Schizophrenia is a very complicated mental illness. Due to the variation of symptoms in a single person, it is known as a spectrum disorder (schizophrenia spectrum disorder). It is a chronic complex mental condition, in which a person loses their insight. Schizophrenic clients cut off their life from reality. It distorts a person’s thinking, emotions, and all abilities. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder. It is a spectrum disorder because have the following symptoms.

• Hallucination
• Delusions
• Disorganized speech & behavior
• Catatonic behavior
• Negative or positive symptoms

All these symptoms also have further subtypes. A schizophrenic person experiences the latest two symptoms.

Delusion

Delusions are false and irrational fixed beliefs of a person. These beliefs can relate to anything with no reality. The schizophrenic person considers it real. For example, an individual considers himself a king of the world, etc.

Types of Delusions

Here are different types of delusion.

Grandiose: They think that they have an over-inflated sense of authority. They consider themselves talented, rich, and able to do anything like God.

Paranoid: An individual’s consider that others want to kill or harm them.

Somatic: The person has fixed beliefs about his body. For example, their body has serious issues. They believe that some of their body organs are missing.

Reference: The client believes that everyone thinks and acts toward them. They believe that TV is a messenger for them.

Erotomaniac: In this type, the client considers someone loves them. That can be a celebrity or any famous person.

As Shahrukh loves her and always speaks for her. She listens to all his interviews and considers him doing everything for her.

Mixed: People have 2 or more delusions at a time in this type.

 

Hallucinations

Hallucinations are perceptions without any stimulus. Some schizophrenic clients face hallucinations daily, but some face only sleep or awake time.

Types of Hallucinations

You can read its different types.

Auditory: It’s the most common type of hallucination. It is related to sound. The client hears voices, music, footsteps, etc.

Visual: It involves seeing. Individuals see shapes, objects, people, animals, etc.

Tactile: In this type, the client feels a moment in his body. The feeling of touch is unreal.

Olfactory: It involves the sense of smells. As he feels bad or any smell without any stimulus.

Gustatory: The client feels unpleasant and strange tastes.

Hypnogorging: The client who faces his type happens when he falls asleep. They feel that someone or thing is present before sleep.

Hypnopompic : It feels when the client wakes up from sleep. He feels that someone is present behind them, but after waking, nothing else.

Note: “Oculus” is the best movie to learn about Hallucinations

Disorganized Speech

The schizophrenic client speaks incoherent speech. Because such patients don’t have insight, their speech is destroyed. They speak illogically and shift from the topic easily. They conversate about unrelated things. Listed signs are present in such people.

• These clients can’t do normal conversations.
• During the discussion, they repeat the words.
• They speak very unusual words, which have no sense or meaning.
• They make rhyming words have no meaning.

Disorganize Behavior

The schizophrenic disorganized behavior is self-contradictory. These clients behave inconsistently as childish and purposeless. They are following symptoms present in disorganized behavior.

• Their daily functioning is markedly diminished.
• These clients make unpredictable responses to any act.
• They have extreme aggression and lack impulse control.
• People with schizophrenia react bizarrely. They cannot have a normal life.

Catatonic Behavior

Schizophrenic people adopt unusual styles and movements to make gestures of their bodies. They behave following acts for a long time.

1. Stupor(it’s an unconscious state)
2. Catalepsy (makes the body very rigid)
3. Waxy flexibility(client makes the position of a limb)
4. Mutism (individual stop verbal response)
5. Posturing(adopt their unique poster)
6. Mannerism (client behaves odd way)
7. Stereotype(repetition in movement)
8. Echolalia(word repetition)
9. Echopraxia(repetitive meaningless movement)

Schizophrenia’s Positive and Negative Symptoms

 

Positive symptoms	Negative symptoms
Some unnecessary behavior or thinking is added to a client.	Any most important behavior or thing that destroys their life is removed from the person.
The word positive means the presence of symptoms.	Negative symptoms mean the absence of behavior.
Hallucinations and delusions are common examples of positive symptoms of schizophrenia.	Lack of pleasure, mutism, flat thoughts and emotions, withdrawal, etc. These are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

 

Diagnosis of Schizophrenia

A professional psychologist can diagnose SSD by following the following steps.

