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Etiology Of Schizophrenia Essay

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Schizophrenia, a chronic, severe brain disorder, is characterized by cognitive and emotional dysfunctions including delusions and hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior, and inappropriate emotions. Schizophrenia may also be characterized by cortical lesions that prevent excitation of the striatum (Reith et. al., 1994 p. 11651). The etiology of schizophrenia is unknown, but there have been many speculations in the field of neuroscience. Neurotransmitters operate in the brain and are affected by neuroleptic medications, which reduce hallucinations and delusions. The etiology of schizophrenia is unknown, but many speculations have suggested that neurotransmitter functions, brain abnormalities and even genetic factors may be responsible for individuals obtaining schizophrenia. A number of causative favtors have been implicated for schizophrenia, including genetic influences, neurotransmitter imbalances, and even structural damage to the …show more content…

The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia speculates that the symptoms and unusual behavior seen in individuals with schizophrenia is affected by changes in dopamine function in the brain. Apart from its many responsibilities, dopamine helps to regulate movement and emotional responses. Studies have found that dopaminergic systems in individuals with schizophrenia are too active (Lederman, Mascio, & Shaskan (1981). Antipsychotic drugs are particularly helpful for an individual with schizophrenia because it is an antagonist to dopamine, which means that these drugs partially block the receptors for dopamine in the brain. The dopamine hypothesis for schizophrenia is accepted as a possible cause for schizophrenia because dopamine receptor antagonists are effective antipsychotics. Another suggestion for schizophrenia lies in the striatum of the brain, which is responsible for movement, balance and

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Supporting the DSM-5 checklist for a diagnosis of schizophrenia is the fact that the symptoms first began when Randy was in college and these have increased over time. The information provided on Randy’s family history, his school/social history, plus the description of his current lifestyle and the symptoms he now displays, could be used by the biological theorist

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Schizophrenia is an ominous word often associated with psychosis, delusions, as well as paranoia. Society supposedly understands how horrible symptoms like these make schizophrenia one of the worst mental diseases that one could live with, and the story of Elyn Saks is definitely no exception. In the memoir The Center Cannot Hold, Elyn R. Saks brings her readers through the harsh realities of living with schizophrenia, while also dealing with the stresses associated with high school, getting a college degree, while still maintaining relationships with family and friends. Saks had inadequate care as a child when her symptoms first began showing, and being transferred through countries following school, and being passed from doctor to doctor

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Transmitters for dopamine are over stimulated and because of this, the symptoms of schizophrenia are increased. Drugs such as amphetamines that activate dopamine are proven to worsen some patients with schizophrenia. Due to the fact that certain drugs that increase dopamine cause more symptoms, shows how there is a connection between dopamine and schizophrenia. Furthermore, drugs that block dopamine are shown to help patients with schizophrenia. The other thought with the dopamine hypothesis is that there is another dopamine receptor could be causing it which is dopamine D2.

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Schizophrenia may change how you think, feel, and behave. The patient may not be able to know what is real and what is not real. Also, thoughts may not be clear, or may jump from one topic to another.” Symptoms include confusion, delusions, hallucinations, and feeling mentally lost. When a doctor

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Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave. It often develops in men aged in their early twenties, however, is rarely found in men over the age of forty. Causes of schizophrenia include genetics, prenatal environment, brain chemistry, and substance use. To be diagnosed with the disease, a patient must persistently exhibit two or more of the above symptoms, as stated by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

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Researchers are uncertain about the causes of schizophrenia

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An outline of the causes and effects of schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that is most commonly associated with delusion and hallucinations. It has been estimated that 0.4-0.7% of people develop schizophrenia, with the mental health condition being equally prevalent in both men and women (Saha et al., 2005). It is a particularly expensive illness due to its severity, reportedly costing the U.S. around $62.7 billion in 2002, with unemployment the most significant factor causing this staggering figure (Wu et al., 2005). While there is no known cause for the development of schizophrenia, a number of factors have been attributed to increasing the likelihood of someone developing the mental disorder.

