Psych Matters: Schizophrenia
A brief description of the psychiatric disorder schizophrenia
General:
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness characterized by at least 6 months of psychosis (break from reality). It is a very interesting disorder that is thought to arise from excess dopamine (DA) in key brain regions. Schizophrenia is also characterized by decreases in grey matter, the area of your cerebrum where there are cortical neurons. Schizophrenia is a complex disorder that has a multifactorial etiology; this just means that there are many different things are thought to contribute to the disease progression. These “things” include neurotransmitter imbalance, such as the abhorrently increased dopamine, decreased cortical thickness, and other neurological differences in the brain of a person with schizophrenia.
Clinical signs and symptoms:
These can be divided into positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include symptoms that are “added,” such as hallucinations, delusions while negative symptoms are “removed.” Individual must experience at least 2 of these 5 symptoms":
Positive symptoms:
Delusions: Fixed, false beliefs that are not rooted in reality (e.g., believing you are being persecuted).
Hallucinations: Sensing things that are not there, most commonly auditory hallucinations like hearing voices.
Disorganized speech: Incoherent or disjointed speech patterns, such as frequent derailment or “word salad”.
Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior: Unpredictable, bizarre, or completely unresponsive physical movements and actions.
Negative symptoms: Diminished emotional expression (flat affect) or a severe lack of motivation (avolition)
Schizophrenia affects about 1% of people world-wide. It is a common cause of disability in the US. People who have schizophrenic relatives have been found to be of higher intelligence, creativity and divergent thinking [1]. There is much that is still unknown.
Kaufman SB, Paul ES. Creativity and schizophrenia spectrum disorders across the arts and sciences. Front Psychol. 2014 Nov 3;5:1145. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01145. PMID: 25404921; PMCID: PMC4217346.