Schizophrenia is a mental disease that effects over 1 percent of the population. It can occur at any age but most commonly happens between 16-30. It leaves thepatient confused in a chaotic state of mind with multiple debilitating mentalconfusion. The first of them being delusions, the patient is convinced thatpeople around them can read their minds, and that they can read other peoples(British Journal of Psychology, 625). The patient then begins to believe thatthe people around them are plotting against them and are out to get them.
Notonly does the disease effect the patient mentally though, but also it starts toeffect their physical sensations. The patients can’t interpret incomingsensations and can’t control their physical emotions, this effects the patientscommon sense of what to do in every day situations. For example when a personwith normal mental health receives a gift their natural reaction would be tothank the person who gave it to them. A schizophrenic person would becomeconfused and be unable to react and cope with the situation.
The patient beginsto get an altered sense of themselves and have an extremely hard timefunctioning in every day life. They start to believe they can control otherpeople’s thoughts. They usually start to become violent because they get soconfused with the thoughts of plots against them they believe they are defendingthemselves. A person who is diagnosed with a schizoid personality is basicallyon the way to having schizophrenia. It is considered a stage to the disease.
Thecauses of each of the diseases are the same, and most of them are physicalabnormalities of the brain. In over hundreds of studies on schizophrenia andsimilar mental conditions doctors have found some similar abnormalities in thebrains of the patients. The first being enlarged ventricles in the brain(British Journal of Psychology, 697). The second being a reduced volume of graymatter in the brain, mainly in the temporal and frontal lobes (British Journalof Psychology, 110).
The third is an enlarged amygdala and an increased numberof white matter hypertesites (British Journal of Psychology, 260). Finally a setof neuropsychological abnorms such as cognitive functions, informationprocessing, and verbal memory (Fourth Generation of Progress, 1245). In someother studies doctors have found a reduced prefrontal area. A doctor will notdiagnose a person with schizoid personality or schizophrenia based off physicalabnormalities though. The patient must experience a loss of reality, and thatloss must maintain for at least six months.
Doctors also have to rule out druguse, which can produce similar behavior as schizophrenia. Doctors must also ruleout depression, delusional disorders, and paranoid personality disorder. Thedoctor must observe that the person is socially distant too. The doctor can lookat a number of symptoms of schizoid personality. The first being emotionalcoldness, the patient will not desire nor enjoy close relationships includingbeing part of a family. The patient will almost always choose solitaryactivities.
The patient will have no desire for sexual experiences. The patientwill take place in few if any activities. The patient lacks friends other thanfirst-degree relatives and finally the patient will be indifferent to praise orcriticism (www. mentalhealth. com).
In the treating of schizoid personalitymedicine is not an option. Medications almost always don’t work. There are threedifferent therapies’ that generally work the best. Psychosocial therapy which isfor less sever cases of the disease. This is considered sort of an outpatientprogram.
The physician appreciates the privacy and maintains a low-key approachtoward the patient. The doctor becomes involved in the patient’s life, but notas far as to push comfortable limits. The patient is encouraged to go on witheveryday life and learns to adapt back to society (www. mentalhealth.
com). Thenext treatment most commonly used is individual therapy. This is usually along-term therapy in which the doctor becomes very involved with the patient’slife. This therapy involves a long gradual development of trust.
The patient isprovided with a sense of optimism, but the doctor is careful not to overwhelmthe patient. The most successful therapy involves interaction that is constantand supportive, and yet allows the patient to set a distance of comfortability. After a period of time the patient will begin to reveal their fears, imaginaryfriends, and other attributes of the disease on the way to recovery (HarvardMedical Letter, Oct. 1997). Finally group therapy is used to help the disease.This is generally for sever cases, people who have completely detachedthemselves
