The Importance of Family and Friends in Helping People with Schizophrenia Maintain a Normal Life

The Importance of Family and Friends in Helping People with Schizophrenia Maintain a Normal Life

Schizophrenia, an often-misunderstood disease, is usually interpreted by those not familiar with it as a Multiple Personality

Disorder. But this is not true. While a person who is afflicted with schizophrenia, may also suffer from multiple personality disorder, it is not the rule of thumb. Unfortunately, due to the lack of support from family or friends, many schizophrenics go without proper treatment and may wind up homeless.

There is nothing that can be measured to diagnose schizophrenia. Other diseases share many of its symptoms. What schizophrenia is or is not, cannot be decided on. However, German psychiatrist, Kurt Schneider, developed a list of symptoms, which occur very rarely in diseases other than schizophrenia. These symptoms include auditory hallucinations in which voices speak the schizophrenic's thoughts aloud. There are also two other forms of auditory hallucinations, in one the victim will hear two voices arguing, and the other a voice will be heard commenting the actions of the person. "Schizophrenics may also suffer from the felling that an external force, or the dilution that certain commonplace remarks have a secret meaning for themselves is controlling their actions", (Torrey, 1983).

"From these symptoms, schizophrenia is divided into four sub-types determined by which symptoms are most prevalent", Strauss, 1987). The four sub-types are paranoid, hebephrenic, catatonic, and finally simple. Paranoid schizophrenics often suffer from either delusions, hallucinations, or both of a persecutory content. Hebephrenic schizophrenia is characterized by inappropriate emotions, disorganized...

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...her form is the use of procedures or drugs, which may be directly beneficial, such as a drug to control the symptoms of schizophrenia. The final type of research is that which is trying to find a better treatment, or the cause of the disease, but most likely won't be a benefit to the patient. An example of this would be performing tests on a schizophrenic to help develop a cure for schizophrenia. That would not benefit the individual because most likely by the time the drug is ready to be prescribed the patient would be dead.

In conclusion, schizophrenia is a disease that is not well under stood. As more is learned about the disease and how it affects the brain of those who suffer from it better treatments will be discovered. Even with the best treatment, support from family and friends are crucial in maintaining normality to the life of those with schizophrenia.