myths of Schizophrenia. Psych Central.) Today there are doctors who can identify signs and symptoms of schizophrenia much easier than before. The symptoms are broken down into different categories. There are positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/).
Positive symptoms include hallucinations, seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling things that are not really there, delusions, thought disorders, and movement disorders. Negative
I am pretty sure most of us have all heard the word schizophrenia, but very few of us are actually aware of what it is. Schizophrenia goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years.
People have always had misconceptions of this illness, and often confuse it with a different dis- orders. Fortunately today, science and medicine has come a long way and we know a lot more about this illness, and have more ways to treat people who have been diagnosed. Schizophrenia goes way back in history. Before we knew anything about mental illness or schizophrenia, people with the disorder were often called possessed and insane. Nobody could understand why or how people could act so “crazy” unless evil spirits were involved in some way. Needless to say, people wanted to stay away from the “possessed people” and the condition was avoided and neglected. Today we have a better understanding of this illness and even though schizophrenia is not curable, it is treatable. Even though we have a better understanding of things today, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t many misconceptions about this illness. Some popular ones are that a schizophrenic person cannot live outside a facility, that they are violent, or that it is untreatable. However, many people with schizophrenia are able to live and maintain very healthy and normal lives.
(Grohol, J. (2010). 13 Myths of Schizophrenia. Psych Central.) Today there are doctors who can identify signs and symptoms of schizophrenia much easier than before. The symptoms are broken down into different categories. There are positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/).
Positive symptoms include hallucinations, seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling things that are not really there, delusions, thought disorders, and movement disorders. Negative
References: ©2005-2013 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml#part4 © 1998-2013 HowStuffWorks, Inc