The hot topic this week is schizophrenia! That's interesting, right? "Why, yes! It is!" you shout with excitement and anticipation.
I want to start off by tackling some common misconceptions about schizophrenia. For one, when people think of the schizophrenia, many tend to associate it with having multiple personalities. This is not the case. Multiple personalities are a symptom of a different condition known as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or (more fittingly), Multiple Personality Disorder.
Another misconception is that people with schizophrenia are violent and dangerous to be around. This is also false. There is no evidence that a person with schizophrenia is any more dangerous than someone who doesn't have it. Many people with schizophrenia are perfectly capable of living productive lives. In fact, it's possible that you may have met someone with the disorder and not known it.
With that out of the way, you's probably like to know what, exactly, schizophrenia is, if it's not what you've seen on TV.
Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects about 1% the U.S. population (about 3,115,919ish people). Like many of the other things I've talked about in my blog, schizophrenia affects different people in different ways. Some people with the disorder may experience auditory hallucinations or delusional thinking. Incoherent speech and odd behavior are also common. A lot of people who suffer from schizophrenia aren't able to care for themselves without assistance, while many others can go on to lead fulfilling lives. It's hard for me to tell you what life is like for people with schizophrenia, especially since I don't know anyone who has it, so I found a video of a woman talking about living with the disorder:
As far as the causes of schizophrenia go, it's been determined that it's likely a mix of both genetic and environmental factors. Family has a lot to do with it, of course. As you probably know, we inherent genes from our parents, so it makes sense that 10% of people with schizophrenic parents will also develop the disorder. However, the people with the highest risk of developing schizophrenia are those who have identical twins with the disorder. For these people, there is a 40-65% chance of developing it. Environmental factors include things that a person is exposed to before and just after birth. These may include prenatal infections, head injuries as an infant, and other things that may have an effect on neurological development.
Before I wrap this up, I have a question for you. If you had to have schizophrenia, what point in time would you choose to have it? If your answer was any time other than now, you're wrong and you should feel bad. Now is arguably the best time to be schizophrenic (not that there's ever been a particularly good time), simply because new developments in treating schizophrenia are being made every day. There are two major forms of medications: typical/conventional and atypical. Conventional medications have been around since the 1950's while atypical ones are pretty new, having been developed in the 90's. These medications work to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia and usually have noticeable results within a few days. For many people, these medications allow them to live normal lives. Of course, there are side effects. People taking atypical medications may experience tremors, muscle spasms, rigidity, or restlessness. Honestly, though, I think I'd rather have a few sleepless nights than listen to angry voices yell at me.
Schizophrenia is a really complex condition and I could probably write dozens of entries about it. If you're just dying to know more, though, you can visit the National Institute of Mental Health's website. They have tons of information about all kinds of things.
Say goodnight, Gracie.
Stevan I always enjoy reading your blogs. You always put a little sense of humor into your blogs and make them really interesting to read. I like you started off with the misconceptions. It's true that most people misinterpret or get Schizophrenia mixed up with Multiple personality disorder or think of them as violent people. At first a while back I thought like that too, until I had my first psychology class then I knew. I don't think I would ever want to have Schizophrenia, but you are right more treatments are developing, but there's no cure for it, maybe somewhere down the future there will be, but as of yet there's no cure. Anyway, great post as always see you next time
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame your blog has come to a close. I have to agree with Lisa that your posts are enjoyable to read. And when you've got 100 blogs to grade, that's a welcome relief...!
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