Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder, which severely impacts the way 1% of people worldwide think, feel, and act. The term comes from the Greek, schizo meaning ‘splitting’ and phrenia meaning ‘of the mind’. Therefore schizophrenia literally can be defined as a split mind. This disorder makes it hard for a person to differentiate between real and imagined experiences. It weakens their abilities to think logically, express normal emotions, and behave properly in social situations. Schizophrenia is a serious thought disorder, which affects one’s work, family, social life and an individual’s capacity to function. It is extremely draining on the ill person, as well as the people who care for them.
In 1809 John Haslam and Philip Pinel observed first symptoms. As time went another man by the name of B. Morel came up with a term demence precoce, which he observed in little boy. But it was still not until the 1800’s when a German psychiatrist, Dr. Emil Kraepelin had actually categorized the subtypes of a single syndrome. The three subtypes were hebephrenia, catatonia, and paranoia. He was mistaken when he said that this syndrome was incurable and early onset. In the 20th century a Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Eugen Bleuler had a different idea where he explained that schizophrenia might in fact be curable and possibly manifested later on in life. He was the one that explained that schizophrenia meant split of the mind and not split of personality. His four primary symptoms included loosening of associations, ambivalence, autism, and affective disturbance (Nietzel, Speltz, McCauley, Bernstein, 1998). While Europeans used Kraepelin’s criteria, North Americans used Bleuler’s. In 1959, K. Schneider had conducted a research and classified delusions and hallucinations as primary symptoms of schizophrenia.
During the last half of the nineteenth century different subtypes of what we now call schizophrenia were described as separate diseases. Paranoid psychosis was characterized in 1868,
In 1809 John Haslam and Philip Pinel observed first symptoms. As time went another man by the name of B. Morel came up with a term demence precoce, which he observed in little boy. But it was still not until the 1800’s when a German psychiatrist, Dr. Emil Kraepelin had actually categorized the subtypes of a single syndrome. The three subtypes were hebephrenia, catatonia, and paranoia. He was mistaken when he said that this syndrome was incurable and early onset. In the 20th century a Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Eugen Bleuler had a different idea where he explained that schizophrenia might in fact be curable and possibly manifested later on in life. He was the one that explained that schizophrenia meant split of the mind and not split of personality. His four primary symptoms included loosening of associations, ambivalence, autism, and affective disturbance (Nietzel, Speltz, McCauley, Bernstein, 1998). While Europeans used Kraepelin’s criteria, North Americans used Bleuler’s. In 1959, K. Schneider had conducted a research and classified delusions and hallucinations as primary symptoms of schizophrenia.
During the last half of the nineteenth century different subtypes of what we now call schizophrenia were described as separate diseases. Paranoid psychosis was characterized in 1868,