Jumat, 03 Desember 2010

A Mental Disorder Known As Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a disorder of the mind that is typified by irregularities in observation and expression of the real. It is a chronic and disabling brain sickness that affects thousands of people across the globe. It generally presents itself as if one is hearing things, weird suspicious thoughts, illusions or by disoriented thought and speech. It normally affects people within the age bracket of 15 to 30 years.

The good news is that schizophrenia is a disease that can be treated and that treatment is most effective when started in the initial stages of the illness. But this disease can terrify the patient, resulting in withdrawal and utter nervousness. People with this illness may not talk and sit quiet for many hours.

The symptoms are usually classified into positive, negative and cognitive symptoms. The people with positive symptoms are not in touch with the real world and these symptoms are fleeting and at times negligible.

The negative symptoms are related to break down of normal sentiments and actions. These are more difficult to figure out as related to the illness. Very often such indications are misunderstood for depressive behavior.

Similar to the negative signs even the cognitive symptoms are unrecognizable and can be distinguished only through tests. These are the actions that make living a normal life and earning a livelihood more difficult as they cause emotional strain on the patient.

Schizophrenic patients are not normally violent but there are certain cases where symptoms can be associated with violence. A person's genes and the environment can be some of the causes for this disease. Generally schizophrenic patients are treated with anti-psychotic drugs to alleviate the symptoms. Some of the medications used are Chlorpromazine, Haloperidol, Perphenazine, Risperdal etc. The medication should never be stopped suddenly. It has to be gradually reduced as there is every chance for a patient to experience withdrawal symptoms. People with this disease must be taught to take interest in managing their illness.

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