The 2002 Academy Award winner for Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind, brought schizophrenia into the public eye, depicting the true story of the progression of the illness in a brilliant Nobel prize winner. As the film illustrated, schizophrenia makes It difficult for a person to distinguish between what is real and unreal, to think clearly, and to behave in socially acceptable ways. These obstacles can have a severe impact on one’s work, relationships, and day-to-day functioning. But as A Beautiful Mind also showed, with treatment and support, a person with schizophrenia can still lead a productive life.
Common Misconceptions about Schizophrenia
MYTH: Schizophrenia refers to a "split personality" or multiple personalities.FACT: Multiple personality disorder is a different and much less common disorder than schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia do not have split personalities. Rather, they are “split off” from reality.
MYTH: Schizophrenia is a rare condition.
FACT: Schizophrenia is not rare; the lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia is widely accepted to be around 1 in 100.
MYTH: People with schizophrenia are dangerous.
FACT: Although the delusional thoughts and hallucinations of schizophrenia sometimes lead to violent behavior, most people with schizophrenia are neither violent nor a danger to others.
MYTH: People with schizophrenia can’t be helped.
FACT: While long-term treatment may be required, the outlook for schizophrenia is not hopeless. When treated properly, many people with schizophrenia are able to enjoy life and function within their families and communities.
Delusions
A delusion is a firmly-held idea that a person has despite clear and obvious evidence that it isn’t true. Delusions are extremely common in schizophrenia, occurring in more than 90% of patients. Often, these delusions involve illogical or bizarre ideas or fantasies. Common schizophrenic delusions include:- Delusions of persecution — Belief that others, often a vague “they,” are out to get him or her. These persecutory delusions often involve bizarre ideas and plots (e.g. “Martians are trying to poison me with radioactive particles delivered through my tap water”).
- Delusions of reference — A neutral environmental event is believed to have a special and personal meaning. For example, a person with schizophrenia might believe a billboard or a person on TV is sending a message meant specifically for them.
- Delusions of grandeur — Belief that one is a famous or important figure, such as Jesus Christ or Napolean. Alternately, delusions of grandeur may involve the belief that one has unusual powers that no one else has (e.g. the ability to fly).
- Delusions of control — Belief that one’s thoughts or actions are being controlled by outside, alien forces. Common delusions of control include thought broadcasting (“My private thoughts are being transmitted to others”), thought insertion (“Someone is planting thoughts in my head”), and thought withdrawal (“The CIA is robbing me of my thoughts.”).
Disorganized speech
Fragmented thinking is characteristic of schizophrenia. Externally, it can be observed in the way a person speaks. People with schizophrenia tend to have trouble concentrating and maintaining a train of thought. They may respond to queries with an unrelated answer, start sentences with one topic and end somewhere completely different, speak incoherently, or say illogical things.Common signs of disorganized speech in schizophrenia include:
- Loose associations — Rapidly shifting from topic to topic, with no connection between one thought and the next.
- Neologisms — Made-up words or phrases that only have meaning to the patient.
- Perseveration — Repetition of words and statements; saying the same thing over and over.
- Clang — Meaningless use of rhyming words (“I said the bread and read the shed and fed Ned at the head.").
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Schizophrenia/Pages/Symptoms.aspx
Symptoms of schizophrenia
The symptoms of schizophrenia are usually classified into one of two categories - positive or negative.
- Positive symptoms - symptoms that represent a change in behaviour or thoughts, such as hallucinations or delusions.
- Negative symptoms - symptoms that represent the reduction or total lack of thoughts or functions that you would usually expect to see in a healthy person. For example, people with schizophrenia often appear emotionless, flat and apathetic.
People often have episodes of acute schizophrenia, during which their positive symptoms are particularly severe, followed by periods where they experience few or no positive symptoms.
Positive symptoms of schizophrenia
Hallucinations
A hallucination is when you think that you perceive something that does not exist in reality. Hallucinations can occur in any of the five senses, but the most commonly reported hallucination in schizophrenia is hearing voices.
