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Lindsey beck
Professor Terry Roylance
Chemistry 1010
January 24, 2011
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia: “a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or
expression of reality. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre
delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational
dysfunction” (wikipedia). One percent of the population has some form of this “chronic mental
illness” (wiktionary).
My Uncle Steve has been diagnosed with severe differentiated schizophrenia for
twenty-two years. Our family has lost track of how many different medications he has been on,
but the one that worked best for him was Clozeril; he was on the highest legal dose for fourteen
years. The only major problem was that it had a terrible side effect on my uncle, because it had
almost diminished his white blood cell count. In other words his immune system was pretty
much nonexistent. So we had to take him off the medication unless we wanted constantly fear for
his life. We put him on a new medication. He went through withdrawals from Clozeril and soon
relapsed. Two months later we put him in a mental health institution and there began the many
trial and errors to get a new medication for my uncle to return home.
Schizophrenia is a fairly common disease that still faces a lot of questions even with all
the information we have today. Schizophrenia is more complex than a lot of people lead it up to
be. This illness comes in many forms and causes are almost endless.
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There
are
five
types
of
schizophrenia:
Paranoid,
Disorganized,
Catatonic,
Undifferentiated, and Residual. Paranoid Schizophrenics often have visual and auditory
hallucinations. They will sometimes act and think that they are a person on television. Since they
are also argumentative and anxiety prone they’re usually on other medications. Who could really
blame them for being stressed out; who wouldn’t be when trying to separate what is real and
imaginary.
Schizophrenics who are disorganized often have the wrong emotion at the wrong time.
Their speech is nonsense to the listener, but to the speaker it all makes perfect sense. They are
very random and may even laugh at a light turning on. Their emotions are unexplained and
unreasonable.
The name for Catatonic Schizophrenics could not be more perfect in describing the
disorder. They may freeze in a single position for hours on end or have a “catatonic excitement”
and move around with no purpose in a wild manner. They may also copy and repeat a person’s
movement aimlessly for multiple times.
Next is Undifferentiated which is what my Uncle is. There isn’t a real definition for it
other than it is just parts of all the other kinds. They are diagnosed as Undifferentiated when a
person has many symptoms but not enough of one type.
Last but not least of the five types is Residual which is probably the best type to have in
most cases. It is when the symptoms are no longer present or strong. With this kind there isn’t
the same kind of risk for the person and family that the others have. This kind can also have
dormant and active episodes, which can be dangerous. One of my past teachers: Mrs. Gaskins
who has a master’s degree in psychology told our class of a horrifying act that took place,
because of a Residual Schizophrenic. The son had the illness and would go through episodes of
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severe very dangerous paranoid schizophrenia. One day when the mother came home from work
the son killed her, because he thought she was out to get him. This shows just to what extent a
dangerous and random a schizophrenic go to.
As for the causes of this disease I agree with Margarita Tartakovsky that the three main
sources that schizophrenia is believed to be caused from are brain chemistry, environmental, and
genetic factors. Dopamine is a chemical compound in the brain that is made or used before
adrenaline. I agree with Anne Fredrickson that the Dopamine theory is the most famous and
debatable. Dopamine is located in the frontal lobe which is “involved in motor function, problem
solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgment, impulse control, and social and
sexual behavior” (Frontal Lobe). That area of our brain plays a major part in our behavior and
thinking process. When there is a shortage of dopamine there is usually a memory loss issue, but
when there is excess amounts stuttering and “‘incoherent thought’” usually begin (Dopamine).
Schizophrenia is believed to be caused from the excess amounts. The question may arise of how
the dopamine levels stay in check. The answer is as simple as the drug serotonin. Serotonin and
dopamine counterbalance each other; if one is raised the other is lowered and vice versa.
The environment can really play a major role in schizophrenia. The illness may be very
minor, but some stressful event may bring it out. My Uncle Steve’s father, a drunk, was rarely
home and with twenty dollars his mom had to take care of him and about ten other children . He
came in contact with marijuana as a teen and the doctors believe it may have made his illness
more severe than it would have been otherwise.
