Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by disturbances in mood, behavior, and thinking (psychosis).  The thinking disturbance shows up as a distortion of reality, sometimes with delusions and hallucinations, and fragmented thinking that results in disturbances of speech.  The mood disturbance includes ambivalence and inappropriate or constricted display of emotions.  The behavior disturbance may show up as apathetic withdrawal or bizarre activity.  Schizophrenia is NOT the same thing as "split" or "multiple personalities," the proper name for which is Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).  Types of schizophrenia include disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, undifferentiated, and residual. 

 

     Hallucination: False sensory perception, such as seeing things or

     hearing voices that are not actually there.

 

     Delusion:  False belief that is firmly held, despite objective and obvious

     proof or evidence to the contrary.

 

     Fragmented Thinking:  No apparent connection between thoughts, or

     between thoughts and speech.

 

     Word Salad:  Incoherent, essentially incomprehensible mixture of words

     and phrases commonly seen in far-advanced cases of schizophrenia.

 

     Disorganized:  Characterized by wild or silly behavior or mannerisms,

     inappropriate affect (display of emotions), frequent hypochondriacal

     complaints, and delusions and hallucinations that are transient and

     unorganized.

 

     Catatonic:  Typically a state of stupor, usually characterized by

     muscular rigidity and resistance to efforts made to move the person,

     or they will do the opposite of what is asked.  Occasionally, catatonic

     excitement occurs, which is excited, uncontrollable motor activity.

 

     Paranoid:  Characterized by unwarranted suspicion and thinking that

     others have evil motives, and/or an exaggerated sense of self-importance

     (delusions of grandeur).

 

     Undifferentiated:  Psychotic symptoms are prominent but do not fall

     into any other subtype.

 

     Residual:  No longer psychotic but does still have some symptoms of

     the disorder.

 

Typically, schizophrenia is treated medically with antipsychotic medications.  When the older medications such as mellaril, prolizin, trilafon, and thorazine are used for an extended period of time, a sometimes-permanent condition called tardive dyskinesia can result.  The symptoms are often referred to as extrapyramidal symptoms.  They include involuntary movements of the face, mouth, tongue, arms or legs.  Sometimes stopping the medication will make these symptoms disappear, but in some people they may be permanent.  Taking an anticholinergic medication in addition can treat the side effects but not cure the tardive dyskinesia.  Examples of anticholinergic meds are Cogentin and Benadryl.  There are "new generation" antipsychotic medications which have very little risk of tardive dyskinesia, and these include Seroquel, Zyprexa, Risperdal, and Clozaril.

 

For more information about Schizophrenia, visit http://www.schizophrenia.com/