MENTAL DISORDER

Mental Disorder

Mental Disorder

Introduction

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that severely impacts how 2.5 million Americans think, feel, and act. People with schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. Their speech and behavior can be so disorganized that they may be incomprehensible or frightening to others.

Schizophrenia: Mental Disorder

Schizophrenia affects the normal functioning of the brain that help us to tell the difference between fact and fiction, to think logically, to perceive reality correctly, to have normal emotional responses, and to act appropriately in social situations. The part of the brain thought to be affected by schizophrenia is the limbic system. (Hippius, 2007, 22) It was realized that the limbic system might be the source of the malfunction when it was discovered that all information and incoming stimuli must pass through the limbic system before being sorted. Functions of the limbic systems include behavior and emotions. In healthy people the brain functions in such a way that incoming stimuli are sorted and interpreted and followed by a logical response. The inability of patients with schizophrenia to sort or interpret stimuli and select appropriate responses are one of the characteristics of the disease.

The brain is made up of nerve cells, called neurons, and chemicals, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters come in many different varieties. Some are designed to enhance the likelihood that electrical impulses are generated in the next neuron, and some are designed to inhibit the generation of electrical impulses. Dopamine in certain synapses of the brain seems to be involved in the communication of extremely pleasurable sensations. (Karayiorgou, 2004, 95) In other synapses of the brain, dopamine seems to be involved in the communication of messages necessary for movement and muscle coordination. If the levels of dopamine are too high, there could be excess left in the synaptic gap. If the levels are too low, signals needing dopamine to be transferred would not be received. It is believed that too much dopamine activity in certain synapses of the brain can be a factor in psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.

While there is no cure for this disorder, the outlook for sufferers has improved over the last 25 years. The most commonly used and most effective treatment is through the use of anti-psychotic drugs. Anti-psychotics, or neuroleptic, as they are sometimes called, reduce delusions, hallucinations, and act to diminish aggressive or odd behavior. They work by blocking receptors of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Schizophrenia is the most common psychoses in the United States affecting around one percent of the United States population. It is characterized by a deep withdrawal from interpersonal relationships and a retreat into a world of fantasy. This plunge into fantasy results in a loss of contact from reality that can vary from mild to severe. Psychosis has more than one acceptable definition. The psychoses are different from other groups of psychiatric disorders in ...