Schizophrenia Essay

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“Schizophrenia is Greek and comes from the words ‘split’ (skhizein) and ‘mind’ (phren) which was introduced by Eugen Bleuler. Schizophrenia is a devastating psychotic disorder that may involve characteristic disturbances in thinking (delusions), perception (hallucinations), speech, emotions, and behavior” (Barlow and Durand, page G-17, 470). It is sometimes categorized as prophets, witches, and devils (Kaplan and Sadock, page 1432). “Schizophrenia is a serious and lifelong mental disorder that affects one percent of the population worldwide. The onset is occurs mainly in adolescence or early adulthood” (Minzengberg and Yoon, Chapter 10). Though it mainly occurs in adolescence and early adulthood, it is also common in late adulthood.
Some people have many different views and ideas about schizophrenia and what really is considered schizophrenia. “Eugen Bleuler had four primary symptoms were abnormal associations, autistic behavior and thinking, abnormal affect, and ambivalence. As well as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association in its second edition was heavily influenced by Bleulers criteria to make the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Bleuler thought that between thought processes and thought, emotion, and behavior to be the hallmark of illnesses and the most obvious and striking manifestation of schizophrenia were only ‘accessory symptoms’ and saw symptoms of schizophrenia in a continuum with normal behavior” (Kaplan and Sadock, page 1432). The definition of schizophrenia is not just one disorder; other disorders branch out of the vague and interesting schizophrenia as in paranoid, catatonia, hebephrenia, disorganized, undifferentiated, residual, and many more.
Schizophrenia ...

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...vidence to say which is which. However, “If paranoid schizophrenia does frequently reflect an underlying depression, then many paranoid schizophrenic patients have in fact been misdiagnosed” (Zigler and Glick, 1988). The symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia are shared by many other disorders as well. Therefore, paranoid schizophrenia by itself is very complicated and is a very broad subject. Hallucinations and delusions could not only be considered schizophrenia or depression, it could be considered another medical issue. One probably no one has even thought to think about. There is a lot of controversy over if paranoid schizophrenia should be considered a subtype at all. Paranoid schizophrenia is a very difficult question to answer. As well as making sure you are not being diagnosed with the wrong issue as in paranoid schizophrenia or depression or any other disorder.

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