Understanding Schizophrenia Term Paper by Nicky

An overview of the symptoms, causes and treatments of schizophrenia.
# 150001 | 2,361 words | 9 sources | APA | 2011 | US
Published on Jan 17, 2012 in Psychology (Disorders)


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Description:

The paper explores schizophrenia's symptoms, possible causes and available treatments in order to provide a better understanding of the disorder. The paper notes that although schizophrenics still receive a great deal of criticism and discrimination, a better understanding of schizophrenia has allowed scientists to develop treatments for the symptoms of the disease.

Outline:
Symptoms
Causes
Treatments
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"Schizophrenia can be a difficult disease to diagnose not only because symptoms differ so greatly, but also because there are many other disorders that can result in symptoms that appear similar. The different types of schizophrenia yield very different symptoms. For instance, Sitnikova, Goff, and Kuperberg (2009) focus on the disorganized type of schizophrenia when they write that sufferers display "deficits in adaptive goal-directed behavior," in addition to "context-inappropriate commission errors that may appear bizarre and out of place" (pg. 256). This symptom can be one of the most difficult to deal with for family members and friends of schizophrenics. Indeed, Kymalainen and Mamani (2008) discuss the effects of both expressed emotion and communication deviance, suggesting that in harmony, these two problems can predict schizophrenia itself. Expressed emotion (EE) is the degree to which a person associated with a physically or mentally ill patient has a "critical, hostile, or emotionally overinvolved" attitude toward the patient (pg. 85). The authors contend that many people with high levels of EE have difficulty communicating this effectively, so it is quickly associated with communication deviance (CD) or the "degree to which a relative's communication lacks clarity and causes disruptions in the focus of attention" (Kymalainen and Mamani, 2008, pg. 86). Taken together, these issues can predict schizophrenic behavior in others, suggesting that they may have something to do with its cause. Thus, the circumstance regarding schizophrenia may be a circular one, with symptoms of schizophrenia causing EE and CD, and EE and CD associated with schizophrenia."

Sample of Sources Used:

  • Gottesman, I.I., Shields, J., & Hanson, D.R. (1982). Schizophrenia, the Epigenetic Puzzle. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Grohol, J.M. (2006, April 10). Schizophrenia Treatment. Retrieved July 11, 2009, from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx31t.htm
  • Kymalainen, J.A. (2008). Expressed Emotion, Communication Deviance, and Culture in Families of Patients With Schizophrenia: A Review of the Literature. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14(2), pg. 85-91.
  • Kryzhanovskaya, L. et al. (2009). Olanzapine Versus Placebo in Adolescents With Schizophrenia: A 6-Week, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(1), pg. 60-70.
  • Shur, S. et al. (2007). Neurocognitive Basis of Impaired Empathy in Schizophrenia. Neuropsychology, 21(4), pg. 431-438.

Cite this Term Paper:

APA Format

Understanding Schizophrenia (2012, January 17) Retrieved May 27, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/term-paper/understanding-schizophrenia-150001/

MLA Format

"Understanding Schizophrenia" 17 January 2012. Web. 27 May. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/term-paper/understanding-schizophrenia-150001/>

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