scizophrenia

Schizophrenia is quite literally the splitting of the mind . The disease affects human emotions and cognition , including thought , perception language , sense of self and affect (U .S . Surgeon General , undated Overview section

Diagnosis of schizophrenia includes the presence of symptoms--including disorganized speech , delusions , hallucinations , highly-disorganized or highly-catatonic behavior , and other negative symptoms--for a period of one month some of these symptoms can last for more than six months a marked decrease in functioning , either at work , self-care or at interpersonal relationships (Lehman , et . al , 2004 , Disease Definition section

Schizophrenia

is always confused with mood diss with psychotic features , schizoaffective dis or physical effects of medication drug abuse , and other substances (Lehman , et . al , 2004 , Disease Definition section

Symptoms are generally classified into positive , or those that reflect a distortion of normal functions , and negative , or those that may seem normal , or could be caused by other factors . A more recent category of symptoms , disorganized symptoms--including confusion , thought dis disorientation , among others--is under study (U .S . Surgeon General undated , Overview section

The disease has five phases : prodrome , which occurs before the overt development of symptoms characterized by a period of functional deterioration acute , wherein the deterioration of functions continue plus the manifestation of symptoms including hallucinations , formal thought dis , delusion , among others recovery , or characterized by the remission of the active psychosis , but confusion remains residual during which there is minimal positive psychotic symptoms , but patients may still have negative symptoms like amotivation , social withdrawal flat affect , among others and chronic impairment , wherein symptoms that have not respondent adequately persists (McClellan Werry , 2000 , pp 3-4

Though traditionally thought to be caused by genetics , development and environment (Norton , 2001 , para . 9 , research done in recent years , have increasingly looked at the physiological causes of the disease . Studies cited by the United States Surgeon General has found that schizophrenia may be a dis of the prefrontal cortex of the brain , affecting working memory (Cognitive Dysfunction section . Aside from specific regions of the brain , other studies concludes that schizophrenia is a brain disease that is more related to misfires of the brain 's chemicals from failure in the functions of brain cells in transmission of data and brain waves (BBC , 2004 , paras . 1-2 , to abnormalities in dopamine levels , deficiencies in the glutamate and NMDA neurotransmitters (Javitt and Coyle , 2003

In 2003 , Australian scientists have found a startling discover schizophrenia causes the shrinkage of the brain , specifically the frontal regions which is responsible for problem solving , information manipulation , adapting to novelty and strategic ability--all classified as higher level intellectual functions . The researchers found that these brain regions shrink at a rate double than normal (University of Melbourne , 2003 , para . 3 . This study follows the 2001 findings of a UCLA study that found that schizophrenia causes brain damage by destroying brain tissues , starting from the parietal region of the brain , then spreading rapidly to other regions of the brain . The research found that those with higher brain tissue loss also have more severe symptoms (Norton , 2001...