People with schizophrenia may become anxious, fearful, and extremely agitated for no reason, or they may be withdrawn and devoid of emotions. They may not talk at all, talk quietly to themselves, or yell at invisible people. Some schizophrenics appear no different from anyone else, until they reveal thoughts that are seriously disconnected from reality.
Violence
Schizophrenics seldom act violently toward others, according the the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The risk of violence is greater in the presence of drug abuse or delusions of persecution. Schizophrenics commit few violent crimes and are more likely to be victims. The suicide rate among schizophrenics, especially young males, is close to ten percent, according to NIMH.
Common Factors
The most common type of hallucination experienced by schizophrenics is hearing voices. The cause of schizophrenia is unknown, but it seems to run in families. While approximately one percent of the world's population are schizophrenic, NIMH reports the disease manifests in close relatives of schizophrenics at a rate of ten percent. Doctors Michael Murphy, Ronald Cowan, and Lloyd Sederer, authors of "Blueprints Psychiatry", explain the dopamine hypothesis, which theorizes that an excess of the neurotransmitter is responsible for the disorder. The phenomenon of drug-induced psychosis among methamphetamine/cocaine addicts and the effects of medications that block dopamine receptors would seem to confirm the hypothesis.
Symptoms
The American Psychiatric Association's manual, the DSM-IV, applies a diagnosis of schizophrenia to patients who exhibit social and occupational deterioration with positive and negative symptoms of psychosis persisting for at least six months. Positive symptoms include strange thoughts, perceptions and behaviors such as delusions, hallucinations, and agitation. Negative symptoms describe the absence of motivation, self-care habits, and speech. Social withdrawal and lack of enjoyment are also negative symptoms.
Characteristics
According to Torrey, schizophrenics are more likely to be men than women. Male schizophrenics generally have an earlier onset of disease symptoms, a more severe course of illness, and a poorer response to medications than women. Schizophrenics seem to get better with age. Symptoms that peak in the patient's twenties and thirties begin to improve as they reach their forties. Older schizophrenics may no longer hear voices, or can choose not to react to them.
Treatment Inadequacies
Antipsychotic medications alone are not enough to help schizophrenics function at social, interpersonal and community levels, according NIMH, which admits there is a shortage of dedicated rehabilitative services. NIMH-funded Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) have determined that older antipsychotic drugs perform about as well as newer ones, although many patients discontinue medications less than a year after starting them due to intolerable side effects, ineffectiveness, weight gain and metabolic problems, such as pre-diabetes.
References
- "Schizophrenia", NIMH, 2009
- "Surviving Schizophrenia"; E. Fuller Torrey, 2006
- "Blueprints Psychiatry"; Michael Murphy, M.D., Ronald Cowan, M.D., PhD, Lloyd Sederer, M.D., 2008
- NIMH: New Details in Schizophrenia Treatment
- "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, DSM-IV"; American Psychiatric Association, 2000
