Mental Disorders: How Does Schizophrenia Affects The Brain

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Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects the brain, changing the way an individual thinks, acts, and feels distorting a person’s perception of the world making it extremely difficult to distinguish reality from the devastating symptoms that accompany the disorder. The exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown at this point in time, but researchers have identified various factors that they think are key contributing causes to the illness. Hereditary inheritance is thought to be one of the main ways schizophrenia is developed. This means that the chances of developing schizophrenia can be greatly increased or decreased depending on the history of the illness in your family as it is passed down through the generations of families. …show more content…
It is also believed that schizophrenia can develop after serious traumatic or stressful events take place in ones life. Whether its starting university or having a member of the family pass away, if the victim is prone to the disorder, elevated stress levels can trigger the disorder to begin developing. While comparing and analyzing the brains of schizophrenics and non schizophrenic patients, researchers have identified what they think is a chemical imbalance of the chemical dopamine which acts in many vital circuits inside the brain and is involved in thinking, learning, movement and many other areas that are affected by schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is acquired at different ages for males and females. Males generally begin developing schizophrenia in their late teens to early twenties, while females begin developing the illness in their late twenties to their mid to late thirties. Pre pubescent children under the age of 5 and adults over the age of 40 very rarely develop schizophrenia although cases of both have been reported. Schizophrenia develops at different rates and has no true prognosis. Symptoms can appear abruptly, or can gradually appear of a long period of time. It is unique to each individual making it very difficult to study and …show more content…
Positive symptoms are symptoms that are evident in people with schizophrenia. Positive symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, catatonia, and thought disorder. These symptoms physically affect the individual making them easier to identify. Hallucinations are often described as hearing voices and seeing things that aren’t real. Despite what many think schizophrenia isn’t a split personality disorder. Delusions are wild beliefs with no factual evidence that most individuals refuse to acknowledge as symptoms of their illness even when presented with the real facts and information. Catatonia is a condition in which an individual stays in the same spot without moving for an unnatural amount of time. Negative symptoms are symptoms in which demonstrate an absence of certain normal behaviors. Common negative symptoms are a lack of joy and energy, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, loss of previous pleasures in life (hobbies etc) and more. Negative symptoms generally affect the individuals emotionally and socially. Cognitive symptoms refer to symptoms that affect the minds process of gathering, processing, and using information. Cognitive symptoms can include poor thought process and execution, difficulties paying attention, and
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