Learning More About Schizophrenia

Although an exact definition of schizophrenia ( some people says: schizo, schizophrenic, skitzophrenic, schizophrenic, skitsofrenic, skitzofrenic, scitsofrenic, schiz, esquizofrenia ) has always been debated by experts, there are indications that more and more apparent that schizophrenia is a disorder that occurs in brain function.

In the book The Broken Brain: The Biological Revolution in Psychiatry, written by Dr. Nancy Andreasen, said that the current evidence about the attack Schizophrenia is a matter that involves many factors. These factors include changes in the physical structure of the brain, changes in chemical structure of the brain, and genetic factors.

In the brain, there are billions of cell connections. Each cell connections become a place to forward and receive messages from other cell connections. Connection cells release chemicals called neurotransmitters, which carry messages from one cell end of the connection to the other end of the cell connection. In the brain afflicted with schizophrenia, there is a fault or damage to communication systems.

For families with people with schizophrenia in it, will understand clearly what is experienced by patients with schizophrenia by comparing the brain with the phone. In a normal person, the system switches on the brain to work normally. Perceptual signals that come shipped back perfectly without any interference resulting in feelings, thoughts, and finally take action as needed at that time. In the brains of people with schizophrenia, these signals being sent to crash, so it does not successfully achieve the targeted cell connection.

Schizophrenia is formed in stages where families and people do not realize there was something wrong in his brain, within a period of time. The damage this slowly, eventually becoming an insidious schizophrenia. Symptoms that occur slowly, it could be acute schizophrenia. Periods of acute schizophrenia is a disorder that is short and strong, which include hallucinations, deception thoughts (delusions), and failure to think.

Schizophrenia sometimes a sudden attack. Very dramatic changes in behavior that occurs within a few days or weeks. The sudden attack is always triggered the acute period quickly. Some people develop a lifelong disorder, but many are able to return to normal life in the acute period. Most found that they were excluded, suffering from severe depression, and can not function as normal people in their environment.
In some cases, attacks can be increased to what is called chronic schizophrenia. Patients with a savage, lost character as a man in social life, have no motivation at all, depression, and lack of sensitivity about his own feelings.

Psychiatrists distinguish symptoms of schizophrenia into two, namely the positive and negative symptoms.

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Hallucinations always occurred when the stimulus is too strong and the brain is not able to interpret and respond to messages or stimuli that come. People with schizophrenia may hear voices or see things that are not there, or experienced an unusual sensation in his body. Auditory hallucinations, symptoms that usually occur, ie the patient felt no sound from within itself. Sometimes it felt soothing voice, bring peace, but sometimes the voice told him to do something really dangerous, like suicide.

Misdirection of thoughts (delusions) is a strong belief in interpreting something that is sometimes contrary to reality. For example, in patients with schizophrenia, traffic lights on the highway that are red yellow green, regarded as a signal from outer space. Some people turn into a paranoid schizophrenia. They always felt being scrutinized, staked, or about to be attacked.

Failure of thinking leads to problems, where patients with schizophrenia are unable to process and organize his thoughts. Most people are not able to understand the relationship between reality and logic. Because people with schizophrenia are not able to organize his thoughts, get them talking randomly and can not be captured by logic. Inability of thinking resulted in the inability to control emotions and feelings. The result, patients with schizophrenia sometimes laughed to himself or talking to himself out loud regardless of surroundings.

All that makes patients with schizophrenia can not understand who he is, not dressed, and could not understand what it was human. He also could not understand when he was born, where he is, and so on.

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia lose motivation and apathy mean the loss of energy and interest in life that makes people become lazy people. Because people with schizophrenia have only a little energy, they can not do other things besides sleep and eat.

Create emotional feelings blunted in patients with schizophrenia to be flat. People with schizophrenia do not have a good expression of his countenance and gesture, as if he did not have any emotions. But this does not mean that people with schizophrenia can not feel anything. They might be able to receive gifts and attention of others, but could not express their feelings.

Depression who do not know the feeling of wanting to help and hope, always be a part of life in patients with schizophrenia. They do not feel have behavior disorders, relationships can not build relationships with others, and did not know love. Feelings of depression is something that is very painful. In addition, the biological brain changes also contributed to the depression.

Sustained depression in patients with schizophrenia will make a withdraw from their environment. They always feel safe when alone.

In some cases, schizophrenia attacked the young man between 15 to 30 years, but attacks mostly occur at the age of 40 years and over. Schizophrenia can affect anyone regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic level. It is estimated that patients with schizophrenia by 1% of the total human being on earth.

Schizophrenia can not be cured until now. But with the help of psychiatrist and medication, schizophrenia can be controlled. Recovery does sometimes occur, but can not be predicted. In some cases, the patient became better than before. Relief of symptoms is always visible within the first 2 years after patients were treated, and gradually became rare after 5 years of treatment. At the advanced age, over 40 years, life in patients with schizophrenia who were treated, the better, the administered dose will decrease, and frequency of treatment will be increasingly rare.