Schizophrenia Essay -- essays research papers fc

When I lived in Germany, I had a friend who played on my High School tennis team. On a sunny afternoon after our tennis lessons we decided to drink an ice tea and have a little snack at the tennis snack bar. We started talking about tennis strategies, but my friend, Thomas, was kind of depressed and sad. When I asked him what was really bothering him, he started tell me about his sick mother. He tried to explain her disease to me, but I could not understand it. He said, â€Å" my mother is suffering from persecution mania and in addition, she sometimes talks about things that make no sense. Nevertheless, I saw Thomas again after the summer holidays and I asked him how his mother was doing now. He responded with a very sad voice and also had tears in his eyes because his mother committed suicide and the doctors told him that she had schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder marked by the loss of contact with reality. When a person's thinking, feeling, and behav ior is abnormal, it interferes with his or her ability to function in everyday life. Delusions, hallucinations, and irregular thinking and emotions are produced. If these signs are present, he or she may have the mental illness called schizophrenia. About one hundred years ago, schizophrenia was first recognized as a mental disorder and researchers have been searching for a cure ever since. The cause of schizophrenia is still unknown today and scientists have concluded that schizophrenia has more than one cause. Scientists have developed dozens of theories to explain what causes this disease, but researchers are focusing on four leading theories: the Genetic Theory, the Environmental Theory, the Biochemical Theory, and the Bio-Psycho-Social Theory. The Genetic Theory argues that schizophrenia is caused by traits in a person's genetic makeup. A normal person has twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. Each pair contains one chromosome from each parent. In corresponding locations called lo ci of each chromosome, the genes for specific traits are located. Some researchers believe that mutations with these genes can cause schizophrenia. We inherit our genes from our parents, but this does not mean that the parents of a schizophrenic are mentally ill. Problems in a person’s genetic make up could come from mutated chromosomes or recessive genes. In an attempt to prove this theory, scientists study... ...d. At least 25% of the treated schizophrenics recover fully to live a normal life in every aspect. Another group are not so well off and remain severely psychotic, this occurs in about 10% of the treated schizophrenics. The other 65% go through periods of psychosis and phases of recovery. An optimistic fact about the disease is people tend to "grow out of it" in their mid-life. BIBLIOGRAPHY Mayer, Robert M.D. Satan's Children, New York: G.P. Putnam & Sons, 1991 Wallis, Claudia and James Wellsworth, "Awakenings". Time July 7, 1992, pp 36-44. "Schizophrenia, Youth's Greatest Disabler", Schizo Society of N.S., 1988 Smith, Douglas W. Schizophrenia, Toronto: Franklin Watts, 1993 Bibliography References Boyle, M (1990) A scientific delusion? New York / Routledge Broen, W (1968) Research and Theory, New York / Academic Press Buss, A (1966) Psychopathology, New York / John Wiley & Sons, INC. Shean, G (1978) An introduction to Research and Theory, Cambridge / Harvard University Press Shershow, J (1978) Science and Practice, Cambridge / Harvard University Press Strahl, M (1980) Diagnosis and an unified method of treatment, New York / Springer company