In some cultures and religions, hearing voices is regarded as being healthy and a sign of spiritual development. In these situations, the voices that people hear are usually friendly and supportive. However, the majority of people with schizophrenia report that the voices that they hear are unfriendly and critical.
The type of voices that are heard by people with schizophrenia usually fall into one of two groups that are listed below.
- Critical voices - the voice provides a kind of critical running commentary on the person and their actions.
- Controlling voices - a person can hear a voice that 'forces' them to commit acts that they would otherwise not do.
A delusion is having an unshakable belief in something that is very unlikely, bizarre or obviously untrue. One of the most common delusions experienced in schizophrenia is paranoid delusions. This is where you believe that something, or someone, is deliberately trying to mislead, manipulate, hurt or, in some cases, even kill you.
Paranoid delusions can range from believing in everyday 'normal' delusions, such as being convinced that your partner is being unfaithful, to more unusual delusuions, such as believing that the CIA is plotting to assassinate you.
Another relatively common type of delusion is a delusion of grandeur. This is the belief that you have some imaginary power or authority, such as thinking you are the King of England or that you have the power to cure cancer.
Another common delusion in schizophrenia is to start attaching undue and misguided significance to everyday events. For example, you may start to think that songs being played on the radio are actually about you or that newspaper headlines are being used to send you secret messages.
Behavioural problems
During an acute schizophrenic episode, the combination of hallucinations and delusions can cause a person to act in an unusual and bizarre manner. For example, a person may cover all the windows of their flat in tin-foil because they believe that this will prevent their thoughts from being controlled by the government.
Disordered thoughts
People with schizophrenia often complain that their thinking has become confused, muddled or disorganised.
You may experience problems with concentration, your performance at work or college may suffer and even the simplest tasks, such as reading a newspaper article or sending an email, can become incredibly difficult.
Other thought disorders are described below.
- Thought insertion - this is the feeling that your thoughts are not actually your own and have been placed in your mind by another person or organisation.
- Thought withdrawal - this is the feeling that your thoughts are somehow being removed from your mind by another person or organisation.
- Thought broadcasting - this is the belief that your thoughts can be heard or read by others.
- Thought blocking - this is the feeling that your thought processes suddenly halt, leaving your mind blank with no recollection of what you were thinking about.
The negative symptoms of schizophrenia can often begin to manifest themselves several years before somebody experiences their first acute schizophrenic episode. These initial negative symptoms are often referred to as the prodromal period of schizophrenia.
Symptoms during the prodromal period usually begin gradually and then slowly get worse. They include becoming more socially withdrawn and experiencing an increasing lack of care about your appearance and personal hygiene.
After some point, these negative symptoms will become more noticeable. The more noticeable symptoms are briefly outlined below.
- A lack, or 'flattening', of emotions - your voice can become dull and monotonous, and your face takes on a constant blank appearance.
- An inability to enjoy things that you used to enjoy.
- Apathy - you have no motivation to follow through on any plans and neglect household chores, such as washing the dishes or cleaning your clothes.
- Becoming increasingly uncommunicative - you may find it hard or become reluctant to speak to people.
About John Nash " The Most Famous Paranoid Schizophrenic Noble Prize Winner"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash,_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_equilibrium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory
http://www.princeton.edu/mudd/news/faq/topics/nash.shtmlAbout Schizophrenia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_praecox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Bleuler
ICD 10 Schizophrenia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Schneider#First_rank_symptoms
Myth of medication of Schizophrenia "Anti psychotic drugs" - Interesting Article -
http://www.schizophrenia.com/family/perstory5.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-V
Complex Psychology on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_%28psychology%29
Other Psychiatric Issues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorders_in_art_and_literature
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_illness_in_filmsAre Genius and Madness Related?
Advice to DSM-V: Integrate with ICD-11
My Own Comment
اننا نعيش كشعب في حالة سكيزوفرنيا ... حيث نري اشياء لاتري ونتغاضي عن كل ما هو حقيقي
We are as society we Live in Schizophrenia ...
In Which we see things are not even there and we avoid seeing whatever else is true
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