Symptoms and Diagnosis
The general symptoms of Schizophrenia include: positive, negative and cognitive symptoms, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (2016). Positive symptoms include behaviors and actions that are not normal in healthy people, such as hallucinations, thought disorders, delusions, and movement disorders (NIMH, 2016). “Negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors” (NIMH, 2016). A person that exhibits behaviors such as the flat affect, which is little emotion in the face or voice, reduced pleasure in everyday life, has a difficult time beginning or continuing activities, and less speaking, is considered to be showing negative symptoms (NIMH, 2016). Cognitive symptoms for …show more content…
The National Institute of Mental Health (n.d.), or NIMH, states that one of the indicators of schizophrenia is how a person’s brain develops, and subsequently, how it communicates. According to Bernstein, Steiner, Guest, Dobrowolny, and Bogert’s 2014 study, the brains of schizophrenia patients showed decreased growth and maturation of glial cells; these cells, which make up white matter and help distant areas of the brain to communicate, are involved in the transmission of neural signals and the regulation of synaptic structure. In another study, schizophrenia patients experienced dysfunctional regions of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex and working memory, both areas directly involved in decision making and judgment (Goldman-Rakic & Selemon, 1997). It is safe to say that schizophrenia is an illness with no definitive picture of a “classic” presentation, and pathology is not always going to be the same across …show more content…
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (2016), or NAMI, states that schizophrenia is the result of many different risk factors coming together: genetics (if an immediate family member has/ had schizophrenia), the environment (nutrition and exposure to viruses), chemical functioning in the brain (specifically, neurotransmission), and the abuse of substances are all indications for risk. The prevalence of schizophrenia is relatively small, at approximately 1% of the population (NAMI, 2016). This begs the question that if much of the world does not have access to necessary nutrition and medical advances, is the risk for turning on genes that predispose individuals to this illness
The general symptoms of Schizophrenia include: positive, negative and cognitive symptoms, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (2016). Positive symptoms include behaviors and actions that are not normal in healthy people, such as hallucinations, thought disorders, delusions, and movement disorders (NIMH, 2016). “Negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors” (NIMH, 2016). A person that exhibits behaviors such as the flat affect, which is little emotion in the face or voice, reduced pleasure in everyday life, has a difficult time beginning or continuing activities, and less speaking, is considered to be showing negative symptoms (NIMH, 2016). Cognitive symptoms for …show more content…
The National Institute of Mental Health (n.d.), or NIMH, states that one of the indicators of schizophrenia is how a person’s brain develops, and subsequently, how it communicates. According to Bernstein, Steiner, Guest, Dobrowolny, and Bogert’s 2014 study, the brains of schizophrenia patients showed decreased growth and maturation of glial cells; these cells, which make up white matter and help distant areas of the brain to communicate, are involved in the transmission of neural signals and the regulation of synaptic structure. In another study, schizophrenia patients experienced dysfunctional regions of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex and working memory, both areas directly involved in decision making and judgment (Goldman-Rakic & Selemon, 1997). It is safe to say that schizophrenia is an illness with no definitive picture of a “classic” presentation, and pathology is not always going to be the same across …show more content…
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (2016), or NAMI, states that schizophrenia is the result of many different risk factors coming together: genetics (if an immediate family member has/ had schizophrenia), the environment (nutrition and exposure to viruses), chemical functioning in the brain (specifically, neurotransmission), and the abuse of substances are all indications for risk. The prevalence of schizophrenia is relatively small, at approximately 1% of the population (NAMI, 2016). This begs the question that if much of the world does not have access to necessary nutrition and medical advances, is the risk for turning on genes that predispose individuals to this illness