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Schizophrenia a severe polymorph mental disorder or group of disorders, associated with the disintegration of thinking processes and emotional reactions. This lifetime chronic disease may either progresses from an attack to an attack or have constant manifestations. Therefore, it is necessary to know what schizophrenia is since it is one of the most widely spread mental diseases. Knowing its symptoms, causes of origin, types, diagnostics, and treatment will be useful when dealing with schizophrenic patients.

Symptoms

During the long history of schizophrenia research that had begun in the 17th century, a great variety of its symptoms has been described. The initial signs of schizophrenia would usually manifest themselves in patients between 16 and 30 years old. The overall risk of the disease occurrence is 4-6 cases per 1,000 people. Males and females are equally susceptible to the disease, but the latter tend to have a later onset of it (Jablensky). Some slight signs, including communicational problems and poor motivation for studying, can also be noted earlier. The disease is characterized by a wide range of different symptoms that are usually classified into positive symptoms (hallucinations and obsessive states), negative symptoms (patients lose their common traits and temper), and cognitive disorders (anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts) (National Institute of Mental Health). Usually, patients cannot adequately assess their mood and the very fact of the disease. Some gender difference in initial symptom manifestation is noted in the form of emotional impoverishment and untidiness in men and sudden irritability and unreasonable obsessive fear in women. Disorganization of thinking, auditory hallucinations, speech disorders, and catatonia might develop in the middle phases of schizophrenia (Jablensky). Irregular medication, alcohol, or illicit drug consumption and stress tend to increase its manifestation frequency (National Institute of Mental Health). Thus, schizophrenia has a number of well-described symptoms that are usually classified into 3 classes in accordance with its manifestations.

Causes and Origins of the Disease

The causes of the development of schizophrenia have not yet been fully elucidated. Nevertheless, hereditary factors play a certain role in its development, while the time of occurrence and the features of manifestations largely depend on the gender and age of the patient. Various and quite controversial theories about the origins and causes of schizophrenia have been offered (Jablensky). The theory of inheritance is the main one that aims to explain the development of schizophrenia (Jablensky). Currently, several genes have been discovered, and they are presumably responsible for the development of this disease. However, upon analyzing these manifestations of schizophrenia in families where one of its members is sick, physicians have concluded that the disease will not necessarily manifest itself in younger generations. The infectious hypothesis claims that schizophrenia is caused by viral diseases, leading to genetic mutations (Jablensky). Autoimmune theory describes the disease as an ‘aggression’ of the organism to its own brain cells, which causes the body to develop antibodies to its own tissue. Neurobiological theory is the latest and most developed nowadays (Jablensky). It suggests that the violations of interactions between the so-called neurotransmitters and the sensitivity of the receptors of the body tissues to them might cause all symptoms of this disease. In accordance with this theory, it is possible to moderate manifestations by controlling the dopamine system of the brain, the destruction of serotonin neurons, and the disruption of the transmission of serotonin (Jablensky). Thus, it is important to be acquainted with four main theories about the causes and origins of schizophrenia in order to have an adequate treatment.

Types of schizophrenia

In modern medical science, several forms of schizophrenia are distinguished: paranoid, hebephrenic, catatonic, undifferentiated, and simple one. To diagnose a particular form of the disease, its general criteria should be identified, but several other symptoms should also be considered. For the paranoid form, hallucinations and/or delusions should be detected such as the hallucinatory voices of a threatening or imperative nature or auditory hallucinations without verbal formulation, olfactory or taste hallucinations, sexual or other bodily sensations, and so on (Dacquino et al.). The hebephrenic form is usually diagnosed for the first time in teenagers or adolescents (Dacquino et al.). Its typical symptoms are the distinct and lasting emotional smoothness or inadequacy, non-purposeful behavior, distinctive thinking disorders, and so on. The catatonic form is characterized by manifestations that last for at least for two weeks, accompanied by one or more of the following symptoms: stupor or mutism, excitation, congealing, negativism, or stiffness (Dacquino et al.). Schizophrenias that cannot be attributed to all abovementioned forms are usually classified as an unidentified form of illness. Therefore, depending on the exact symptom’s manifestations, attributing each case of illness to a certain type is possible. This understanding will make it easier to provide medical support to the patient.

Diagnosing Schizophrenia

Since schizophrenia is a chronic and lifetime disease, doctors should be rather careful in diagnosing this kind of disorders. Usually, diagnostics takes more than 6 months and includes a series of studies to establish an accurate conclusion (Buss and Buss). The anamnesis of the disease should be carefully collected, while all symptoms and manifestations should be clearly described and documented. During the diagnostics period, psychological tests, allowing to reflect the inadequacy of thinking and other manifestations of pathology, should be conducted. Doctors should also employ instrumental studies of the brain and blood vessels, including MRI and scanning of cerebral vessels as well as electroencephalography, neurophysiological, and virological studies (Buss and Buss). Such caution is necessary for distinguishing schizophrenia from other mental disorders and to provide correct treatment and medication. Thus, a careful adherence to the protocol of check-up is crucial for the correct diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Therapy

Currently, the main method of treating schizophrenia is psychopharmacotherapy, but other methods are also used, including insulin co-therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and so on. Schizophrenia in acute phase requires an active therapy, and to preserve the achieved improvement, maintenance therapy should be strongly recommended. All patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenic disorders should be subjected to regular medical checks and preventive medications in order to avoid the recurrence of this disease and increase the duration of remission. The choice of psychotropic drugs is determined by the features of positive symptoms and the type of course of the disease. Researchers show that 60 to 80% of patients who have not taken medication after leaving the hospital have a relapse of the disease during the first year, while those who continued the course as prescribed had manifestations only in 20 to 50% of cases (Buss and Buss). Finally, a correct medication is able to help patients with schizophrenia to maintain a good quality of life.

Conclusion

Summing up, schizophrenia is a chronic polymorph mental disorder of yet unknown origin. Its main symptoms are hallucinations and obsessive state, negative changes in behavior, anxiety, depression, and lack of emotional life. The most recognized theory nowadays is neurobiological theory that claims the cause of the illness to be connected with the sensitivity of certain receptors to neurotransmitters. Since schizophrenia is a severe illness with many forms, doctors diagnose it carefully and thoroughly, with all necessary examinations. A long-term use of maintenance doses of drugs can significantly reduce or even eliminate the likelihood of recurrence of the disease.

Works Cited

Buss, Arnold H., and Edith H. Buss, editors. Schizophrenia: Seven Approaches. Aldine Transaction, 2008.

Dacquino, Claudia, et al. “Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: The Road from Similarities and Clinical Heterogeneity to Neurobiological Types.” Clinica Chimica Acta, vol. 449, 2015, pp. 49–59.

Jablensky, Assen. “The Diagnostic Concept of Schizophrenia: Its History, Evolution, and Future Prospects.” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, vol. 12, no. 3, 2007, pp. 271–287.

National Institute of Mental Health. “Schizophrenia.” National Institute of Mental Health, Feb. 2016, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml. Accessed 4 Apr. 2018.