Improving Schizophrenia With Mental Illness - 1591 Words

Improving Schizophrenia with Risperdal Mental illness affects millions of people every day. One of the most debilitating forms of mental illness is schizophrenia. The Oxford dictionary defines schizophrenia as; A long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation (2015). The symptoms experienced by the patient impair functioning on social and cognitive levels. Due to the severe effects of the illness, it is important to pursue treatment in an attempt to stabilize the patient and to control his†¦show more content†¦Characteristics of Schizophrenia â€Å"Schizophrenia† is a relatively new label of an illness that has been identified throughout history since ancient Egyptian times. Prior to being named in 1911 by Eugen Bleuler, reports of illness with similar symptoms were being referred to as â€Å"dementia praecox†, meaning dementia in early life (The Internet Mental Health Initiative, 2015). Bleuler questioned the claim that this illness was a result of mental deterioration and instead believed â€Å"schizophrenia led to a heightened consciousness of memories and experiences† (Sussex Publishers, LLC., 2015). Bleuler combined Greek words â€Å"schizo† (split) and â€Å"phrene† (mind) to more accurately describe what he had observed in patients. He did not believe that the mind split into parts or personalities, but more so that the mind would split away from reality and existence into an altered state (Sussex Publishers, LLC., 2015). The DSM- IV categorizes these states based on the expressed symptoms as paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, residual, and undifferentiated (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although the symptoms can be easily categorized, diagnosing schizophrenia is much more difficult. This is due to the spectrum of severity and if the client projects positive or negative symptoms. In the case of schizophrenia, positive symptoms are the behaviors that are added to or