Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia: Understanding and Providing Vocation Rehabilitation Services
Schizophrenia is a frightening disease that can cause the person to become isolated in their own vision of reality. The original name for this illness was created by Emil Kraepelin, a German psychiatrist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; it was named dementia praecox. The word “schizophrenia”, derivesfrom the Greek language meaning “split (schizo) and mind (phrenia)”. (Martin L. Korn) As opposed to the literal translation of “split mind”, schizophrenia is not a personality disorder but is categorized as a disabling brain disorder which causes psychosis and distorts the persons thought processes. It is a condition that affects over two million people in the United States alone (Miller, R.,& Mason, S., 2002), and is not yet fully understood. It causes disruptions in perception, cognition, emotion, and behavior. Although researchers have not been able to find a cause or cure for the disease, there are treatment modes which can help reduce the impact of symptoms on the person.

While the typical onset of schizophrenia is between the late teens and young adulthood, the range ofthe onset is wide. (Miller, R., & Mason, S., 2002) According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2000), there are five subtypes of schizophrenia: disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, undifferentiated and residual. Negative or positive (active) symptoms are the two categories in which the schizophrenic disorders are divided into. Positive symptoms are referred to asperceptual, cognitive, emotional, or motor. These are the symptoms that are the most common and noticeable to others. Active symptoms are visual hallucinations, loose associations, auditory hallucinations and delusions. Negative symptoms consist of social withdrawal and decreased expressiveness/responsiveness in cognitive, emotional and behavioral functions that are typically found in the averagepopulation. DSM IV outlines the specific diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia into five categories. Characteristic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms; two or more must be present during a one month period. Social and occupational dysfunction must occur for a significant portion of the time since onset. Continuous signs of thedisturbance persist for a period of six months. Other psychotic features, substance abuse and other general medical conditions must have been ruled out. Only one characteristic symptom is required if delusions are bizarre or hallucinations consist of a voice keeping up a running commentary on the person's behavior or thoughts, or two or more voices conversing with each other. (American PsychologicalAssociation., 2000)
Researchers have yet to find a cause for schizophrenia. Most would agree that although there is a high risk of development in those that have a genetic predisposition to the disease, there are also environmental factors such as stress, virus, birth complications and nutrition that can cause one to develop the disease. (Miller, R., & Mason, S., 2002) Disorganizedschizophrenia is one of the five major subtypes of this disease. Impairments are primarily observed in thought and affect with disorganization in speech and behavior. Behavior is usually characterized by symptomatic complaints, extreme social withdrawal, and bizarre actions or thoughts. Persons with catatonic schizophrenia have psychomotor disturbances, stereotypical movements and mannerisms, and are inneed of constant medical attention as they may become malnourished, exhausted or self-injured. Paranoid schizophrenia is common and characterized by persecutory or grandiose delusions and frequent hallucinations. The person may appear tense, suspicious, guarded, hostile, aggressive, angry or even violent. The undifferentiated type meets the criteria for general schizophrenia yet one us unable to...