Research Paper on Schizophrenia: A Psychological Disorder

Introduction

Schizophrenia is an example of psychological or mental disorders. It is prudent to highlight that mental disorders exhibit behavioral patterns of symptoms which have multiple impacts on peoples' lives. This disorder affects not only individuals' physical health but also their mental well-being. This psychological disorder is common in late adolescence as well as early adulthood. It affects how individuals think, behave, and feel and the mostly lose touch with the world's reality. Schizophrenia disorder is regarded as one of the world's major problems since it affects many people as it inhibits people from taking part in active economic processes, thus resulting in less productivity. Other than that, family members spend much cash on treatment and care for patients with schizophrenia. It is therefore essential to understand the pathophysiology, prevalence, signs, prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of schizophrenia.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia

Two important perspectives explain schizophrenia's etiopathogenesis are dopamine and neurodevelopmental hypotheses. Howes, McCutcheon, and Stone (2015) explain that the dopamine hypothesis postulates that an increase of dopamine concentration in the brain's extracellular region induces psychotic conditions in people. These researchers noted that medicinal drugs like methyl-para-tyrosine reduce the prevalence of psychotic symptoms by depleting levels of the extracellular dopamine. In related research, Howes, William, Ibrahim, and Leung (2013) observed that dopamine receptors' dimerization is critical in the development of schizophrenic conditions. Also, they noted that schizophrenic patients had increased D2 dimmers. Furthermore, Howes et al. (2015) established that there is a like between D1-D2 heteromers and schizophrenic symptoms.

On the other hand, the neurodevelopmental hypothesis asserts that schizophrenia development occurs due to several neuro-disorders which affect neuroplasticity, neuronal connections, and so on (Bakirhan et al., 2017). Even though there have been concerns regarding this hypothesis, evidence link schizophrenia to Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factors (BDNF). Imperatively, schizophrenic patients have reduced levels of BDNF. Fernandes et al. (2015) note as psychotic conditions of patients increases, the level of BDNF decreases significantly. These researchers explain that pathological neurodevelopment illness begins between the first and second tri-semesters. According to Nour and Howes (2015), during these tri-semesters, a neuronal circuit develops which aids in the generation and establishment of schizophrenic symptoms, mainly when a person is in young adulthood phase of development.

Prevalence of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is regarded as a multifaceted brain disorder. It has a median prevalence of 15.2 in every 100,000 people and a joint lifetime incidence rate of 0.40% (Simeone et al., 2015). However, there is variability in this psychological disorder's prevalence estimates. For instance, some studies have revealed that there is a 12-fold variation as far as point prevalence is concerned. Other studies have pinpointed that lifetime prevalence has a 10-fold variation. It is worthy to state that inherent variability is due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease. Additionally, the disorder is more frequent in early adults between 20 to 30 years than any other age group. It is paramount to highlight that this group also has the highest mortality rate due to schizophrenia. In China alone, 120.89 in 100,000 schizophrenic patients aged between 20 and 30 years die every year due to the disorder (Liu et al., 2014). Nevertheless, the disorder is also common in young people and the elderly. Generally, schizophrenia is more prevalent in women than men. For instance, in China, 0.44% of schizophrenic patients are women while 0.37%of the schizophrenic people are men. In Sweden, the prevalence of schizophrenia for one year is 3.7 in every 1000, which is a higher rate than compared to the overall incidence rate in the world (Jorgensen, Allebeck, & Dalman, 2014).

Schizophrenia Signs

The manifestation, as well as the progress of schizophrenia, is contingent on the duration and severity. The disease is prevalent in young adults in their early to late 20s. However, the disease also affects older adults and young children. People experiencing schizophrenic conditions usually begin acting paranoid, bizarre, disorganized, or withdrawn. Other signs of schizophrenic conditions include suspiciousness and increased hostility towards friends, family members, or work colleagues. A person who exhibits schizophrenic symptoms also becomes increasingly reliant on alcohol and other hard drugs in a bid to self-medicate. Additionally, schizophrenic patients exhibit hallucinations which are accompanied by the inappropriate manner and speaking strangely. It is also important to pinpoint that schizophrenic patients usually experience insomnia or oversleeping. Moreover, they may also have a deteriorating personal appearance because of lack of proper body hygiene. Schizophrenic patients are also associated with catatonic behavior. This kind of behavior entails obliviousness to an individual's surroundings, resistance to being directed to move, a rigid stance, or excitement movement that cannot be explained (Galderisi et al., 2013).