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In recent years, the general trend has progressed towards the biogenetic endorsement of Schizophrenia. The biogenetic model focuses on combining two previous models, genetic and biological, into one coherent framework (Angermeyer et al 152). By doing this, the hope that the negatives of one model would be balanced out with the positives of the other model. For example, a consequence of endorsing the genetic model was a phenomena called genetic essentialism. In a case study by Nicolas Rusch, he defines genetic essentialism as a mindset that “…implies that genes are the unchangeable basis of a person’s identity…” which subsequently increased the prejudice against the diagnosed (Rusch pg 328).

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Patients were treated in this way due the lack of understanding of the neurochemical aspect of Schizophrenia rather than the biological expression of the disorder. With the recent advances in understanding and abilities to see the chemical difference between a person with and without Schizophrenia makes it easier for scientists to understand where the problems lay thus bring one step closer to a solution. In recent years, particular attention has been paid to the function of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway of the brain. This focus largely resulted from the accidental finding that phenothiazine drugs, which block dopamine function, could reduce psychotic symptoms. It is also supported by the fact that amphetamines, which trigger the release of dopamine, may exacerbate the psychotic symptoms in

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Psychobiology has aided in our comprehension of the nervous system, the division of its two main subsystems and in its communication with the rest of the body. For example, we now know about neurotransmitters; these are chemicals which are used to communicate information throughout the body by relaying signals between neurons. Knowing this brought to light that some drugs such as alcohol are connected to the reticence or activity of a neurotransmitter; once alcohol is consumed, some people encounter a sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety which may be due to the increased quantities of GABA and levels of dopamine which create these enjoyable experiences (Rosenzweig, Breedlove & Leiman 2002). Furthermore, research shows that an excess of neurotransmitter dopamine is connected to Schizophrenia, which allows us to use antipsychotic drugs to block the dopamine receptors in order to reduce the

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Accessed 10 Feb. 2023. Gulli, Laith Farid, MD, et al. " Schizophrenia. " The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, edited by Tracie Moy and Laura Avery, 4th ed.

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The stigmatization revolving around mental illnesses, however, prevent people who suffer from schizophrenia from seeking those various forms of assistance. Raising awareness and educating people on several mental disordes will not only ameloriate prejudice regarding illnesses, but also help people reach out for help. Although there is no confirmed cause of schizophrenia, there are a multitude of factors that are known to influence the appearance of schizophrenia in patients. Infamous causes of schizophrenia include genetic factors, the environment, and lastly brain functions and structures (NIMH).

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Even though these statistics are shown, most doctors and psychologists don’t think this is what elicit the onset of this disorder. However, some evidence has shown that a causative relationship exists between a certain drug or drugs and the schizophrenia symptoms. For example, people who are at genetic risk of getting schizophrenia may develop this disorder when the use of LSD is present or another hallucinogenic drug. Lastly, several drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, and marijuana may worsen the symptoms of schizophrenia. With the influence of drugs nearly 10% of schizophrenics will commit suicide and most of them will keep spending there money on alcohol even when they start to crash into

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The symptoms are being divided into negative and positive which include hallucinations, delusions, behavior and disorganized speech. The latter symptoms include avolition, alogia, affective flattening and asociality (MHA, 2014). There is no clear cause of schizophrenia. Some theories about the cause of this disease include genetics, biology and possible viral infections and immune disorders. Scientist have been able to prove this disorder runs in families.

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Literature review Symptom types of Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is generally divided according to symptom types. The symptoms of schizophrenia have been divided into three specific complexes (i.e., positive symptoms, negative symptoms and cognitive deficits; Buchanan, 2007), while others use a dichotomous model, such as type I and type II Schizophrenia (Crow, 1980) that roughly corresponds to positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia (Andreasen, 1982). Positive symptoms were characterized over the past 150 years by active excesses in normal functioning; while negative symptoms of schizophrenia are characterized by a loss of normal functioning (Berrios, 1985; Rector, Beck & Stolar, 2005). Hence, while there are different symptom types, all typologies and dimensional models acknowledge negative symptoms. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are thought to be a marker of dysfunction and cognitive impairments (Rabinowtiz et al., 2012).

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