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Schizophrenia Essay, Research Paper

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, an often misunderstood disease, is usually interpreted by those not familiar with it as Multiple Personality Disorder, but this is not so. While a person afflicted with schizophrenia may also suffer from multiple personality disorder, it is not the rule of thumb. Unfortunately, due to lack of support from family or friends, many schizophrenics go without proper treatment, and may wind up homeless. This paper will discuss procedures doctors follow when diagnosing the disease, treatment and control of the disease, and finally some of the legal and ethical concerns surrounding those who suffer from schizophrenia.

To start with since there is nothing that can be measured to diagnose schizophrenia, and many of its symptoms are shared by other diseases, what schizophrenia is or is not can not 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, in the other a voice will be heard commenting the actions of the person. Schizophrenics may also suffer from the feeling that their actions are being controlled by an external force, or the delusion that certain commonplace remarks have a secret meaning for themselves (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 thinking, and extreme social impairment. Catatonic schizophrenics often suffer from rigidity, stupor, and often mutism. The final form of schizophrenia, simple schizophrenia, lacks developed hallucinations or delusion. It is however accompanied by an overwhelming loss of interest and initiative. The sufferer of simple schizophrenia will also usually suffer from withdrawal and will blunt their emotions (Torrey, 1983).

The part of the brain thought to be affected by schizophrenia is the limbic system. It was realized that the limbic system might be the source of the malfunction when it was discovered that all information and incoming stimuli must pass through the limbic system before being sorted out. Previously the limbic system was disregarded, and considered simply a remnant of our primitive pass. At that time the outer areas, the gray matter of the brain, was studied (Torrey, 1983).

It is understood that occasionally schizophrenia runs in family, although it s not well understood how. It is known that the close relatives (parents, siblings) of those with schizophrenia, have a 10% chance of developing symptoms, compared to the 1% chance of the general population (Torrey, 1983). As well, an identical twin of a schizophrenic is 50 times more likely to be a schizophrenic than someone in the general population (Marquis, 1996). There are some theories that debate whether or not schizophrenia can begin while in utero, even though symptoms may not be present until late teens or early adulthood. These theories include the study that states that anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, there are a disproportionate number of babies born with schizophrenia in the winter months. Another theory is that something is disturbing the baby in the uterus, causing schizophrenia. Another factor indicating a disturbance is the fact that schizophrenics usually have unusual fingerprints. (Torrey, 1983).

As previously mentioned, not much is known about exactly what causes schizophrenia, or which exact parts of the brain are affected. One guess as to the cause of schizophrenia is that the neurotransmitter dopamine is involved. Some of the supporting evidence behind this theory is the fact that amphetamines, when given in large doses, cause the brain s dopamine levels to rise, this can cause the subject to show schizophrenia like symptoms (Torrey, 1983).

There are three different fields of thought as to how something is affecting the dopamine and causing schizophrenia. One is that there is an excess of the neurotransmitter in the brain. In contrast, another school of thought is that there is a deficit of dopamine in the brain. The final thought is that the dopamine is somehow being turned into a poison (Torrey, 1983).

A chemical imbalance of dopamine could very well be the cause of schizophrenia. If the levels are too high, there could be excess dopamine left in the synaptic gap. If the levels were to low, signals needing dopamine to be transferred would not be received.

Even though the causes of schizophrenia, are not confirmed, it is important to properly diagnose it so proper medical treatment may be sought. When diagnosing schizophrenia doctors first rely on symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. Because these symptoms may be generated by another disease, doctors are often reluctant to diagnose a patient with schizophrenia unless the symptoms have been present for at least six months (Torrey, 1983).

However, with MRI it may be possible to get a clue as to if the person might be suffering schizophrenia. This might be feasible because research has shown that some specific brain structures, the hippocampal region especially, have been diminished. Also it has been found that there are some functional anomalies between a normal brain and that of a schizophrenic. One such abnormality is a reduced blood flow to the frontal cerebrum. It has also been found through postmortem studies of schizophrenics, that they have an abnormal number

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