Schizophrenia is obviously a brain disorder involving the chemistry. It is easy to see how
massive of a part genes play in the root of illness. Research has progressed far enough that they
think they have narrowed it down to specific genes. Genes increase the chance of acquiring such
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a serious illness so the families of schizophrenic are at a much higher risk than the general public
as this graph shows, which was attained from Irving Gottesman.
These statistics are shocking; since I am the niece of a Schizophrenic I strikingly have four times
the chance of having this illness then that of someone in the general population.
Medication for Schizophrenia; there are many different types, but we’ll just look at
Clozeril. It is a fairly popular type, but it does diminish the white blood cell count so anyone
taking that medication must visit a doctor every couple weeks to check their blood. Most
schizophrenic medicines include symptoms like “drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, rapid
heartbeat, sensitivity to the sun, skin rashes, menstrual problems for women… rigidity, tremors,
restlessness, and persisted muscle spasms”. I think if most people were given the option to take
this medicine with those kinds of side effects they wouldn’t do it. None the less for the safety
and well being of themselves and others they’re not given the option to do so. My Uncle can’t
swallow pills so he breaks them up and puts them in applesauce; because of this the medication
is destroying his taste buds. It is the price we pay for sanity.
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When my uncle was at the institution my family visited him every week. He had lost over
forty pounds and had aged about twenty years. He literally looked older than his mother. The
stories he told us were nonsense. He said there were cops living in his attic and that he had talked
to god. He thought that god was punishing him and that is why he was in that place. Isn’t it
terrible that a person’s own mind could torture itself? Anyways, he moved around to a lot
different places as we tried to find something that could replace the Clozeril and allow him to
return home. We finally did after almost an entire year had passed. He is happier now, but he
isn’t the same person. Our family thinks he must have gone through much drama and torture
while in the facilities.
Schizophrenia is a very serious brain chemical imbalance. There is no known actual
cause or cure for it, but there are many medications. Whether its dopamine or genetics that brings
it upon a person it must be handled with up most quick and safe way.
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Bibliography
Define: Schizophrenia. 23 January 2011 <en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schizophrenia>.
Dopamine. 23 January 2011 <http://www.causeof.org/topics_dop.htm>.
Dopamine. 23 January 2011 <http://www.causeof.org/topics_dop.htm>.
Fredrickson, Anne. Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia. 1 March 2008. 23 January 2011
<http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1661>.
Frontal Lobe. 2011. 23 January 2011 <http://www.neuroskills.com/tbi/bfrontal.shtml>.
Gaskins, Katerine. Schizophrenia Lindsey Beck. February 2010.
Gottesman, Irving. 1991.
Health, Nation Institute of Mental. What medications are used to treat schizophrenia. 23 January
2011 <<http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/mental-health-medications/whatmedications-are-used-to-treat-schizophrenia.shtml> >.
Smith, Melinds and Jeanne Segal. Understanding Schizophrenia. January 2011. 23 January 2011
<http://helpguide.org/mental/schizophrenia_symptom.htm>.
Steinwachs, Lehman &. The Causes of Schizophrenia. 1998. 23 January 2011
<http://www.schizophrenia.com/research/surg.general.2002.htm>.
Swiezersky, Stanley J. Causes of Schizophrenia. 4 December 2000. 23 January 2011
<http://www.mentalhealthchannel.net/schizophrenia/causes.shtml>.
Tartakovsky, Margarita. 23 January 2011 <http://psychcentral.com/lib/2009/schizophrenia-factsheet/> >.
Types of Schizophrenia. 1 February 2007. 23 January 2011
<http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/schizophrenia-types>.
wikipedia. 23 January 2011. 23 January 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia>.
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wiktionary. 7 December 2010. 23 January 2011 <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schizophrenia>.