SCHIZOPHRENIA
So
far, we have considered two of the most common types of mental disorders, the
anxiety disorders and the mood disorders. We now turn to schizophrenia, whose name was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist
Eugen Bleuler from the Greek schizo,
“split,” and phren, “mind,” to
designate what he regarded as an abnormal disintegration of mentalfunctions
(1911).*
The
lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia is about 1% (roughly the same prevalence
as epilepsy). This overall estimate may be misleading, however, because the
rates of schizophrenia are especially high in some nations and in some
regions—including, for example, Croatia and the western half of Ireland;
conversely, the schizophrenia rate is quite low in Papua New Guinea. These
geographic variations are not well understood.
*The Greek roots of this term are probably the source of the widespread confusion between schizophrenia and what used to be called a split personality (now called dissociative identity disorder). Schizophrenia does not involve “mul-tiple personalities.”
Schizophrenia
is typically diagnosed in late adolescence or early adulthood and tends to
begin earlier in men than in women (Jablensky & Cole, 1997). Men also seem
to develop a more severe form of the disorder (Nopoulos, Flaum, &
Andreasen, 1997).
Unfortunately,
the prognosis (the prospect for
recovery) for people with this disor-der is discouraging. One study tracked
down 200 people in the United States who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia
some 30 years previously. Of these patients, 20% were doing well at the time of
the follow-up, while 45% were incapacitated. Two-thirds had never married, and
58% had never worked (Andreasen & Black, 1996; Cutting, 1986).
Related Topics
Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, DMCA Policy and Compliant
Copyright © 2018-2024 BrainKart.com; All Rights Reserved. Developed by Therithal info, Chennai.