Contributing Factors of Schizophrenia

Nutrition

Malnutrition during pregnancy is regarded as a contributory cause of schizophrenia among children. This is explained using micronutrient deficiency theory which postulates that lack of or inefficiency of folate alters methylation patterns which introduce epigenetic changes in mother's imprinted genes. Davis et al. (2016) elucidate that poor maternal diet causes impacts like overweight and gestational diabetes among others to pregnant women which promotes the development of schizophrenic conditions. Another nutritional factor that facilitates schizophrenic pathogenesis is the deficiency of vitamin D during pregnancy.

Childhood Trauma

People who encountered maltreatment, parent loss, sexual and substance abuse, and poverty during their childhood years are at high threat of becoming schizophrenic (Braehler et al., 2013). These researchers note that childhood trauma results in negative symptom remission which encourages the severity of schizophrenic symptoms. Notably, people who faced trauma in their childhood have increased activities in their Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis. The hyperactivity of the HPA axis develops in the late pathogenic stages of this psychological disorder.

Social Stressors

The presence of social stressors is common in marginalized and socially excluded groups. These stressors are contributory factors to the development of schizophrenic conditions in these groups of people. Examples of social stressors include poverty, lack of social integration, social uprooting, and negative ethnic profiling among others. It is paramount to understand that people experiencing these stressors develop social anxiety disorders which later lead to the development of schizophrenic conditions (Nierop et al., 2014).

Prevention of Schizophrenia

Prevention efforts aimed at curbing schizophrenia encompasses three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Primary level entails practices before the onset of schizophrenia disorder and includes efforts such as proper nutrition for pregnant mothers, avoiding using marijuana, and avoiding maltreatment of children. On the other hand, secondary level involves prevention practices after schizophrenia is recognized but before it results in dangerous implications. In most cases, this level of prevention involves the administration of drugs to patients as well as encouraging them to adopt health behavior and practices through social support. Finally, tertiary prevention deals with practices after a person has experienced disability due to the disease to avoid further deterioration. It encompasses hospitalization in which the client is subjected to other therapeutic conditions like proper diet, hygiene, and so on. By so doing, tertiary prevention helps patients to avert the spread and the severity of the disease (Subotnik et al., 2015).

Diagnosis and Treatment of Schizophrenia

Diagnosis

The primary indicators of this psychological disorder are the presence of psychotic symptoms. These symptoms range from mild to severe psychotic disorders such as schizoaffective, mood, schizophreniform, and delusional disorders among others (Rajesh & Tampi, 2018). These disorders are associated with psychotic symptoms like cerebrovascular accidents, narcolepsy, seizures, and neuropsychiatric conditions, and so on. Psychiatrists and other mental health examiners use historical as well as physical examinations to help in diagnosing schizophrenic conditions. Patients who have undergone a recent psychosis should undertake blood count and renal function testing.

Other these diagnoses, medical practitioners need to undertake magnetic imaging in case the patient has focal neurological deficits and other related symptoms. It is also essential to highlight that the diagnosis of schizophrenic patients should also entail urine toxicology, blood sugar level test, urine culture sensitivity, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate among others. Quintessentially, diagnosis also involves psychiatric evaluation in which a mental health professional examines the mental status of a client by examining their demeanor and appearance (Rajesh & Tampi, 2018). This approach requires a mental health professional to ask the client questions about their moods, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations, delusions, substance abuse, and so on. The psychiatrist should

Treatment

Many treatment options exist for the treatment of schizophrenia. One of the options entails coordinated psychiatric management which is essential until the stabilization of schizophrenic conditions. Rajesh & Tampi (2018) explain that inter-professional, as well as a collaborative approach, is used for the treatment of this psychological disorder. This approach entails clinical management aimed at offering primary care to patients with psychotic conditions. It also includes the provision of medication such as haloperidol, chlorpromazine, and perphenazine among others to patients with psychotic conditions. The treatment of schizophrenic conditions also encompasses the provision of social and moral support to patients through family-based therapies to teach patients about stress management and relaxation tactics. Furthermore, individuals with schizophrenia can undergo supported employment and vocational rehabilitation to help them eradicate psychotic symptoms. If the schizophrenic conditions worsen, patients with this psychological disorder need to be hospitalized to guarantee their safety, adequate sleep, proper nutrition, and hygiene.

Conclusion

Schizophrenia affects many people across the world. Young adults, particularly in the age bracket of 20-30 are the most affected. It is important to highlight schizophrenia is more frequent in women than in men. This psychological disorder has numerous symptoms that range from mild to severe. They include hallucination, delusions, and resistance to being directed to move among others. Many factors contribute to schizophrenia among people across different age groups. However, the main contributory factors include childhood trauma, nutrition, and social stressors. It is imperative to understand that schizophrenic conditions are preventable. Efforts should be made so that psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners can diagnose the disorder in good time to facilitate proper and timely treatment.

References

Bakirhan, A., Sahiner, S. Y., Sahiner, I. V., Safak, Y., &a...