1. This disorder can’t be diagnosed in children. Its typical age range is 16 to 3o years.
2. No lab or doctor diagnoses schizophrenia; Instead, you concern a psychologist.
3. Who takes the assessment, physical examination, and mental examination? They take a family history and get a complete assessment of the client.
4. The psychologist uses DSM 5TR, which gives the following clear criteria for a schizophrenia diagnosis.
5. At least two symptoms must present delusion, hallucination, disorganized speech & and negative symptoms.
6. Its presence must be over one month.
7. The client markedly diminishes their social, occupational, and daily life from 1 to 6 months.

After taking help from DSM, the psychologist used some diagnostic tests to confirm the diagnosis. They can use subjective tests like TAT Thematic Apperception Test. It can help you with measurement.

Causes of Schizophrenia

There are several reasons for schizophrenia. However, the exact cause is unknown. However, researchers prove its bases are biological as cancer or diabetes. Therefore, here are some common causes of schizophrenia given below

Heredity

If SSD is genetically present in the family, it has a high ratio of running in the family. It can transfer from parents to children.

Disturbance in brain chemicals

This illness creates due to chemical disturbance in the brain. It affects badly on brain thinking and behaviour.

Environmental effect

Schizophrenia may develop in people who suffer from a very bad environment. They can constant physical abuse, fierce fights between parents, or any other harmful experience.

Drug use

Research proves that large quantities of taking drugs lose the person’s insight. Especially teenage, and the excessive use of cannabis cause schizophrenia.

Treatment of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenic patients require long-term treatment. Medication and effective therapy can manage symptoms, but it’s hard to cure properly. Full-bloom symptoms are hard to cure fully. Anyhow residual stage can treat can manage properly.

Some potential treatment is explained below.

Medication of Schizophrenia

Before any therapy, clients need medication. It is necessary for insight.

Antipsychotic Drug

Typical antipsychotic drugs: It is a first-generation drug. It manages the use of dopamine in your brain. In addition, regulate communicational cells. In short, it helps to regulate the blocked areas.

Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs

It works another way because it uses both dopamine and serotonin. It’s a second-generation drug. Clozapine is the best medication for the treatment of schizophrenia.

In many serious cases, electroconvulsive therapy is also used to regulate chemicals and remove the blockage. After the complete course of medication, when the neurochemicals work properly, the client needs therapy.

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Schizophrenia spectrum disorder is unable to cure completely. Indeed medication and therapy help to maintain it. In many cases, electroconvulsive therapy ECT is used along with medication. It’s very risky and harmful. A well-experienced and trained psychiatrist can provide this therapy.

Psychotherapy

Usually, psychoanalysis is used for treatment because it reveals the client’s unconscious, as the schizophrenic patient has childhood problems that become part of the unconscious.

Psychoanalysis  

Usually, schizophrenic patent needs psychoanalysis therapy. Because such clients have childhood issues and become part of the unconscious, revealing the unconscious is necessary.

In this therapy, the trained therapies use the following steps for treatment

• Free association
• Dream analysis
• Transference
• Termination

CBT Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

We can use an elective approach for proper treatment. We can use cbt techniques to set short-term goals and quick recovery during psychoanalysis.

Family Therapy

It’s very important to do family therapy because many external factors can stop or disturb the schizophrenia treatment. Therefore, it’s very necessary to educate their family about illness and get their support.

Social Support

Schizophrenic patients must provide social support. It provides them with social services, improves skills, and reduces stress through coping.

Conclusion

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder is a very serious mental illness. It destroys the person’s abilities. A schizophrenic client is unable to carry normal life. Several symptoms present at a time in these clients.

Such type of people  are dangerous for themselves and others also. Therefore, their treatment should do as soon as possible. This article will give details about schizophrenia symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Frequently Ask Questions (FAQs)

Q no 1: What are the side effects of ECT?

It affects the Heartbeat and blood pressure. During this therapy, the heartbeat and blood pressure increase, which can cause serious heart problems.

About 2 weeks are required for the ECT treatment.

Q no 2: Can you live happily with a schizophrenic person?

These people  are very dangerous to others and their lives during the illness. Nevertheless, after a complete recovery, most people live a normal life.

Q no 3: What are the 4 D’s of Schizophrenia?

The 4 D’s classify the behavior in are given below.

1. Deviance
2. Distress
3. Dysfunction
4. Danger

A schizophrenic person faces all these abnormalities.

Q no 4: What movies best to know complete knowledge of schizophrenia spectrum disorder?

The movies are listed below

• Schizo
• Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
• Black Swan
• An Angel at my table
• The Number 23
• Donnie Darko
• Take Shelter