This essay will critically discuss the biomedical model of schizophrenia as it is defined by the Diagnosis and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) –IV and –V system, as well as how schizophrenia may present as a culture-bound syndrome within the South African context. The aetiology of schizophrenia will be looked at in terms of hereditary, environmental and physiological factors, and the treatment of schizophrenia will be discussed. Schizophrenia will be looked at in terms of culture-bound syndromes and will be compared to “amafufunyana” and “ukuthwasa” and will be discussed within the South African context as well as a multi-cultural perspective to treatment of these culture-bound syndromes.
According to the DSM-IV (1994), schizophrenia is a disturbance that lasts for at least six months
…show more content…
Paranoid schizophrenia is marked by a preoccupation with one or more delusions or auditory hallucinations and the individual is highly suspicious. Disorganised schizophrenia is diagnosed with the following symptoms: disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and flat or inappropriate affect. Catatonic schizophrenia is present when the patient freezes in odd positions, has excessive motor activity, is extremely negative and in total panic, has echolalia (meaningless repetition of another person’s words) or echopraxia (meaningless repetition of another person’s movements), and is in a stupor. The fourth type, undifferentiated schizophrenia, is a type of schizophrenia in which certain criteria are met for schizophrenia but the symptoms of the person do not fall into a specific type of schizophrenia. Residual schizophrenia occurs when there is an absence of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized or catatonic behavior, and disorganized speech but there is evidence of a disturbance (strange beliefs, odd perceptual experiences