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Summary: Symptoms Of Schizophrenia

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e Psychotic Disorder of Schizophrenia
Tiffany L. Brewer
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder of the brain that includes positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. The cause of schizophrenia is unknown, but is thought to be linked to abnormalities in the brain. Certain risk factors can increase the chances of a person developing schizophrenia. There is not a cure for schizophrenia, but successful treatment options are available to help the ill person achieve a functional lifestyle.
Keywords: schizophrenia, mental disorder, brain, symptoms, treatment

A Look into the Psychotic Disorder of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder that involves …show more content…
According to Zupanick (2013), the five key symptoms needed to diagnose schizophrenia are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms. The new DSM-5 requires only two of these five symptoms for diagnosis and at least one of the two symptoms must be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech. The three different categories of symptoms include: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms.
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Harrison (2013) describes positive symptoms of schizophrenia as behaviors and experiences that an ill person has that healthy people do not. Positive symptoms of the disease include: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and disorganized or catatonic behavior.
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are normal traits that are absent or reduced in the ill person (Harrison, 2013). Negative symptoms include: flattened affect (showing little to no emotion), anhedonia, reduced speech, and a lack of initiative (Harrison, …show more content…
Imaging tests completed on people with schizophrenia often show abnormalities in the structure of the brain. Irregular chemical levels in certain regions of the brain, specifically the ones that affect emotions and behavior, are believed to contribute to this mental illness. Environmental risk factors associated with schizophrenia include: a family history of the illness, toxin or virus exposure before birth or during infancy, having an inflammatory or autoimmune disease, the use of mind-altering drugs, and high stress levels.
Treatment of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is considered a life-long condition that is rarely considered “cured,” but rather treated (Grohol, 2017). According to Grohol (2017) the primary treatment for schizophrenia is medication. Daily compliance of a medication regimen is often an issue, causing the patient to periodically stop their medications. For this reason, more recent medication choices include long-acting injections that can be injected every few weeks to every few months. They last longer and have proven more successful than oral

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